Hard to believe if you're not coming from a
scientific background -- it blew my mind when I read an
article referencing this last week. It wasn't even the main
thrust of the article, but was
illustrated as an
accepted truth in scientific
realms. Of those realms, my
liberal arts lily-white ass knows very little.
So why is gravity weak(er)? Well, let's compare it to
electromagnetic attraction /
repulsion. We've all used electromagnets, I would venture, for some sort of science project or
miscellaneous time killer. Personally, I was much more in
awe of
gravity than I was of my electrically charged
nail at that age. Little did I
know that my
magnet could
kick gravity's
ass without breaking a
sweat. Here's the
proof: Picture two
orange balls. They're orange because it's easier for me that way. Now, imagine both of those balls are carrying
negative charges. They will
repulse each other, like
magnets whose like poles face each other.
What is gravity? Essentially, it's the tendency for
matter to
congregate. Any object with
mass exerts an
attractive pull on other objects. So, those two orange balls are under the influence of
gravity -- I.E. gravity is trying to bring them together.
But, as anyone who's played with magnets can attest, there's
no fucking way they'll come together.
Obviously, this particular
knowledge isn't hard to come by -- it's just a
lesson in how widely things apply. I, for one, never once considered that magnetic repulsion was in any way contrary to
gravity.
Theories on why
gravity is so weak are being bandied about, with one being that gravity disperses itself over multiple
dimensions.
My
apologies to those who already know this -- and I am sure you are
legion. This
tidbit has been fascinating most
laypeople that I speak to, so I felt it might be
appropriate to
Everything.