Predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916, gravitational waves have been a long sought phenomenon in nature. However, their weakness makes them extremely hard to detect, and it took a century until the first positive detection. 

In 2015, gravitational waves were discovered by the LIGO detectors, originating from the collision of two black holes in the distant universe. Since then, many more such events have been observed, including the discovery of simultaneous light and gravitational wave emission from a so-called "kilonova". 

Apart from the fascination of these events, their study has allowed us to pinpoint for the first time the astronomical origin of some of the heavy elements of the periodic table, whose origin had remained uncertain for decades. 

Speaker: Daniele Bjørn Malesani, postdoctial reseacher at the Cosmic Dawn Center, Nielse Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

This is from the meeting "The discovery of gravitational waves and what they have taught us". 

After 100 years of theoretical predictions, technology finally caught up leading to the detection of gravitational waves. Now we can use them to study black holes and neutron stars, and even identify where some of the heavy elements get formed.