Re: I seem to recall reading this experimental procedure before
Indeed. One of the most important experiments in physics, although it routinely gets overlooked when documentaries are looking for the big moments in science.
It also sounds suspiciously like the gear used to look for gravitational waves. In fact, from the description I can't see how you'd tell the difference if you did detect something. Presumably there'll be a subtle signature in the signal that's below the noise level of journalists.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
