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Kip Thorne (left) and Ronald Drever (middle), with Robbie Vogt, the first director of the LIGO project (1990)

Ronald Drever, one of the architects behind the first detection of gravitational waves, has died aged 85.


The Scottish physicist passed away peacefully in Edinburgh on Tuesday, following a short but rapid deterioration in his health.
Prof Drever is credited with doing some of the key early experimental work.


The sensing in 2015 of ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by merging black holes is seen as one of the major breakthroughs of our time.


His family announced the death with a short statement late on Wednesday: "We are extremely proud of Ronald and his scientific achievements; he was unique and unconventional but very caring with a strong sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by us all."

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