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Ask a Spaceman!

AaS! 176: Why is Gravity So Weak?

Ask a Spaceman!

Paul M. Sutter

Astrophysics, Science, Cosmos, Holes, Black, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Universe, Cosmology, Space, Physics

4.8853 Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2022

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How did gravity get so ridiculously weak? Could it be related to extra dimensions? What does string theory and the concept of the “bulk” have to do with it? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

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Thanks to Cathy Rinella for editing.

Hosted by Paul M. Sutter, astrophysicist and the one and only Agent to the Stars (http://www.pmsutter.com).

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I know that at the end of my eight episode series on string theory, that I said I would never talk about string theory ever again.

0:19.3

But listen, folks, we've got a problem. Gravity. No, not the usual problem

0:27.6

with gravity, which is that our theory of gravity is fundamentally incompatible with our theory

0:32.4

of literally everything else, hence string theory and loop quantum gravity and other solutions to that riddle.

0:40.6

And no, it's not the other problem with gravity, which is that it has solutions which contains

0:45.4

singularities like the centers of black holes in the beginning of the universe, which is a big

0:50.1

headache if you're trying to solve for situations like what happens at the center of a black

0:54.6

hole or at the beginning of the universe. No, it's neither of those. Today's problem with gravity

1:00.0

is that it's weak. Very weak. Super weak. Imagine the weakest possible thing. Imagine the force

1:10.4

of a gentle breeze that barely moves a single

1:14.5

hair on your head. It's weaker than that. Imagine a butterfly brushing its wing against your

1:21.8

skin. It's weaker than that. Imagine if someone says, hey, check out my new super spicy hot wings. And then you

1:30.9

find that it's just chicken drumsticks dipped in water. It's weaker than that. Imagine

1:39.1

meeting a new family. A couple of parents, four kids. Three of the kids are pretty much the same. Same eye and hair

1:46.6

color, maybe a little variation. Maybe kid number three is a bit taller. Maybe kid number two

1:52.2

talks a bit much. But you can definitely tell that they're related. There's something in common.

1:56.5

Even though they're a little bit different, it's just variations on a theme.

2:03.3

Three kids all from the same family.

2:05.1

You can just tell they are related.

2:08.0

Now, imagine that you meet kid number four.

2:12.8

And kid number four is a 300 foot tall purple giant.

2:16.3

Kid number four is gravity. Kid number four is weird. Kid number four is gravity kid number four is weird kid number four doesn't fit

...

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