Only scientist could find nothing and claim it as a major breakthrough

According to Einstein's general relativity, gravitational waves should have been emitted during inflation, when the universe expanded exponentially moments after the big bang. "[Gravitational waves] can tell us how the laws of physics operated at that time," says Vuk Mandic of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. "This is very valuable because we cannot reproduce these high-energy conditions in the lab."

OK, so they are looking for something they cannot reproduce and presumably don't understand, by the sound of it it is something they have never proven to exist.

The latest measurement, made jointly by the US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and VIRGO, its European counterpart, was sensitive to gravitational waves at frequencies around 100 hertz. But they found nothing.

From which, I understand - they didn't find anything, no evidence, no proof, nothing detected!

"This is a milestone," says Mandic, who is a principal investigator with the LIGO and VIRGO collaboration. "It's one indication that gravitational wave cosmology is coming of age."

Huh? You didn't find anything! Zilch, Zero, Nothing! How can this be a milestone?

Harald Pfeiffer of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Toronto, agrees. "It's very gratifying to see the work of the past 10 years paying off," he says.

WTF? You spend 10 years looking, fail to find anything but it's very gratifying - man, you ARE easily pleased!

The hope is that the detectors will eventually find gravitational waves themselves.

Sounds like a really good, scientifically sound plan ....

LIGO probably has the edge over the other detectors. Last month the experiment entered a new, enhanced phase by doubling its sensitivity. Advanced LIGO, which commences in 2014, will be a tenfold improvement.

Tenfold huh, so ten times Zilch is ....... Zilch!

How many millions is this stuff costing? Only scientists could spend 10 years looking for something, fail completely yet announce the failure as a milestone, If I did that I reckon I'd be sacked!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327222.900-gravity-wave-detectors-home-in-on-their-quarry.html