http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/gravity/ en-us Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:29:55 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403772/posts Gore vs. Palin on climate change Posted: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 10:41 AM by Mark Murray From NBC's Andrea Mitchell In an interview that will air on MSNBC at 1:00 pm ET today, Al Gore rebutted Sarah Palin's Washington Post op-ed and Facebook postings that question the science on climate change given the "Climate-gate" controversy. In response, Gore said that "the deniers are persisting in an era of unreality. The entire North Polar icecap is disappearing before our eyes... What do they think is happening?" He said we've seen record storms, droughts, fires -- and the effects taking place are... msnbc http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403772/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:29:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377183/posts Rethinking relativity: Is time out of joint? EVER since Arthur Eddington travelled to the island of Príncipe off Africa to measure starlight bending around the sun during a 1919 eclipse, evidence for Einstein’s theory of general relativity has only become stronger. Could it now be that starlight from distant galaxies is illuminating cracks in the theory’s foundation? .... Yet it is still not clear how well general relativity holds up over cosmic scales, at distances much larger than the span of single galaxies. Now the first, tentative hint of a deviation from general relativity has been found. While the evidence... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2377183/posts#comment Tue, 3 Nov 2009 05:29:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2372655/posts He [Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." -Col. 1:17 REPORTER'S NOTE: Though I'm taking a stab in the dark (excuse the pun) with interpreting this article, one thing is certain: these scientists seem to ascribe cognizant, rational attributes to an invisible "force" that is "ruling over" dark matter in the universe. I'll let you read the article and come to your own conclusions! -Teresa Neumann, BCN. Science Daily reports that an international team of astronomers have found an unexpected link between mysterious 'dark matter' and the visible stars and gas in galaxies that could... BCN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2372655/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:26:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2360822/posts Can we calculate the gravitational field of a mass moving close to the speed of light? Franklin Felber (Starmark Inc) believes he can, with implications for propulsion. Back in 2006 we looked briefly at Felber’s work, describing what the physicist believes to be a repulsive gravitational field that emerges from his results. Felber discussed the matter at the Space Technology and Applications International meeting that year, where he presented his calculations of the ‘relativistically exact motion of a payload in the gravitational field of a source moving with constant velocity.’ Above a certain critical velocity, Felber believes, any mass... Centauri-Dreams http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2360822/posts#comment Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:33:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2312024/posts Are cosmic rays revealing the quantum nature of spacetime? Could theories of (not) everything help solve the puzzle of quantum gravity? The architect of doubly special relativity thinks so.In his youth, there were two things that regularly competed for Giovanni Amelino-Camelia’s attention: his favorite soccer team, Napoli, and "anything that came close to being scientific." And since Napoli was struggling in the Italian soccer league in the summer of 1978, Amelino-Camelia found himself watching a series of programs on special relativity instead of soccer. "That was really the point of no return for me," he remembers. "Although I was 13-years... FQXi http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2312024/posts#comment Sun, 9 Aug 2009 19:08:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2299578/posts Scientists funded by the European Space Agency believe they may have measured the gravitational equivalent of a magnetic field for the first time in a laboratory. Under certain special conditions the effect is much larger than expected from general relativity and could help physicists to make a significant step towards the long-sought-after quantum theory of gravity. Just as a moving electrical charge creates a magnetic field, so a moving mass generates a gravitomagnetic field. According to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, the effect is virtually negligible. However, Martin Tajmar, ARC Seibersdorf Research GmbH, Austria, and colleagues believe they have measured... European Space Agency http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2299578/posts#comment Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:26:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2258338/posts We don't think it's a surprise to anyone that there's a double standard in Hollywood when it comes to looks and weight loss. Why is it that Jessica Simpson and Hilary Duff get creamed for putting on a few pounds while Russell Crowe and Tom Hanks get awards for it? Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2258338/posts#comment Tue, 26 May 2009 15:12:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2188753/posts For example, Dr Eugenie Scott of the staunchly anticreationist National Center for Science Education (NCSE) revealed their agenda when she said: “ … I would describe myself as a humanist or a nontheist. I have found that the most effective allies for evolution are people of the faith community. One clergyman with a backward collar is worth two biologists at a school board meeting any day! … What we [such clergy and atheists] have in common is that we want to see evolution taught in the public schools … .”4 CMI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2188753/posts#comment Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:20:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2186775/posts Gravity highs (red) and lows (blue) on the Moon (Lunar nearside right, farside left)Science Results from the Japanese space agency's SELENE mission to the Moon are revealing details about why the lopsided lump of rock orbiting Earth is so unbalanced.The SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer, or Kaguya) mission was launched in September 2007 to gather detailed geological information about the Moon. The results are published in Science1,2,3,4.Because the Moon has no atmosphere or weather to speak of, its geology has remained almost unchanged since it formed. So unpicking its structure could offer information about how the early Solar System —... Nature News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2186775/posts#comment Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:29:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2147884/posts ABHAY ASHTEKAR remembers his reaction the first time he saw the universe bounce. "I was taken aback," he says. He was watching a simulation of the universe rewind towards the big bang. Mostly the universe behaved as expected, becoming smaller and denser as the galaxies converged. But then, instead of reaching the big bang "singularity", the universe bounced and started expanding again. What on earth was happening? Ashtekar wanted to be sure of what he was seeing, so he asked his colleagues to sit on the result for six months before publishing it in 2006. And no wonder. The theory... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2147884/posts#comment Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:08:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2069749/posts ~~~snip~~~ Electromagnetic waves are far too slow to be the only means of signalling in an immense universe. Gravity requires the near-instantaneous character of the electric force to form stable systems like our solar system and spiral galaxies. Gravitationally, the Earth ‘sees’ the Sun where it is this instant, not where it was more than 8 minutes ago. Newton’s famous law of gravity does not refer to time. We must have a workable concept of the structure of matter that satisfies the observation that the inertial and gravitational masses of an object are equivalent. When we accelerate electrons or protons... Thunderblogs http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2069749/posts#comment Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:34:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2019851/posts May 22, 2008: Meet MIT professor of physics Maria Zuber. She's dynamic, intelligent, intense, and she's on a quest for the Grail. No, not that Grail. Zuber is the principal investigator of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory — "GRAIL" for short. It's a new NASA mission slated for launch in 2011 that will probe the moon's quirky gravity field. Data from GRAIL will help scientists understand forces at play beneath the lunar surface and learn how the moon, Earth and other terrestrial planets evolved. "We're going to study the moon's interior from crust to core," says Zuber. "It's very... Science @ NASA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2019851/posts#comment Thu, 22 May 2008 20:05:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2002397/posts Pioneer spacecraft mystery may be laid to rest 14:30 15 April 2008 NewScientist.com news service Valerie Jamieson, St Louis What is making NASA's twin Pioneer spacecraft mysteriously drift off course, apparently defying the laws of physics? A rigorous new analysis suggests ordinary heat emission can at least partly explain the wayward probes' strange trajectories.Pioneer 10 and 11 were launched in the early 1970s and explored the outer solar system. But in 1980, mission scientists noticed that the spacecraft have unexpectedly drifted off course.Both spacecraft have been pulled a little harder than expected towards the sun, and since their launch, they... New Scientist Space http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2002397/posts#comment Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:14:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1982090/posts Everyone knows the score with black holes: even if light strays too close, the immense gravity will drag it inside, never to be seen again. They are thought to be created when large stars finally spend all their fuel and collapse. It might come as a surprise, therefore, to find that physicists in the UK have now managed to create an “artificial” black hole in the lab. Originally, theorists studying black holes focused almost exclusively on applying Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which describes how the gravity of massive objects arises from the curvature of space–time. Then, in 1974, the... Physicsworld http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1982090/posts#comment Fri, 7 Mar 2008 19:26:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974651/posts Gravity Powered Lamp, Designed By Student, Provides As Much Light As 40 Watt BulbThe Gravia LED lamp will be powered by gravity. It will be about 4 feet high and the entire column will glow. (Credit: Clay Moulton) ScienceDaily (Feb. 22, 2008) — A Virginia Tech student has created a floor lamp powered by gravity. Clay Moulton of Springfield, Va., who received his Master of Science in Architecture with a concentration in industrial design from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2007, created the lamp as a part of this master’s thesis. The LED lamp, named Gravia, has... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974651/posts#comment Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:27:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1969284/posts I have a small LSA airplane that is kind of weak on instruments. One thing I do not have is an attitude indicator so when I am in a cloud or fog, I do not know if I am in a bank, a dive, or a climb. Some of my "friends" and experienced aviators suggested I carry one of my cats with me. I was told to fly with my left hand on the yoke and toss the cat up and down with my right hand. As we all know, cats always land on their feet. I was told to... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1969284/posts#comment Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:50:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1912294/posts Obesity is more dangerous than smoking and will dramatically shorten the lives of millions, a landmark study has found. While smoking reduces life by an average of ten years, the research says being seriously overweight can cut life expectancy by as much as 13 years. The Foresight report, written by 250 leading scientists, says Britain's obesity crisis is so severe that it would take at least 30 years to reverse. If current trends continue, by 2050 about 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children in the UK will be clinically obese... The Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1912294/posts#comment Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:08:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856413/posts The 'Pioneer anomaly' – the mystifying observation that NASA's two Pioneer spacecraft have drifted far off their expected paths – cannot be explained by tinkering with the law of gravity, a new study concludes. The study's author suggests an unknown, but conventional, force is instead acting on the spacecraft. But others say even more radical changes to the laws of physics could explain the phenomenon. Launched in the early 1970s, NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft are drifting out of the solar system in opposite directions, gradually slowing down as the Sun's gravity pulls back on them. But they are... NewScientist.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1856413/posts#comment Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:59:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1840413/posts ...what if the equivalence principle (EP) is wrong? Galileo's experiments were only accurate to about 1 [per cent], leaving room for doubt, and skeptical physicists have been "testing EP" ever since. The best modern limits, based on, e.g., laser ranging of the Moon to measure how fast it falls around Earth, show that EP holds within a few parts in a trillion (1012). This is fantastically accurate, yet the possibility remains that the equivalence principle could fail at some more subtle level. "It's a possibility we must investigate," says physicist Clifford Will of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. "Discovering... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1840413/posts#comment Sun, 27 May 2007 03:40:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832262/posts Satellites solve mystery of low gravity over Canada 20:16 10 May 2007 NewScientist.com news service Kelly Young The GRACE satellites have detected changes in the gravitational field over regions of Canada that can be attributed to the crust bouncing back after the melting of a glacier 20,000 years ago and convection in Earth's mantle (Illustration: Science/M Tamisiea) If it seems Canadians weigh less than their American neighbours, they do – but not for the reasons you might think. A large swath of Canada actually boasts lower gravity than its surroundings. Researchers have puzzled for years over whether this was due... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832262/posts#comment Fri, 11 May 2007 23:37:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1808454/posts NEW YORK – It’s been years since NASA last heard from either of its two Pioneer probes hurtling out of the solar system, but scientists are still debating the source of an odd force pushing against the outbound spacecraft. Dubbed the Pioneer Anomaly, the unexplained force appears to be acting against NASA’s identical Pioneer 10 and 11 probes, holding them back as they head away from the Sun space.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1808454/posts#comment Thu, 29 Mar 2007 01:18:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1764549/posts Ramanath Cowsik, a Washington University physicist, will poke and prod at some of the most daunting problems remaining in physics: What is causing the universe to fly apart, faster and faster each year?Why is gravity so weak and so different from the other basic forces in the universe? And what is the true shape of the universe? In an era of big science -- billion-dollar space telescopes and atom smashers -- Cowsik's approach is refreshingly small. The apparatus, called a torsion balance, is cheap and based on a centuries-old idea. He says the torsion balance will cost about $100,000. When... St. Louis Post-Dispatch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1764549/posts#comment Tue, 9 Jan 2007 08:19:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760415/posts Al-Jazeera is reporting that Saddam Hussein, a former President of Iraq, has discovered “The Law of Gravity” according to The Grand Muff-Tea cleric of the Al Akbar Mosque. “Saddam Hussein is a great scientist. Yesterday, he made a great discovery, and has proven what we Muslims now call The Law of Gravity”, said the Grand Muff-Tea. According to the leader of the Al Akbar Mosque, “. . . all great achievements come from Islam, as we see in this great discovery from Islamic scientist Saddam Hussein . . . the West cannot defeat our genius . . .” Others in... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760415/posts#comment Sat, 30 Dec 2006 22:10:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753773/posts In the standard theory of gravity—general relativity—dark matter plays a vital role, explaining many observations that the standard theory cannot explain by itself. But for 70 years, cosmologists have never observed dark matter, and the lack of direct observation has created skepticism about what is really out there.Lately, some scientists have turned the question around, from “is dark matter correct?” to “is our standard theory of gravity correct?” Most recently, Fermilab scientists Scott Dodelson and former Brinson Fellow Michele Liguori demonstrated one of the first pieces of theoretical evidence that an alternative theory of gravity can explain the large scale... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753773/posts#comment Fri, 15 Dec 2006 03:52:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696561/posts When Douglas Clowe of the University of Arizona in Tucson announced on 21 August that his team had "direct proof of dark matter's existence", it seemed the issue had been settled. Now proponents of the so-called modified theories of gravity, who explain the motion of stars and galaxies without resorting to dark matter, have hit back and are suggesting that Clowe's team has jumped the gun. "One should not draw premature conclusions about the existence of dark matter without a careful analysis of alternative gravity theories," writes John Moffat, of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, who pioneered an... EurekAlert! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696561/posts#comment Wed, 6 Sep 2006 19:18:33 GMT