Gravity
October’s Night Sky Notes: Let’s Go, LIGO!
October’s Night Sky Notes: Let’s Go, LIGO! September 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the first direct detection of gravitational waves by LIGO, a milestone that confirms Albert Einstein’s 1916 theory of General Relativity. Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time created by massive objects accelerating in space, such as black holes merging or stars going […]
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Why can’t we feel the Earth moving?
Why can’t we feel the Earth moving? The Earth’s motion is not felt because it moves at incredibly high speeds (about 1,000 miles per hour on its axis and 67,000 miles per hour in orbit around the Sun) without any jerks or bumps. Our bodies don’t feel the Earth’s movement because we’re all moving together […]
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Are people at the South Pole upside down?
Are people at the South Pole upside down? Astrophysicist Abigail Bishop shares her experience living at the South Pole for seven weeks, where she noticed some differences that made it feel like the world was “flipped over” from what she was used to. The main difference Bishop observed was how the Moon and constellations appeared […]
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How Do We Do Research in Zero Gravity? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 62
How Do We Do Research in Zero Gravity? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 62 Research in zero gravity, also known as microgravity, poses several challenges due to the unique environment on the International Space Station. One major issue is that objects can float away, making it difficult to contain experiments and equipment, as seen […]
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Dark energy may have once been ‘springier’ than it is today − DESI cosmologists explain what their collaboration’s new measurement says about the universe’s history
Dark energy may have once been ‘springier’ than it is today − DESI cosmologists explain what their collaboration’s new measurement says about the universe’s history Dark energy measurements from the DESI collaboration suggest that the universe was expanding slightly faster a few billion years ago than it is today, implying that dark energy’s “springiness” was […]
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NASA Aims to Fly First Quantum Sensor for Gravity Measurements
NASA Aims to Fly First Quantum Sensor for Gravity Measurements NASA is developing the first space-based quantum sensor for measuring gravity, which will enable groundbreaking observations of Earth’s gravitational field and beyond. The Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder (QGGPf) instrument will use two clouds of ultra-cold rubidium atoms as test masses to measure differences in gravitational […]
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