Stretch and Squash vs Star Exploration

Stretch and Squash demonstrates how a passing gravitational wave would stretch and squash the distances between objects. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time. They are produced by violent cosmic events, such as the collision of black holes. These ripples then travel through the universe at the speed of light. If they pass through Earth they change the distance between objects ever so slightly. Gravitational wave detectors have been built to measure these waves using kilometer-sized laser interferometers. Stretch and Squash illustrates the different effects that gravitational waves in different polarisations would have on space. (Imagine the gravitational waves are passing straight through your computer screen!) The stretching and squashing is exaggerated visually in order to emphasise the effect.

1. About Star Exploration Star Exploration is a novel and interesting game of reasoning. The star map is divided into multiple star regions, some of which have a planet with a color of red, yellow, and blue. The purpose of the game is to gather three planets of different colors together through movement, and there is only one aggregated planet in each sector area divided from the center of the circle. 2. How to Play a. Move: Each planet can only move up to one step. The blue planet can move diagonally by one grid, the green planet can move left and right or up and down by one grid, and the red planet can move up, down, left and right by two grid. b. Zoom: Click the + - button to zoom in or out on the star map. Drag and drop star map in the blank space. c. Undo: click the UNDO button in the upper right corner. d. Hint: click the HINT button right above.