Well, what was the significance of the Radio telescope?
We can now observe the most powerful events in the universe and study them in ways we never could... we can now watch the way matter plays with the fabric of the universe. We now have the possibility of seeing whole new classes of phenomenon we couldn't imagine...
The beginning of the universe is closed to the electromagnetic spectrum... light could not penetrate the early universe--- but gravity waves can...
Its adding to our senses, in a way... we have been SEEING the universe so far, and learned a lot... but now we can hear what its doing as well.
That is the significance, and that is why the universe changed today....