Gravity is JUST A THEORY!

[LuckyTheDog]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13gravity.html?_r=1

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.

Naaaahhh... it's Divine Pushing that makes things fall. The Bible says so... I think...

[mrcheerful]

1. Does that mean I can jump off the Empire State building now and fall up instead of down?

[Fumesucker]

2. Intelligent falling..

We need to teach the controversy..

[JuniperLea]

3. String Theory could change the way we understand a lot of things...

Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride! Let the headbanging begin!

[Swede]

4. It's still is a mystery.

However,someone someday is going to crack that nut.

[bigmonkey]

5. You know, the author of the paper is a bona fide physicist.

Why are you implying that his paper is mindless theological speculation? Did you read the article?

[LuckyTheDog]

11. I am implying no such thing (nt)

[SidDithers]

32. Because hundreds of other bona fide physicists disagree with him...

You see this kind of science reporting in the regular media all the time. The fringe scientist with the way-out theory gets the media attention.

Sid

[bigmonkey]

40. My point was about his bona fides.

Your point is? He shouldn't be reported on? Is the report inaccurate, that is, rather than being discussed his theory is ignored? Controversial theories by competent scientists are fair game for interesting reporting, it seems to me.

[maxsolomon]

6. i read that article. my wife read that article. she says she gets it.

i know i don't. i think the gist is up there in the clip: that gravity is a consequence of the laws of thermodynamics.

[zipplewrath]

8. A nit of a claim

His basic claim is that gravity is not a "fundamental" force, but a consequence of thermodynamics. It's a bit of technical jargon. No one is claiming that gravity "doesn't exsist". It is claiming it is not a fundamental force, but more like the wind, a derivative of other more fundamental energy sources.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. how could atheists believe in gravity, when it's just a theory (a geuss)

[EOTE]

12. Why did people use to live in black and white? Why do some mountains look like Presidents?

Are volcanoes just angry hills? There are some things that man-kind will never know.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/outrageous-clown-squad-kickspit-dirt-festival/1219738/

[jp11]

14. I have no idea what is going on in that cartoon it is hilarious for some reason.

[EOTE]

15. To gain some context. Watch this video.

http://trueslant.com/johnknefel/2010/04/09/insane-clown-posse-makes-insane-clown-video/

You are right, it's rather hilarious. And even more so when you realize that these idiots are being entirely serious.

[4lbs]

9. If it's a consequence of the laws of thermodynamics, the behavior of heat and gases, then why is the

force of gravity the same on Antarctica as it is in the Sahara Desert? They are about 200 degrees apart in temperature.

Shouldn't it be different in those two places, if it's a thermal phenomenon?

Yet, the same measured F=mg value exists in both places for a given object. A baseball dropped from a 100 foot height takes the same amount of time to fall in -80 degrees Fahrenheit that it does in 120 degree heat.

However, what does change the force of gravity is the size of the two objects involved (their masses), and the distance between them.

I guess I'll have to his paper to determine how he thinks of gravity as being a product of thermodynamics.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

10. I Choose To Believe............

..........that things fall down because of an almight deity by the name of Joe Gravity, who wants EVERYTHING to be on the ground or as close to the ground as possible. He's an invisible pusher-downer. And you're only angering him with your fancy flying machines. That's why he crashes a plane every now and then or swallows up a billionaire in a hot air balloon.

That's the theory I choose to believe. Now I DEMAND that it be taught to school children.

[leftofcool]

16. Oh no ya don't My Gravity God is better than your Joe Gravity!

[LuckyTheDog]

26. Sorry, but the name is Bill Gravity, not Joe

And I am prepared to launch numerous ruinous wars against anyone who believes in Joe Gravity.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

29. I Declare Jihad On You, Infidel!

And I will win, because I have Joe Gravity on my side, and you have some fake, made-up guy. All your warplanes will fall out of the sky when Joe Gravity hears of your blasphemy.

Accept Joe Gravity as your personal pusher-downer or risk flying off the Earth and into space forever.

[PBS Poll-435]

13. Depends on who you ask

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofkVLGC3FrM&feature=related


:P

[TrogL]

17. You have to think of this in the language of string theory

Which is opaque at best. String theory involves itself with information. The definition of a "black hole" deals with the fact that little or no information comes out of it.

All the information about what has been lost inside them is encoded on their surfaces.

...

“Gravity,” he said recently in a talk at the Perimeter Institute, “is the thermodynamic limit of the statistical mechanics of “atoms of space-time.”

I'm wondering if the analogy of cell-phone coverage might be instructive. As you get further and further away from a tower, you get more dropped packets, less information. If your cell phone was on fire, the further away you were from it, the less the warming. Your cell phone is sending out the information "I am hot", to which your body is supposed to respond "I am getting heated" and act appropriately. Same with gravity. Your cellphone sends out "I am gravitationally attractive" but as you get further away, dropped packets (in our analogy) prevent this from getting through.

Your flying car would be caused by prevent localized gravity/thermodynamic-information packets from getting through, rendering your car weightless.

[Uncle Joe]

24. String theory reminds me of the movie Matrix, it was all about the control of information. n/t

[Cleita]

18. Well, there is a problem with it, in that it doesn't

quite follow the laws of physics like it's supposed to. It's actually weaker than it should be or so people more learned than me say so.

[Lucian]

19. Interesting article.

I wish people would read it before offering some knee-jerk reaction.

[Swede]

21. I tried reading the abstract,but the math is way beyond me.

But the reaction here is obviously from folks who only read the headline.

Here is the abstract link

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1001/1001.0785v1.pdf

[MedicalAdmin]

20. It's "alternative" physics.

Someone inform Quackwatch. I'm sure they can "refute" this nonsense. Woooooooooooooooooooooo.

[Winterblues]

22. There is no gravity..the Earth Sucks.

:shrug:

[meow mix]

23. push, pull or squeeze

i prefer the "push" theories myself

[bikebloke]

25. (thunk!)...thanks a lot. Now I'm stuck on the ceiling.

:P

[WinkyDink]

27. I ain't about to mock a man of this esteem and brilliance.

[NashVegas]

30. Nor Would I

But I might mock anyone who is trying to get on the publicity bandwagon he's creating.

[WinkyDink]

34. I wouldn't worry too much about this abstruse "bandwagon" in America.

[verges]

28. Gravity doesn't exist; the Earth sucks. nt

[NashVegas]

31. Yep. Newton "Just Got Lucky"

And so did everyone else on 32 feet per second per second.

[vanbean]

33. You are not understanding what he is saying.

Go back to the soup can analogy, I think that will help you.

:hi:

[NashVegas]

39. No, I Get That

And see it as a distraction.

I was referring more to the competitiveness in now many arenas where one has to make a huge splash to garner a reputation - but especially in circles of scientific influence - as a go-to person, that can be capitalized on.

Final thought - for now, at least -

"What is new, he said, is the idea that differences in entropy can be the driving mechanism behind gravity, that gravity is, as he puts it an “entropic force.” "

Any woman over the age of 34/35 can tell you ALL ABOUT gravity as an entropic force. Ain't nothin' new about that :)

[Greyhound]

35. Is there some point you are trying to make? Gravity is in fact, a theory.

It is also wrong, we know it is wrong because we can observe situations where it (the theory) breaks down. That's why it's not a scientific law.

I'm genuinely curious as to why you posted this.

[Sparkly]

36. "Divine Pushing" -- I love it!

:rofl:

[Baclava]

37. I'm gonna dig me a gravity well in the backyard so's I can just dip some out if I need extra.

...then distill it down to gravitons, sell it to the scientists who can't seem to find any, and make a mint.

That's my theory.

[Jkid]

38. Erik Verlinde is confused about regular theories and scientific theories

Scientific theories are theories that are facts found out by the scientific community. Regular theories are theories that are facts found out by the other sciences.