| Post Reply | RetroFed Forum Forum Index » Ask Science |
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Don_Dickle
lemmy.world
Patnou@lemmy.worldJoined: 2024-11-30 |
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BCsven
lemmy.ca
BCsven@lemmy.ca Joined: 2023-06-17 |
0% |
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TootSweet
lemmy.world
TootSweet@lemmy.world Joined: 2023-08-04 |
Even theoretically, we have no prospects for manipulating gravity. No way to, say, generate a gravitational force without a lot of mass or remove the gravitational influence of a large mass. The closest we can get is tricks like using freefall-like motion to simulate microgravity within Earth's gravitational field. Or (and I don't think this one's been done, but it's theoretically pretty straightforward, if involved engineering-wise) using rotation to mimic the effects of gravity in microgravity. I suppose one could also argue that being in orbit simulates microgravity even though you're well within the gravitational influence of Earth. Oh, I guess I can also mention that people training to be astronauts sometimes train underwater because that simulates some of the conditions of microgravity. But yeah. The closest we come to what you're asking about is "tricks". |
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Weirdfish
lemmy.world
Weirdfish@lemmy.world Joined: 2023-07-05 |
The other two answers are spot on, so all I can add is how annoyed I get when sportscasters says someone is defying gravity. There are not, in fact, the parabolic arcs that skaters and snowboarders travel are defining gravity, not defying it. Hang time is a myth, 32 feet per second squared isn't just a good idea, it's the law. |
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kikutwo
lemmy.world
kikutwo@lemmy.world Joined: 2024-04-04 |
Feels like not far. |
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Hamartiogonic
sopuli.xyz
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyzJoined: 2023-06-05 |
There are ways to cheat though. For example, spinning things can produce the sensation of being in gravity. Spinning stations would face immense tension forces, which make it difficult to find suitable materials to build them out of. Also, those materials need to be lifted up to orbit, so heavy materials won’t do. See also: 2001: A Space Odyssey Another option would be constant acceleration, like in The Expanse. Definitely not a very viable option right now as modern rocket fuels still suck. It could take a while to fix this one. If you want to be extra cheesy, you just have to make your space station as massive as the Earth, and you’ll get plenty enough gravity. There’s an even cheesier shortcut. Just start calling earth your new space station. |
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DampSquid
feddit.uk
DampSquid@feddit.uk Joined: 2023-06-26 |
There are ways to cheat though. For example, spinning things can produce the sensation of being in gravity. Spinning stations would face immense tension forces, which make it difficult to find suitable materials to build them out of. Also, those materials need to be lifted up to orbit, so heavy materials won’t do. See also: 2001: A Space Odyssey Another option would be constant acceleration, li...
Buckminster Fuller agrees with your last point 😊 |
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nialv7
lemmy.world
nialv7@lemmy.world Joined: 2024-02-27 |
Anti-gravity: impossible based on known physics. |
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Hamartiogonic
sopuli.xyz
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyzJoined: 2023-06-05 |
Buckminster Fuller agrees with your last point 😊
Yep. This spaceship is just great. Comes with radiation shielding, gravity, water, food, breathable air etc. Just remember to bring a star with you, because the ship requires an external power source to keep life support running. |
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🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮
pawb.social
Kolanaki@pawb.socialJoined: 2024-10-06 |
Anti-gravity: impossible based on known physics. Artificial gravity: doable, just make it spin.
Is a maglev system or quantum locking not counted as anti-gravity? |
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justOnePersistentKbinPlease
fedia.io
justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io Joined: 2024-09-06 |
Is a maglev system or quantum locking not counted as anti-gravity?
No. Both of those are using magnetic fields to counter the force of gravity. They are as anti-gravity as a wing generating lift as it moves through the air. |
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justOnePersistentKbinPlease
fedia.io
justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io Joined: 2024-09-06 |
There are ways to cheat though. For example, spinning things can produce the sensation of being in gravity. Spinning stations would face immense tension forces, which make it difficult to find suitable materials to build them out of. Also, those materials need to be lifted up to orbit, so heavy materials won’t do. See also: 2001: A Space Odyssey Another option would be constant acceleration, li...
Can you provide more information on the "immense tension forces"? The tricky parts to me would be:
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justOnePersistentKbinPlease
fedia.io
justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io Joined: 2024-09-06 |
Even theoretically, we have no prospects for manipulating gravity. No way to, say, generate a gravitational force without a lot of mass or remove the gravitational influence of a large mass. The closest we can get is tricks like using freefall-like motion to simulate microgravity within Earth's gravitational field. Or (and I don't think this one's been done, but it's theoretically pretty straig...
Yes, there are rotating rooms designed to simulate gravity: |
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elucubra
sopuli.xyz
elucubra@sopuli.xyz Joined: 2023-06-03 |
Well, the world has gravity pretty much pat down. |
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sparkyshocks
lemmy.zip
sparkyshocks@lemmy.zip Joined: 2026-03-22 |
Can you provide more information on the "immense tension forces"? The only thing above 1g(what we have on earth) of force would be the outside of the ring. The tricky parts to me would be: Keeping the structure rigid to avoid buckling. Does the whole structure rotate? How do you dock things to it? If the entire thing doesn't rotate, how do you ensure a perfect seal over a long period of time so...
Yeah, we have plenty of materials that can withstand 1g of consistent force, because that's the default on Earth's surface and the conditions that we've most studied for material properties. |
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palordrolap
fedia.io
palordrolap@fedia.io Joined: 2024-08-13 |
Can you provide more information on the "immense tension forces"? The only thing above 1g(what we have on earth) of force would be the outside of the ring. The tricky parts to me would be: Keeping the structure rigid to avoid buckling. Does the whole structure rotate? How do you dock things to it? If the entire thing doesn't rotate, how do you ensure a perfect seal over a long period of time so...
On Babylon 5, the docking was done through an opening in the centre, along the axis of rotation, so ships wishing to dock only needed to match rotation and the station would appear to be, well, stationary. That said, the defence fighters launched from the exterior walls of the station, so I assume they had to constantly adjust in order to re-dock there, assuming they didn't also return through the mid-port. |
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FrogmanL
piefed.social
FrogmanL@piefed.social Joined: 2026-01-23 |
We’re not even sure we know what gravity is. The best explanation I’ve seen is that it relates to the entropy between two systems. We know how to counteract this by applying energy (every time I stand up I do this, but it’s not exciting), but not turn it off or reverse it. |
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Reddfugee42
lemmy.world
Reddfugee42@lemmy.world Joined: 2023-07-20 |
Anti-gravity: impossible based on known physics. Artificial gravity: doable, just make it spin.
Spinning is definitely a close cousin to gravity but objects in a spinning reference frame don't fall straight down. Whereas water poured on earth will fall straight down towards the gravitational center, water in a spinning gravitational reference frame will arc. So, definitely close, but not a one to one approximation. |
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nialv7
lemmy.world
nialv7@lemmy.world Joined: 2024-02-27 |
Spinning is definitely a close cousin to gravity but objects in a spinning reference frame don't fall straight down. Whereas water poured on earth will fall straight down towards the gravitational center, water in a spinning gravitational reference frame will arc. So, definitely close, but not a one to one approximation.
You just have to make the spinny thing bigger! |
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Hamartiogonic
sopuli.xyz
Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyzJoined: 2023-06-05 |
Can you provide more information on the "immense tension forces"? The only thing above 1g(what we have on earth) of force would be the outside of the ring. The tricky parts to me would be: Keeping the structure rigid to avoid buckling. Does the whole structure rotate? How do you dock things to it? If the entire thing doesn't rotate, how do you ensure a perfect seal over a long period of time so...
Yeah, that was just badly worded. Didn’t really think it through either. Let me clarify. You don’t want to spin the wheel too fast, because that’s going to make people sick. To get around that problem, you need to compensate by making the wheel bigger. More specifically, it should be hundreds of meters in diameter. That means it’s going to require a lot of construction materials, and that gets really expensive to build and even more expensive to deliver. Normally, space things are built to be as light as possible. Building stuff out of thin aluminium, magnesium, titanium and carbon fiber just won’t be good enough unless you make those structures thicker. The materials are good enough though. If you could launch stuff up there for free, you might as well use steel cables and they would be strong enough. Nevertheless, it’s still a pressurised donut, and that puts a lot of stress on all the parts, which means you can’t build it out of paper thin titanium. The rotation is totally fine by comparison, since that doesn’t add too much to the stresses. |
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FUCKING_CUNO
lemmy.dbzer0.com
FUCKING_CUNO@lemmy.dbzer0.com Joined: 2025-04-30 |
Anti-gravity: impossible based on known physics. Artificial gravity: doable, just make it spin.
Dark Energy has entered the chat |
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agamemnonymous
sh.itjust.works
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.worksJoined: 2023-06-15 |
Anti-gravity: impossible based on known physics. Artificial gravity: doable, just make it spin.
"Gravity is a mysterious phenomenon that we're only beginning to understand and will likely never master, baked into the very fabric of the universe. But we can almost perfectly simulate it by spinning real fast :)" will never not be funny to me. |
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TootSweet
lemmy.world
TootSweet@lemmy.world Joined: 2023-08-04 |
Yes, there are rotating rooms designed to simulate gravity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ_seXo-Enc
Woah. I want a real-world DBZ gravity room. |
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Jul
piefed.blahaj.zone
irotsoma@piefed.blahaj.zoneJoined: 2025-09-25 |
The only way we know that gravity acts in nature is based on mass. We have no real grasp of the mechanism, only that mass exerts it on other mass and the greater the mass, the greater the exertion. It's likely that gravity acts in a way that we can not perceive (maybe another spacial plane above the 3rd) and so we are unlikely to truly understand it unless we invest significant effort into a lot of types of non-practical physics research before we can get to even begin the practical stuff. That's unlikely in current economic systems that heavily rely on capitalim since the majority of investment will always be in things that can create short term profit. Minimal funding is able to get diverted to the pursuit of knowledge that won't yield results for decades or possibly a century. So it will take many centuries at the current investment rate unless some accidental discovery is made that advances it significantly. |
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