I think that you may have misread the news. The background hum is gravitational waves, no some sort of material substance. They are more like ripples on the surface of a lake than being some sort of cloud of material.

The other misunderstanding is around light itself. Just because light propagates through a medium does not mean that it requires the medium. Light travels through air, water, glass, white wine, but we cannot say that the presence of, say, white wine, is required for the transmission of light.

Perhaps the most useful way forward is to investigate theories, based on what we know of physics, that have been proposed to account for the gravitational waves, rather than to decide in advance that the data confirm what we believed all along.

I, for example, am convinced that the missing matter of the universe is made up of biros and reading glasses, though I admit that I don't know where it is either. But I'm ready to wait for the data.

From where gravitational waves came? Eastern Philosophy has the answer. Sound is the subtlest particle, technically known as tanmatra, of ether (Akash Tattwa). Western philosophers were not aware of this ether element before Plato. Sound in the super fluid state is the source from where gravitational waves have originated.

I will not go to this extreme. The priests from the church of materialism have done very commendable work to enlighten us on the secrets of the universe and also to make our lives happy. However, we should not go with them without giving reasonable thought.

Asking where gravitational waves come from as if they were mysterious simply shows that you haven't read much about them. Spacetime bends around matter – it's why your phone moves towards the earth when you let it go. There are several theories as to where they come from, but not enough data yet. Not enough data isn't the same as "we can never know" or "we already know".

And eastern philosophy may have an answer, but until you back this up by making predictions that fit the data it's simply a belief.

Beliefs are comforting, for sure. But in science you have to leave them on the doorstep. There are so many things we don't know, but that's where the excitement begins. Given the choice between the comfort of belief and the challenge of exploration, I know what I choose! But it's not for everyone.

I admire the Dalai Lama who announced that if science were to disprove something about Buddhism he would have no hesitation in abandoning it. To do so would be to honour the Buddha, who never made any absolute claims for his teaching. Instead, he simply said try if for yourself.

Thanks for responding very nicely. Space-time is Akash Tattwa of Eastern Philosophy. Albert Einstein was a great mathematician. He very intelligently introduced mathematics in many Vedic and Post Vedic concepts and became one of the all time greatest scientists of the world.

Space and time are synonymous words. Without one the other does not exist. Kindly refer to one of the equation of motion by Sir Issac Newton:

s=ut+1/2gt^2

Now, consider, if the value of 't' is zero in the right side of the equation the value of 's' in the left side of the equation will be zero and if the value of 's' is zero in the left side of the equation then the total value in the right side of the equation will also be zero

I don't buy the reasoning. Just because setting one value to zero causes another value to be zero does not mean that they are the same. For example, if we agree that you will make me two apple tarts for each piano lesson I give you, then I get no tarts if I give you no lessons. So music lessons and apple tarts are the same thing.

You are mistaking a model for the system it models. A model is a mathematical expression that gives the correct output for any input. So we can use your blood pressure to predict your risk of stroke, for example. But the model is just an equation. It is not the physical process that results in stroke.

But I have no illusions that any of this will disturb your beliefs, which you have every right to have. Indeed, your certainty must be a great comfort to you, and a great source of happiness. My teacher was very fond of asking people are you sure? with a mischievous smile.