Title: Studying the Universe using Gravitational Waves from Compact Binaries Abstract: The second generation era of ground-based gravitational wave detectors has just begun. Years of instrument upgrades have led to unprecedented sensitivity and the first direct detection of gravitational waves should be imminent. Compact binaries of neutron stars and/or black holes hold a prominent role among the possible sources of these gravitational waves. Not only are they one of the most common and well understood sources, but they also carry information that could answer a plethora of questions ranging from the validity of general relativity to the equation of state of the supra-nuclear matter encountered in neutron star interiors. In this talk, I will describe how we are planning to overcome the inherent weakness of gravitational waves from compact binaries and use them to obtain as much information as possible about the Universe. In particular, I will show how gravitational waves can be used to study the spin and mass distribution of stellar remnants and probe the internal composition of neutron stars. I will describe the strong spin interactions compact binaries exhibit, the rich information these interactions carry, and how they can enhance our understanding of the Universe.