[RightWhale]

it could prove very useful someday.

Of course. At this time nobody would know. So it is science, looking for new data. If they were developing something specific that used gravity waves to do something useful, that would be engineering. Science is finding new things all the time, not all of it has immediate application, but we keep looking and will keep looking until nothing new is found. Then we're done. Like physics was thought to be done 100 years ago. Except it wasn't done at all.

[Jake0001]

I don't really disagree with research, but I do disagree with the assertion that it would be of much use in astronomy. Noone could know how frequently these waves are generated.

It is possible that the frequency of waves is low enough that discreet and meaningful wave forms can be measured but what if it is like trying to discern raindrop impacts in a lake with the added complexity of a third dimension? It then becomes a newshour "horror story" about the dangers of existing as the "big one" could come anyday.

Nevertheless I agree it could be very useful. Being able to track gravitational waves could be instrumental in tracking or monitoring local temporal, nuclear or high energy events or activities in addition to enhance our understanding of gravity itself. Further we could use such data to develop artificial gravity and anti-gravity.