"[T]he LIGO detectors have captured the clearest merger signal ever recorded, GW250114 [and] was able to draw two spectacular conclusions. First, it confirmed that the nature of the merging objects is consistent with that of Kerr (spinning) black holes. Second, it convincingly verified the area theorem formulated by Stephen Hawking in 1971, which asserts that the total surface area of black hole horizons cannot decrease in time.