Janna Levin

To be falling. That is the purest experience of gravity. The experience of gravity, unfettered, uninterrupted by atoms, is weightlessness. That observation, no, it has an unhappy ending, the elevator story, because of atoms again. That's the fault of the atoms in your body interacting electromagnetically with the crust of the earth or the bottom of the building or whatever it is.

To be falling. That is the purest experience of gravity. The experience of gravity, unfettered, uninterrupted by atoms, is weightlessness. That observation, no, it has an unhappy ending, the elevator story, because of atoms again. That's the fault of the atoms in your body interacting electromagnetically with the crust of the earth or the bottom of the building or whatever it is.

But this period of free fall, so the first observation is that that is the purest experience of gravity. Now I can convince you that things fall along curved paths because I could take a pen and if I throw it, we both know it's going to follow an arc. And it's going to follow an arc until atoms interfere again and it hits the ground.

But this period of free fall, so the first observation is that that is the purest experience of gravity. Now I can convince you that things fall along curved paths because I could take a pen and if I throw it, we both know it's going to follow an arc. And it's going to follow an arc until atoms interfere again and it hits the ground.

But this period of free fall, so the first observation is that that is the purest experience of gravity. Now I can convince you that things fall along curved paths because I could take a pen and if I throw it, we both know it's going to follow an arc. And it's going to follow an arc until atoms interfere again and it hits the ground.

But while it's in free fall, experiencing gravity at its purest, what the Einsteinian description would say is it is following the natural curve in space-time. inscribed by the earth. So the earth's mass and shape curves the paths in space, and then those curvatures tell you how to fall, the paths along which you should fall when you're falling freely.

But while it's in free fall, experiencing gravity at its purest, what the Einsteinian description would say is it is following the natural curve in space-time. inscribed by the earth. So the earth's mass and shape curves the paths in space, and then those curvatures tell you how to fall, the paths along which you should fall when you're falling freely.

But while it's in free fall, experiencing gravity at its purest, what the Einsteinian description would say is it is following the natural curve in space-time. inscribed by the earth. So the earth's mass and shape curves the paths in space, and then those curvatures tell you how to fall, the paths along which you should fall when you're falling freely.

And so the Earth has found itself on a free fall that happens to be a closed circle. But it's actually falling. The International Space Station uses this principle all the time. They get the space station up there, and then they turn off the engines. Can you imagine how expensive it would be if they had to fuel that thing at all times, right? They turn off the engines. They're just falling.

And so the Earth has found itself on a free fall that happens to be a closed circle. But it's actually falling. The International Space Station uses this principle all the time. They get the space station up there, and then they turn off the engines. Can you imagine how expensive it would be if they had to fuel that thing at all times, right? They turn off the engines. They're just falling.

And so the Earth has found itself on a free fall that happens to be a closed circle. But it's actually falling. The International Space Station uses this principle all the time. They get the space station up there, and then they turn off the engines. Can you imagine how expensive it would be if they had to fuel that thing at all times, right? They turn off the engines. They're just falling.

And they're not that far up. There are certainly people sometimes say, oh, they're so far away, they don't feel gravity. Oh, absolutely. If you stopped the space station, it's going like 17,500 miles an hour, something like that. If you were to stop that, it would drop like a stone right to the Earth. So they're in a state of constant freefall. And they're falling along a curved path.

And they're not that far up. There are certainly people sometimes say, oh, they're so far away, they don't feel gravity. Oh, absolutely. If you stopped the space station, it's going like 17,500 miles an hour, something like that. If you were to stop that, it would drop like a stone right to the Earth. So they're in a state of constant freefall. And they're falling along a curved path.

And they're not that far up. There are certainly people sometimes say, oh, they're so far away, they don't feel gravity. Oh, absolutely. If you stopped the space station, it's going like 17,500 miles an hour, something like that. If you were to stop that, it would drop like a stone right to the Earth. So they're in a state of constant freefall. And they're falling along a curved path.

And that curved path is a result of curving space-time.

And that curved path is a result of curving space-time.

And that curved path is a result of curving space-time.

Right. So it has to be cruising at a certain speed. So once you get it at that cruising speed, you turn off the engines.

Right. So it has to be cruising at a certain speed. So once you get it at that cruising speed, you turn off the engines.

Right. So it has to be cruising at a certain speed. So once you get it at that cruising speed, you turn off the engines.