Quantum Gravity

The weak gravitational pull on a particle just half the mass of a grain of sand has been measured for the first time. This most precise measurement of its kind is a breakthrough towards the quantum realm and a potential Theory of Everything.

A unified Theory Of Everything is the holy grail of physics, but gravity refuses to play ball. A newly proposed theory attempts to unify Einstein’s theory of gravity with quantum mechanics – and importantly, outlines a way to test it experimentally.

Gravity is the only fundamental force that can’t currently be explained by quantum physics. Now scientists have outlined a plan to look for signs of quantum gravity out in the cosmos by listening in to the 'ringing' of colliding black holes.

Some theories suggest there could be many more dimensions that we’re unaware of, mostly because they’re imperceptibly tiny. Now researchers have taken the search for extra dimensions down to the nanoscale, using a neutron beam to study gravitational forces more precisely than ever before.

Albert Einstein is famous for his theories on relativity, but what of his other grand hypothesis, the unified field theory that consumed the last 30 years of his life without resolution? So will a unified theory of everything ever be realized?

Researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley have measured what is believed to be the smallest force yet recorded – 42 yoctonewtons, or a septillionth of a newton.