**Pre-reqs:** None. I intend to talk about forces and force diagrams, but there is a more fundamental question to address first. What is a force? Most texts define it as a push or a pull. That really ...

A couple of commenters expressed concern over the use of centrifugal force after my rant on the use of the word force. So, what is the deal with these two terms? Are they ok to use? Are they real ...

This story is part of Short Wave's series Space Camp about all the weird, wonderful things happening in the universe. Check out the rest of the series. What does it take to launch into space? Other ...

A former NASA engineer working on a propellant-less propulsion drive has claimed that the device can deliver enough thrust to achieve lift in Earth's gravity, an effect which should not take place ...

The idea of emergent gravity is still new and requires a lot of assumptions in its calculations to make it work. But if experimental evidence ever proves it real, we would need to totally rewrite the ...

Over the last few decades, there have been quite a few science-related books with one-word titles. “Cod” and “Salt” by Mark Kurlansky come to mind, as does Dava Sobel’s “Longitude.” Such books promise ...

We think of gravity as weighty—its omnipresent grasp pulling us down to the ground. Try to lift a piano up a flight of stairs and you can feel gravity’s resistance. ( Receive emails about upcoming ...