Hi, If you grew up watching the bugs bunny cartoons like me,
Then you might have the impression that gravity only works
If you walk off the edge of a cliff and look down.
But in real world, gravity is a force that exists among all material objects in the universe.
And attracts them toward each other.
Without gravity, life as we know it on Earth would not exist.
The Earth would stop orbiting the sun and drift in different directions.
The layers of the Earth from the atmosphere to the soil
And everything down to the crust, would drift away from the Earth.
Even the moon would drift away. So, thank God for gravity!
Back when a young Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree in his garden,
And an apple fell on his head, he concluded gravity must be pulling the apple down.
But years later, Einstein had another theaory,
Gravity is not pulling us down. Space is pushing us down.
Einstein predicted that through gravity objects actually warp the space-time around them.
Such that the movement of every object from a human to a super massive black hole
Produces ripples in the space-time continuum.
He used this analogy to explain it further
“Just as a boat sailing through the ocean produces waves in the water (ripples),
Moving masses like stars or black holes
Produce gravitational waves (ripples) in the fabric of space-time.”
On February 11th 2016, David Reitze,
The executive director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
Reported that researchers had detected gravitational waves
That were created by the merging of two black holes.
This is quite a historic detection by all accounts.
And confirms a major prediction of Einstein’s from over 100 years ago.
But, what’s even more fascinating
Is that Quran spoke of gravitational waves over 1400 years ago.
To more clearly illustrate what these gravitational waves are like,
Einstein himself as well as physics professors and teachers alike
Compared the movement of spatial bodies to a child’s bounce on a trampoline.
And in verse 11 of chapter 86 of the Quran,
It is written: “By the heaven which is characterized by its bounce”
The Quran swears by this unique characteristic function of the heavens,
Or space as we commonly call it,
By alluding to the distinct movement, “the bounce” produced when heavenly bodies move in space.
Now, staying within the gravity family,
Let’s take a look at gravity’s younger, lesser known brother: microgravity.
Question for you? When I say the word astronaut,
What’s the first thing that pops into your head?
I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s not the word: swimmer. Right?
Because astronauts fly up into space, the exact opposite direction from diving into the ocean.
But did you know that astronauts have to be really good swimmers?
Why do astronauts need to know how to swim so well?
Because, according to NASA “floating in space is a lot like floating in water.”
So much so that NASA has built a massive pool that is 10 times larger than an Olympic-sized one.
So their astronauts can train for spacewalks by going for a swim.
The pool is called the neutral buoyancy laboratory,
And it simulates the conditions found in the weightlessness of space.
The underground laboratory contains 6.2 million gallons of water,
And is used by astronauts decked out in their full space suits
To carry out the tasks they will be expected to perform in space.
With the assistance of scuba divers,
Astronauts train seven hours in the pool for every one hour they will spend on a spacewalk.
Hmmm…interesting…there is no water on space,
And yet NASA trains their astronauts for spacewalks
In the world’s largest swimming pool.
You know what else is interesting: that the Quran linked space with water as well
When it said: “And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon,
All in an orbit are swimming” That’s right.
the Quran used the verb “swimming” to emphasize the microgravity and weightless environment of space.
Now let’s take a quick look at the transmission of gravitational effects,
After all, if space has waves and ripples like water,
Then what’s to keep anything in its place and stop it from just floating off?
Two words: Gravitational anchors,
A term coined by the physicist Robert Tuttle in 2012.
To understand this better, let’s borrow a beautiful analogy from physicists Thomas Van Flandern
And Vigier who explain the transmission of gravitational effects
By asking us to imagine a buoy floating on the surface of the sea.
The buoy is connected by a chain to an anchor that is holding it in place.
If the anchor is moved, the chain causes the buoy to move too.
In turn, the buoy’s motion sets off waves in the water.
If we translate this analogy into gravitational language,
The anchor is the source mass, the chain is the gravitational force
And the buoy is the target mass.
The waves in the water caused by the buoy’s movement
And induced by the motion of the anchor,
Travel in the water and are analogous to gravitational waves.
Fortunately for planet Earth, research has shown that our sun is the gravitational anchor of the solar system.
At the same time, the black hole at the centre of nearly every galaxy including our own,
Acts as a gravitational anchor for the galaxies,
Holding them together in space.
When, 1400 years ago, the Quran explained how the Universe was created,
It confirmed that the Earth needs to be anchored
By saying: “And He (God) has dropped into the Earth what anchors it,
Lest it should shake (shift) with you.”
In another verse, it is written: “He (God) made in the Earth what anchors it from high above.”
It is worth mentioning that the Quran uses the verb “dropped”,
And the term “from high above it” in the above verses
Because, interestingly enough in 2016,
David Reitz proved that gravitational waves from those colliding black holes in space
Passed through the Earth.
But, there are some who would use the concept of Gravity to go in the other direction
And argue that there is no such thing as God.
In his book, A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing,
Lawrence Krauss says that the total amount of energy in the universe is exactly zero.
This is the case becausem the universe’s positive energy in the form of matter
Is canceled out by its negative energy in the form of gravity.
In other words, gravity balances matter.
Therefore, the net energy of the universe is zero.
Meaning that the universe is essentially nothing.
Krauss argues that, if the Universe really adds up to nothing,
Then why must we feel compelled to invoke a God to explain its cause?
Well, don’t worry Mr. Krauss, when you say gravity balances matter,
The Quran addresses this too.
The Quran points out that what anchors the earth balances everything.
When it says: “We have spread out the Earth, and dropped into Earth what anchors it (gravity)
And caused to grow therein of everything (matter) in due balance.”
So let’s take a minute to appreciate this wonderful pull of nature we call gravity.
Even though it often feels like gravity becomes 20 times stronger when your alarm clock starts to ring in the morning,
Without it, our world would quite literally be in chaos.