Perimeter Institute: Is gravity really a thing?

Radical new thinking suggests gravity might not be the fundamental force of nature we think it is

When you were in school, chances are you were taught that the universe was ruled by four fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces, and gravity. And you probably understood gravity best, since you experience it every day.

But what if gravity isn’t a force at all, but is simply a side effect of other activities in the universe? Just as temperature is simply a manifestation of how quickly particles around us are moving, is gravity just the result of something else?

Physicist Erik Verlinde explored this radically new way of thinking about the cosmos in a public lecture hosted by the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m.

The Perimeter Institute’s public lectures are usually held once a month. TVO is streaming the entire 2017–18 series.