Gravitational waves and why you exist | Lydia Guertin | TEDxHaverford College

In June 2023, an international team of astronomers announced the detection of significant evidence for a low-frequency gravitational wave background permeating our universe. How does that even happen, and what does it mean? More importantly, why should I give this news more than a passing glance? It doesn’t change anything about my life anyways…right? In her talk, Lydia Guertin uses the scientific creativity underlying this discovery to illustrate a much larger point: what happens in our minds translates to the futures we build. The questions we ask — and crucially, the way we ask them — become our limiting factors; the boundaries of our spheres of influence. Lydia Guertin was admitted as the youngest member of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) in 2022, where she works with the Noise Budget Working Group to mitigate interfering signals in pulsar timing array datasets that are then used as a “detector” for gravitational waves. She graduated with High Honors from Haverford College in 2024 with dual B.Sc. degrees in Physics and Astronomy, and now works with the Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. Along with her personal projects, Lydia is involved with several education and public outreach programs, including as a 2024 NASA Partner Eclipse Ambassador, and is a lifetime fellow of the American Junior Academy of Science. On her own time, Lydia is a distance runner and thru-hiker, seeking out opportunities to enjoy the night sky away from the lens of a telescope. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx