Eyeing the universe through Einstein's Telescope

The University of Chicago's Evalyn Gates calls the instrument Einstein's telescope. The instrument is actually the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, which acts as a sort of natural telescope. Gates' recently published book, Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, explains how it works.Although based on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, the effect is easily demonstrated. Look at a light through the bottom of a wine glass, Gates recommends, and see the resulting light distortion.Einstein's telescope is using the universe itself as a lens through which we can seek out galaxies that would otherwise be too faint to be seen, says Gates, Assistant Director of the University's Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.