You can think of LIGO as being the first new way to directly see the universe since the invention of radar telescopes. Our ability to measure the otherwise unme

You can think of LIGO as being the first new way to directly see the universe since the invention of radar telescopes. Our ability to measure the otherwise unmeasurable, such as black hole and neutron star collisions, could lead to a better understanding of dark matter/dark energy, astronomy, and both physics and astrophysics. This expands the reach of knowledge of humanity; once made available, who knows how future humans will use these new discoveries to benefit mankind. Claude Shannon developed information theory well before networked computers were invented, but it's now critical to many disciplines and products you use every day. Meanwhile, the actual engineering challenges overcome in the building (and refinement) of LIGO are directly applicable to development of more accurate sensors, quantum computing, and precision engineering - all of which will touch the lives of Earth's inhabitants without most of them even being aware of it.