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Beyond Science, Good to Know

9 Scientists Who Dispute Theory of Gravity

Beyond Science, Good to Know

9 Scientists Who Dispute Theory of Gravity
By Tara MacIsaac, Epoch Times |

March 30, 2014 AT 6:23 AM

Last Updated:

June 8, 2016 10:06 am

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1 /aloft.
Creativity does not somehow float free of economic gravity, miraculously 6 (Shutterstock*)

In Beyond Science, Epoch Times explores research and accounts related to phenomena and theories that challenge our current knowledge. We delve
into ideas that stimulate the imagination and open up new possibilities. Share your thoughts with us on these sometimes controversial topics in the
comments section below.

As the study of quantum physics progresses, and as scientists discover more about black holes, dark matter, dark energy, and other cosmic
phenomena, it becomes increasingly difficult to make it all fit with the current understanding of gravity.

Sir Isaac Newton took the first big step in forming the understanding of gravity science has today. Albert Einsteins relativity theory, which viewed
gravity as a consequence of a space-time curvature, took the next big step in shaping this understanding.

Together, Newton and Einstein formed the understanding science has of this force.

Here is a look at the problems related to gravity highlighted by nine scientists, as well as alternative theories.

1. Thomas Townsend Brown: A Machine That Defies Gravity?

Thomas Townsend Brown (1905-1985) was a physicist who conducted research for the U.S. Navy and National Defense and later worked as a
consultant in the aircraft industry.

He created a machine, patented as the gravitator, that he said defied gravityand which some scientists to this day say defied gravity. Affected by a
high-voltage charge, it moved contrary to how it should within the current understanding of gravity.

In his patent application, Brown said it operates in a resting state in relation to the rest of the universe. This defies Albert Einsteins special relativity
theory, which dictates that a force should operate in the same manner to any frame of reference. The gravitator is also said to have violated Sir Isaac
Newtons third law of physics that every action should produce an equal and opposite reaction.

In 1930, Colonel Edward Deeds wrote: I have had a number of scientists view the gravitator and they have all been absolutely amazed at its action,
frankly stating that whereas they see the results and the movements of the gravitator, it is absolutely unexplainable by any laws of physics that they
know.

Some have said the gravitators movements are directed by an ion windthat ionized particles create the force. Paul A. LaViolette is among the
scientists who disagree with the ion-wind explanation.

Measurements of thrust indicated that the force lifting Browns electrified disc was almost 100 million times greater than what could reasonably be
generated by an ion wind, LaViolette wrote in his book Secrets of Anti-Gravity Propulsion.

2. Paul A. LaViolette: Government Secretly Building Anti-Gravity Aircraft?

LaViolette received his Ph.D. from Portland State University and is currently president of the Starburst Foundation, an interdisciplinary scientific

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research institute. He wrote in his book: For the past several decades, highly classified aerospace programs in the United States and in several other
countries have been developing aircraft capable of defying gravity. One form of this technology can loft a craft on matter-repelling energy beams.
This exotic technology falls under the relatively obscure field of research known as electrogravitics.

LaViolette traced this field of research back to Nikola Tesla in the 19th century and then to Brown in the first half of the 20th century. In Browns
theories, electrostatic and gravitational fields are combined, explained LaViolette.

The electrogravitic effect is ignored because the phenomenon isnt anticipated by either classical electrostatics or general relativity, wrote
LaViolette.

He goes on to discuss subquantum kinetics, which views gravity as both a push and a pull. This is possible through electric charge polarity. This
polarity correlates to negative and positive gravitational forces.

3. NASA on Dark Energy

This composite image shows the distribution of dark matter, galaxies, and hot gas in the core of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 520, formed from a violent collision of massive galaxy clusters. (NASA, ESA, CFHT, CXO, M.J. Jee at the
University of California, and A. Mahdavi at San Francisco State University)

Scientists know the universe is expanding at an increasing rate. They say dark energy is the force behind this expansion. They dont know what
dark energy is, but it may defy Einsteins theory of gravity.

A NASA paper describing dark energy says one possibility is that Einsteins theory of gravity is not correct.

That would not only affect the expansion of the universe, but it would also affect the way that normal matter in galaxies and clusters of galaxies
behaved, the paper states. This fact would provide a way to decide if the solution to the dark energy problem is a new gravity theory or not: we
could observe how galaxies come together in clusters. But if it does turn out that a new theory of gravity is needed, what kind of theory would it be?

ALSO SEE: Immense Force Changing CosmosBaffled Scientists Rethink Current Paradigm

4. Tom Van Flandern: A Problem With the Speed of Gravity

Tom Van Flandern (1940-2009) received his Ph.D. in astronomy from Yale University in 1969. He did not fully reject general relativity, but he did
say the theory had problems. Einsteins theory was incomplete rather than wrong, he wrote in The Speed of GravityWhat the Experiments
Say, published in Physics Letter A in 1998.

He questioned the understanding of the speed of gravity. In Sir Isaac Newtons Universal Law of Gravitation, the speed of gravity is infinite, Van
Flandern explained. But in general relativity theory, gravity moves at the speed of light. Van Flandern said this conflict is often skirted around in
academia.

The same dilemma comes up in many guises, he wrote. Why do photons from the sun travel in directions that are not parallel to the direction of
Earths gravitational acceleration toward the sun? Why do total eclipses of the sun by the moon reach maximum eclipse about 40 seconds before the
sun and moons gravitational forces align? How do binary pulsars anticipate each others future position, velocity, and acceleration faster than the

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light time between them would allow? How can black holes have gravity when nothing can get out because escape speed is greater than the speed of
light?

He proposed a new way to understand the speed of gravity.

5. William H. Cantrell Says Einsteins Logic is Circular

William H. Cantrell, Ph.D., is a member of the technical staff at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He was formerly an adjunct assistant professor in the
electrical engineering department at the University of Texas.

He presented a dissident view of relativity theory in the magazine Infinite Energy, published by the non-profit organization New Energy Foundation
(NEF).

The touted successes of Einsteins theory, such as nuclear fission in the atomic bomb, do not actually rely on his theory, Cantrell said. The atomic
bomb could go off without relativity theory.

Cantrell wrote: It is undoubtedly a fact that relativity theory had a profound impact on physics during the 20th century. Einsteins theory is
celebrated the world over for having produced a series of brilliant successes. Nevertheless, there is a sizeable community of dissident scientists who
reject it outright, and a far larger group, unaware of an alternative, who harbor a pronounced distaste for it.

This dislike stems from the fact that Einstein borrows from the mathematics of Lorentz and Poincar, and this allows him to modify length and time
measurement to force the speed of light to be constant for all observers.

Given a clear alternative to tampering with the fundamentals, most rational thinkers would jump at the chance for a substitute. But why challenge
such a supposedly successful theory? Well, for two very good reasonsfirst, to truly understand and describe how nature works, and second, to
achieve new breakthroughs, once an unintentional roadblock to progress has been removed.

Cantrell and other scientists have said the logic of Einsteins theory is circular. He illustrated this point with an analogy. He said one could
hypothesize that the Earth has a twin moon made of a special green cheese that is perfectly transparent to illumination.

Obviously this is nonsense, but by its own design, the statement cannot be refuted by experiment. We find ourselves in a similar predicament when it
comes to Einsteins relativity.

6. Ruggero Maria Santilli: Relativity Butts Heads With Quantum Electrodynamics

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Ruggero Maria Santilli was educated at the University of Naples and the University of Turin in Italy and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University
before founding the Institute of Basic Research. Santilli presents nine inconsistencies between Einsteins general relativity theory and current
scientific understandings. Some of these inconsistencies pose problems for the conventional understanding of gravity.

One such inconsistency is that Einsteins gravitation cannot be essentially reconciled with quantum electrodynamics, said Santilli in his 2006
paper Nine Theorems of Inconsistency in GRT with Resolutions via Isogravitation.

Remembering that quantum electrodynamics is one of the most solid and experimentally verified theories in scientific history, it is evident that the
rather widespread assumption of Einsteins gravitation as having final and universal character is non-scientific, he wrote.

Santillis paper was published in the journal Galilean Electrodynamics, founded by Dr. Petr Beckmann, who reinterpreted relativity in his 1987
book Einstein Plus Two.

The journal publishes articles that challenge Einsteins general and special relativity theories. Its editorial policy states: In particular, the journal
seeks papers arguing that Einsteins theories are needlessly complicated, have been confirmed only in a narrow sector of physics, [and] lead to logical
contradictions

Tom Bethell

Tom Bethell is not a scientist, but he has researched alternative theories extensively as a senior editor at the American Spectator. In his
article Rethinking Relativity, he wrote: A criterion of simplicity has frequently been used as a court of appeal in deciding between theories. If it is
made complex enough, the Ptolemaic system can predict planetary positions correctly. But the Sun-centered system is much simpler, and ultimately
we prefer it for that reason.

He quoted Clifford M. Will of Washington University, a leading proponent of relativity: It is difficult to imagine a life without special relativity.
Just think of all the phenomena or features of our world in which special relativity plays a role. Atomic energy, both the explosive and the controlled
kind. The famous equation E=mc2 tells how mass can be converted into extraordinary amounts of energy.

Bethell drew attention to the predicate plays a role. Bethell wrote, [Will] knows that the stronger claim, is indispensable, would be pounced on as
inaccurate.

7. Joseph Polchinski: Questions Assumptions

Joseph Polchinski (Lubos Motl)

Joseph Polchinski, a theoretical physicist at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discussed the
idea of gravity in relation to black holes. Einsteins theory dictates that black holes have an extremely strong gravitational pull.

Famed scientist Stephen Hawking said in the 1970s that matter can leak out of black holes, setting up a paradox.

As mentioned earlier, Van Flandern wondered, if gravity moves at the speed of light, How can black holes have gravity when nothing can get out
because escape speed is greater than the speed of light?

Polchinski told PBS in February after Hawking discussed some new theories on black holes: Its not so much that theres a mistake, but somehow,
some assumption that we believe about quantum mechanics and gravity is wrong, and were trying to figure out what it is.

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Its confusion, but its confusion that we hope makes us ripe for advance, he said.

8. Eric Verlinde: Bad Hair Day Theory of Gravity

Professor Eric Verlinde is a string theorist and a professor of physics at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Amsterdam.

He views gravity as a consequence of the laws of thermodynamics, influenced by factors such as temperature, pressure, and composition. Gravity as
we perceive itthe apple falling from the tree, for examplearises out of natures propensity to maximize disorder.

A 2010 New York Times article described it as a bad hair day theory of gravity. Hair becomes frizzy in heat and humidity because there are more
ways for hair to be curled than to be straight, and nature likes options. Similar principles work on objects to arrange them in space, according to
Verlinde.

Weve known for a long time gravity doesnt exist, Dr. Verlinde told the Times, Its time to yell it.

9. Juan Maldacena: Einsteins Theory Should Be Replaced With Something Quantum

Mechanical

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Juan Maldacena (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena, who is now at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., further developed a theory that
views the universe as a world of very thin, vibrating strings. Put simply, these strings create gravity. The world of strings is understood as a hologram
projected from a lower-dimensional cosmos, one that is simpler, flatter, and without gravity.

In an interview posted by educational resource website Learner.org, Maldacena said: We think that general relativity or Einsteins theory should be
replaced by something quantum mechanical when you reach these points like the beginning of the Big Bang, for example, or the interior of the black
holes you also have a similar example of matter collapsing in a very small region of space-time and there you cannot describe space-time classically.
You have to do it using quantum mechanics. String theory is a theory under construction that has been developed to describe quantum mechanical
space-time.

*Image of man jumping rope via Shutterstock

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