The Flat Earth Society

Other Discussion Boards => Science & Alternative Science => Topic started by: Rama Set on April 07, 2020, 05:06:08 PM

Title: Gravity’s smallest scale
Post by: Rama Set on April 07, 2020, 05:06:08 PM
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/gravitys-inverse-square-law-tested-at-scale-of-a-human-hair-and-passes/

Cool experiment that requires a ton of precision and error elimination. Seems like gravity continues to exist.
Title: Re: Gravity’s smallest scale
Post by: Tom Bishop on April 10, 2020, 06:07:00 PM
Spoiler:

Quote
...This and many other experimental refinements have allowed them to measure gravitational attraction down to a distance of just 52µm. Once they add additional stabilization against vibration, they will be able to measure at even smaller separations. In the meantime, they have verified that the inverse-square law holds for distances shorter than 50µm, and therefore we have no New Physics™.
Title: Re: Gravity’s smallest scale
Post by: stack on April 10, 2020, 06:46:28 PM
Spoiler:

Quote
...This and many other experimental refinements have allowed them to measure gravitational attraction down to a distance of just 52µm. Once they add additional stabilization against vibration, they will be able to measure at even smaller separations. In the meantime, they have verified that the inverse-square law holds for distances shorter than 50µm, and therefore we have no New Physics™.

What's the spoiler? That this level of precision in measuring the existence of gravity didn't reveal another dimension? It doesn't change the fact that we can measure gravity with ever increasing precision.
Title: Re: Gravity’s smallest scale
Post by: existoid on May 21, 2020, 07:39:00 PM
I am sucky at math and physics, so bear with me.

In that very interesting article, it reads "However, if the universe has more than three spatial dimensions, the inverse-square law would break." 

Is an alternative possibility that there are more spatial dimensions but that gravity only acts on three of them?  Or is that too non-sensical? 

Title: Re: Gravity’s smallest scale
Post by: Stagiri on May 27, 2020, 08:01:02 PM
(...)
Is an alternative possibility that there are more spatial dimensions but that gravity only acts on three of them?  Or is that too non-sensical?

Yes, that could be a totally possible alternative.