There are quite a few fundamental constants. These are things like the speed of light (c) the charge on an electron (e), and the Planck constant (h). These constants are determined with some type of ...

The Force is With You? You may have heard that gravity isn’t a force. This is true. Gravity is not a force; however, this truth leaves us with a number of questions. For example, we’re commonly told ...

Physicists have measured the smallest gravitational field ever recorded, in an experiment that could help in the search for a unified theory of physics. Of the four fundamental forces known to physics ...

It's fun to think about how we know stuff. For instance, the sun has a mass of about 2 x 10 30 kilograms. That is such an enormous mass that it's difficult to comprehend. And if it's so difficult for ...

Legend has it that Isaac Newton had the moment of inspiration that would lead to his theory of gravity when, on a warm afternoon, he saw an apple fall from a tree and wondered why it should fall down ...

At the end of the 18th century, the British scientist Henry Cavendish measured the force of gravity between two objects for the first time in a laboratory. The objects in question were lead balls, one ...

Gravity, despite its pervasive influence, is the weakest fundamental force, easily overcome even by simple actions like lifting a pencil. While achieving and maintaining orbit requires significant ...

In just under a week the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its LISA Pathfinder spacecraft on a Vega rocket. Buried within the vessel are two cubes made of gold-platinum which, scientists hope, ...

This story was originally published by Inside Science News Service. Henry Cavendish was an odd man. He never addressed strangers directly and was petrified of women. He had a staircase built into the ...

All of the objects in our solar system are acted upon by forces. Forces are pushes or pulls. Every force has both a strength and a direction. Applying a force on something–like pushing a toy car–can ...

When you travel through the Universe, it isn't just a free ride through empty space. Although you might not think about it very often, there are forces arising from the presence of everything else, ...