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Please also note that we do not accept unsolicited posts and we cannot review, or open new threads for, unsolicited articles or papers. Requests to review or post such materials will not be answered. If you have your own novel physics theory or model, which you would like to post for further discussion among then FQXi community, then please add them directly to the "Alternative Models of Reality" thread, or to the "Alternative Models of Cosmology" thread. Thank you.
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RECENT POSTS IN THIS TOPIC
Claude Beaucaire: on 10/10/14 at 15:38pm UTC, wrote I Karl, your demonstration is just amazing, I was wondering if you would be...
Karl Coryat: on 9/26/14 at 9:27am UTC, wrote Don't blow my cover Cristi! Just kidding, thank you so much for watching...
Karl Coryat: on 9/26/14 at 9:26am UTC, wrote Thank you, Jonathan, that means a lot to me, especially as I am something...
Jonathan Dickau: on 9/26/14 at 3:38am UTC, wrote I like that! I need to build a full-scale model of your space-time...
madeleine richter: on 9/11/14 at 0:16am UTC, wrote You're very welcome, Karl! We actually thought about filming a guitar...
Cristinel Stoica: on 9/9/14 at 5:59am UTC, wrote Karl, Your video was very fun and interesting! I also realized watching it...
Karl Coryat: on 9/8/14 at 22:43pm UTC, wrote Joe: This contest is for presenting physics in new and interesting ways....
Karl Coryat: on 9/8/14 at 22:29pm UTC, wrote Thank you Madeleine! I had a similar flash of enlightenment when I saw the...
RECENT FORUM POSTS
Lorraine Ford: "John, You need to be able to explain why mass and energy are represented..." in Emergent Reality: Markus...
John Cox: "Lorraine, Then we must agree to disagree about what physically constitutes..." in Emergent Reality: Markus...
Lorraine Ford: "Malcolm, I don’t agree for one minute with Rob’s or Georgina’s views..." in Alternative Models of...
Georgina Woodward: "Hi Malcolm. Robert is not a troll but like everyone who comments on this..." in Alternative Models of...
Lorraine Ford: "Re "I tend to speed-read then review before scoring after reading a good..." in Undecidability,...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
First Things First: The Physics of Causality
Why do we remember the past and not the future? Untangling the connections between cause and effect, choice, and entropy.
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Thermo-Demonics
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Gravity's Residue
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
Claude Beaucaire: on 10/10/14 at 15:38pm UTC, wrote I Karl, your demonstration is just amazing, I was wondering if you would be...
Karl Coryat: on 9/26/14 at 9:27am UTC, wrote Don't blow my cover Cristi! Just kidding, thank you so much for watching...
Karl Coryat: on 9/26/14 at 9:26am UTC, wrote Thank you, Jonathan, that means a lot to me, especially as I am something...
Jonathan Dickau: on 9/26/14 at 3:38am UTC, wrote I like that! I need to build a full-scale model of your space-time...
madeleine richter: on 9/11/14 at 0:16am UTC, wrote You're very welcome, Karl! We actually thought about filming a guitar...
Cristinel Stoica: on 9/9/14 at 5:59am UTC, wrote Karl, Your video was very fun and interesting! I also realized watching it...
Karl Coryat: on 9/8/14 at 22:43pm UTC, wrote Joe: This contest is for presenting physics in new and interesting ways....
Karl Coryat: on 9/8/14 at 22:29pm UTC, wrote Thank you Madeleine! I had a similar flash of enlightenment when I saw the...
RECENT FORUM POSTS
Lorraine Ford: "John, You need to be able to explain why mass and energy are represented..." in Emergent Reality: Markus...
John Cox: "Lorraine, Then we must agree to disagree about what physically constitutes..." in Emergent Reality: Markus...
Lorraine Ford: "Malcolm, I don’t agree for one minute with Rob’s or Georgina’s views..." in Alternative Models of...
Georgina Woodward: "Hi Malcolm. Robert is not a troll but like everyone who comments on this..." in Alternative Models of...
Lorraine Ford: "Re "I tend to speed-read then review before scoring after reading a good..." in Undecidability,...
RECENT ARTICLES
click titles to read articles
First Things First: The Physics of Causality
Why do we remember the past and not the future? Untangling the connections between cause and effect, choice, and entropy.
Can Time Be Saved From Physics?
Philosophers, physicists and neuroscientists discuss how our sense of time’s flow might arise through our interactions with external stimuli—despite suggestions from Einstein's relativity that our perception of the passage of time is an illusion.
Thermo-Demonics
A devilish new framework of thermodynamics that focuses on how we observe information could help illuminate our understanding of probability and rewrite quantum theory.
Gravity's Residue
An unusual approach to unifying the laws of physics could solve Hawking's black-hole information paradox—and its predicted gravitational "memory effect" could be picked up by LIGO.
Could Mind Forge the Universe?
Objective reality, and the laws of physics themselves, emerge from our observations, according to a new framework that turns what we think of as fundamental on its head.
FQXi FORUM
January 27, 2020
CATEGORY:
Show Me the Physics! Video Contest (2014)
[back]
TOPIC: How Gravity Makes Things Fall by Karl Coryat [refresh]
TOPIC: How Gravity Makes Things Fall by Karl Coryat [refresh]
Video Image
Video URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTVIMOix3I
Video Description
A new demonstration of the effects of spacetime curvature, featuring the "Spacetime Stretcher," built mostly out of materials from my garage and the hardware store.
Video Creator Bio
In addition to my physics interests, I create comedy and music videos under the pseudonym Edward Current ("Eddie Current"). It was a special challenge to provide insights into general relativity for a mainstream audience, with a demonstration that is more physically accurate than the conventional rubber-sheet demo. My essay "Toward an Informational Mechanics" won a Special Commendation prize in FQXi's 2012 Questioning the Foundations competition.
Video URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTVIMOix3I
Video Description
A new demonstration of the effects of spacetime curvature, featuring the "Spacetime Stretcher," built mostly out of materials from my garage and the hardware store.
Video Creator Bio
In addition to my physics interests, I create comedy and music videos under the pseudonym Edward Current ("Eddie Current"). It was a special challenge to provide insights into general relativity for a mainstream audience, with a demonstration that is more physically accurate than the conventional rubber-sheet demo. My essay "Toward an Informational Mechanics" won a Special Commendation prize in FQXi's 2012 Questioning the Foundations competition.
Dear Mr. Coryat,
Nice twist on the “rubber sheet” analogy of gravity. Actually this is very distinct from the usual way the rubber sheet analogy is used to present Einstein’s theory of GR. A colleague of ours (Gary White) has done a fair amount of work on quantifying to what extent the rubber sheet analogy “works”. This can be found in “The shape of “the Spandex” and orbits upon its surface” by G.D. White and M. Walker, American Journal of Physics 70, 48-52 (2002) and “On trajectories of rolling marbles in cones and other funnels”, by G.D. White, American Journal of Physics 81, 890-898 (2013). But again this work deals mostly with the usual way the rubber sheet analogy if used, but may be of interest. By the way one of the outcomes of Gary’s research was that spandex is the thing to use rather than rubber at least for this canonical version of the rubber sheet analogy.
Anyway a very good and lucid video on warping of space-time = gravity. Best of luck with the contest.
Mike, Max, Dan, Simon, Doug
Nice twist on the “rubber sheet” analogy of gravity. Actually this is very distinct from the usual way the rubber sheet analogy is used to present Einstein’s theory of GR. A colleague of ours (Gary White) has done a fair amount of work on quantifying to what extent the rubber sheet analogy “works”. This can be found in “The shape of “the Spandex” and orbits upon its surface” by G.D. White and M. Walker, American Journal of Physics 70, 48-52 (2002) and “On trajectories of rolling marbles in cones and other funnels”, by G.D. White, American Journal of Physics 81, 890-898 (2013). But again this work deals mostly with the usual way the rubber sheet analogy if used, but may be of interest. By the way one of the outcomes of Gary’s research was that spandex is the thing to use rather than rubber at least for this canonical version of the rubber sheet analogy.
Anyway a very good and lucid video on warping of space-time = gravity. Best of luck with the contest.
Mike, Max, Dan, Simon, Doug
Thank you, Doug et al. When researching for this project, one thing I didn't understand is why we should expect geodesics on a traditional rubber sheet to converge (as two falling objects converse), when the traditional rubber sheet has negative curvature, which suggests divergence. One person I talked to said that the traditional rubber sheet is really just a visualization and is not a model in any strict sense of the word. Another pointed out that the geodesics of two objects falling in the same spacetime can in fact diverge, for example when they are traveling the same path through space but at different times. The project got me to appreciate some of the subtleties of spacetime that I hadn't realized before.
Karl,
Thank you for a truly remarkable video! Your space-time stretcher fits wonderfully with the theme of this contest, "Show Me The Physics!"... better yet, "Show Me The MODERN Physics", which is, after all, what FQXi is all about! You are right when you say that the usual rubber sheet analogy is a bit of a let down, as it already requires gravity (to generate a downhill force) to explain gravity... The space-time stretcher is so much better... I want one! :)
Your video is well produced and very pedagogical, and it is, in my opinion, one of the very best that has been submitted to this contest. I hope it makes the finals and is recognized by the jury!
Congratulations!
Marc
P.S. If you have a chance to view, comment and vote on my trilogy of videos entitled "This Is Physics" --- where I try to convey the "fun of physics" by focusing on some of the greatest moments of its history --- it would be quite appreciated!
Thank you for a truly remarkable video! Your space-time stretcher fits wonderfully with the theme of this contest, "Show Me The Physics!"... better yet, "Show Me The MODERN Physics", which is, after all, what FQXi is all about! You are right when you say that the usual rubber sheet analogy is a bit of a let down, as it already requires gravity (to generate a downhill force) to explain gravity... The space-time stretcher is so much better... I want one! :)
Your video is well produced and very pedagogical, and it is, in my opinion, one of the very best that has been submitted to this contest. I hope it makes the finals and is recognized by the jury!
Congratulations!
Marc
P.S. If you have a chance to view, comment and vote on my trilogy of videos entitled "This Is Physics" --- where I try to convey the "fun of physics" by focusing on some of the greatest moments of its history --- it would be quite appreciated!
I tried to imagine taking the traditional rubber sheet demo up to the International Space Station. First, no gravity means the "sun" does not depress the rubber. Even if we were to mechanically push the "sun" against the rubber sheet, the "earth" would not follow similar paths, because the force vector from Earth's gravity, perpendicular to the (flat) surface, is taken away in zero-G. Anyway, thanks for your nice words; I wish more people would vote. I'll check out your video. -KC
Hey Karl
as I'm a visual learner I found the space-time stretcher extremely clever and enlightening! It doesn't happen often, that one can find a simple (however not at all banal) visualization of a complex matter - like the relation between space-time. I loved the way you used the model to describe the three dimensional phenomenon. I wish you the best of luck and hope more physics teachers would come up with such creative ideas as you.
Madeleine.
as I'm a visual learner I found the space-time stretcher extremely clever and enlightening! It doesn't happen often, that one can find a simple (however not at all banal) visualization of a complex matter - like the relation between space-time. I loved the way you used the model to describe the three dimensional phenomenon. I wish you the best of luck and hope more physics teachers would come up with such creative ideas as you.
Madeleine.
Thank you Madeleine! I had a similar flash of enlightenment when I saw the applet mentioned at the end of the video. But I really wanted to be able to see that straight geodesic get bent back into a parabola, to show a falling object's path from the perspective of the fixed observer. That's when I had the idea to make a model that would stretch and unstretch in the required way. Thanks for visiting - I look forward to watching your video on piezoelectricity ... as a musician I am very familiar with this phenomenon (as you likely know, piezoelectric pickups are commonly used for amplifying acoustic instruments). Good luck! -KC
You're very welcome, Karl! We actually thought about filming a guitar session to show the piezoelectric pick-ups and underline it with music :) I hope you liked our video.
We would greatly appreciate if you could give us your vote and feedback, since we all need at least 10 community ratings to qualify for the finals. I really hope yours will be among them, since it taught me a lot.
I still think the Spacetime Stretcher is brilliant the way you made it work. Until then the only "model" I could find were 2-D images like this one, which do show the parabolic curvature but take a different approach to explain the phenomenon.
Madeleine
Piezoelectricity: A Love Story
We would greatly appreciate if you could give us your vote and feedback, since we all need at least 10 community ratings to qualify for the finals. I really hope yours will be among them, since it taught me a lot.
I still think the Spacetime Stretcher is brilliant the way you made it work. Until then the only "model" I could find were 2-D images like this one, which do show the parabolic curvature but take a different approach to explain the phenomenon.
Madeleine
Piezoelectricity: A Love Story
Karl,
Your video was very fun and interesting! I also realized watching it that you are the checkmate guy! If you have time, I would appreciate if you will watch and rate my videos The puzzle of quantum reality and Can a black hole keep a secret?.
Best regads,
Cristi
Your video was very fun and interesting! I also realized watching it that you are the checkmate guy! If you have time, I would appreciate if you will watch and rate my videos The puzzle of quantum reality and Can a black hole keep a secret?.
Best regads,
Cristi
Don't blow my cover Cristi! Just kidding, thank you so much for watching and commenting, and best of luck in the competition.
Karl
Karl
I like that!
I need to build a full-scale model of your space-time stretcher, Karl, that actually stretches the lines of the universe. But seriously; that was very cool.
I hope you get a chance to watch, rate, and comment on my video:
Can the Mandelbrot Set help us understand the Cosmos?
Regards,
Jonathan
I need to build a full-scale model of your space-time stretcher, Karl, that actually stretches the lines of the universe. But seriously; that was very cool.
I hope you get a chance to watch, rate, and comment on my video:
Can the Mandelbrot Set help us understand the Cosmos?
Regards,
Jonathan
Thank you, Jonathan, that means a lot to me, especially as I am something of a fan of both your work and Cristi's (above). Best of luck in the competition!
Karl
Karl
I Karl, your demonstration is just amazing, I was wondering if you would be kinf enough to share your construction plan with a teacher eager to use the same device in class.
Thanks
Thanks
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