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A Scientist Takes On Gravity
A Scientist Takes On Gravity
It’s hard to imagine a more fundamental and ubiquitous aspect of life on the Earth than gravity, from the moment you first took a step and fell on your diapered bottom to the slow terminal sagging of flesh and dreams.
But what if it’s all an illusion, a sort of cosmic frill, or a side effect of something else going on at deeper levels of reality?
So says Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist and professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, whose contention that gravity is indeed an illusion has caused a continuing ruckus among physicists, or at least among those who profess to understand it. Reversing the logic of 300 years of science, he argued in a recent paper, titled “On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton,” that gravity is a consequence of the venerable laws of thermodynamics, which describe the behavior of heat and gases.
Read the rest on the NYT website.
Tags: Einstein, Newton, Stephen Hawkings, Verlinde, black holes, cosmos, gravity, physics, space, space-time, More…
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fabio on -
"Some of the best physicists in the world say they don’t understand Dr. Verlinde’s paper,"
I'm not a physicist and I haven't read his paper, but I must say I don't understand his theory so far :D -
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on -
I think I understand the analogies okay, but that is about it. Just interesting stuff. : )
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Permalink Reply by Glenn Sogge on -
I think any day the universe has a bad-hair day is an interesting day.
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Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on
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ROFLMAO!
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Permalink Reply by Joan Denoo on -
I shall be watching your comments on this idea.
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Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on -
"Some of the best physicists in the world say they don’t understand Dr. Verlinde’s paper"
Well it's good to know I'm in such good company. -
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Permalink Reply by Joan Denoo on
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What an intriguing idea! “We’ve known for a long time gravity doesn’t exist,” Dr. Verlinde said, “It’s time to yell it.” I don't know what will come but I am surely eager to find more information about if.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle on -
I will not even try to understand it, but will appreciate the value of questioning what we 'know' in a well thought-out way and possibly provable way. If we hadn't we would still think everything revolved around the earth.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on -
Erik Verlinde, 48, a respected string theorist
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Permalink Reply by Richard Healy on
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But funny. ;-)
And just a grain of truth. ;-) -
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