[ weird things ] | general relativity
articles tagged: general relativity
how close to a viable warp drive are we?
# science

how close to a viable warp drive are we?

Paradoxically, we’re both closer and farther from zooming across the galaxy than you might think…

preparing for a very low stakes test of general relativity
# space

preparing for a very low stakes test of general relativity

A new mission to Mercury will test a quirk of general relativity. It won’t be decisive and will involve a lot of precision measurement and tedious number-crunching. And it’s exactly the kind of science we should be encouraging.

the emdrive’s wishful thinking and weird physics
# science

the emdrive’s wishful thinking and weird physics

For the EmDrive and similar schemes to work would require radically different laws of physics. But something as trivial as physical impossibility isn't deterring its advocates...

can you really fall into a black hole? or, fun with time dilation.
# space

can you really fall into a black hole? or, fun with time dilation.

A new paper argues that nothing ever really falls into a black hole thanks to extreme time dilation and frame dragging.

counting exoplanets by their gravitational wells
# space

counting exoplanets by their gravitational wells

Just like supermassive black holes, planets can bend light with their gravity. But do they bend it enough for us to detect them that way?

do quasars break the laws of physics?
# space

do quasars break the laws of physics?

Something is wrong in the data we get when we measure distances to far away quasars to see how fast the universe is expanding.

the difficult divorce between time and space
# science

the difficult divorce between time and space

Despite what you have been told, general relativity has not yet been overturned, modified, or revolutionized.

the trouble with wormholes
# science

the trouble with wormholes

Wormholes exist, but they may be impractical for travel according to what we know about the physics behind them.

a multidimensional journey
# science

a multidimensional journey

It's difficult for three dimensional being to image a universe with ten dimensions. We might have to anyway.