gravity

The universe is shaped by four fundamental forces, including gravity and electromagnetism. The latter’s strength is described by the dimensionless constant alpha (about 0.008), a value long puzzling to scientists such as Wolfgang Pauli. In 2010, astrophysicists analyzing quasar light found that alpha appeared slightly larger in one direction of the sky and smaller in the opposite, suggesting this supposedly unchanging constant might vary across the cosmos. Tune in to hear how such a directional shift would challenge Einstein’s relativity, hint at an even larger — possibly infinite — universe with fundamentally different cosmic “neighborhoods,” and suggest that life exists here partly because our region of the universe is unusually suited to it.

We stick to Earth's surface without giving it a thought. Yet can anyone honestly explain gravity, the most far-reaching of nature’s four forces? Hear about the movement of the earth and Johannes Kepler's 400-year-old discovery.

A century ago the famed astronomer Percival Lowell believed an unknown “planet X” was gravitationally tugging on Uranus and Neptune. So the wealthy Lowell founded an Arizona observatory to try to detect this ninth planet. We’re reminded of all this because this past week is when Pluto has come to its closest to Earth of 2024.

The Rosendale Theater will host, "The Effects of Gravity," on July 1 at 8 p.m. The event features astrophysicist Dr. Luke Keller, poet and storyteller David Gonzalez, and guitarist-composer- Álvaro Domene.

Four forces are woven into every crack and crevice in the universe. Neither stars, galaxies, nor puppies would exist without all of them. Two have influence only within atoms. The other two – gravity and electromagnetism – manifest in everyday life.

Have the natural laws that govern the cosmos ever changed?Dr. Jeremy Mould, professor of astrophysics and supercomputers at the Swinburne University of…

During the past couple weeks, my film experiences have involved looking into the future-- and also looking back at the early 20th Century.Gravity, an epic…