Listening to Gravitational Wave Echos from the Universe

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and its sister 
project Virgo are currently acquiring data, aiming at the first direct detection
of gravitational waves. The existence of these  elusive ripples in the fabric of
space-time was indirectly proven with observations of PSR 1913 + 16, by UMass'
own Hulse and Taylor. A direct detection will represent an important validation
of General Relativity, and it will activate a fundamental, new probe into the
universe. Sources of interest for LIGO/Virgo include the coalescence of
compact binary systems, core-collapse supernovae and the stochastic
background from the early universe, as well as multi-messenger coincident
signatures with electromagnetic or neutrino counterparts. In this talk, I
will review the status of ground-based gravitational wave detectors,
describe selected results and predictions for advanced detector configurations.