Re: [Phys-l] feeling gravity, or not

[<carmelo@pacific.net.sg>]

John Denker wrote:
> Whether we can feel gravity depends on three things
>  -- the degree of inhomogeneity
>  -- the size-scale of our measurements
>  -- the sensitivity of our measurements

That is incredible! Sound like Obi-Wan Kenobi asking Anakin Skywalker to "feel the force". May the Force be with you then...

I prefer to recall Einstein's thought experiment, "the happiest thought of my life. I was sitting in a chair when all of a sudden a thought occurred to me: if a person falls freely he or she will not feel their own weight. I was startled. This simple thought made a deep impression on me."

Besides, in the movie, "The hunt for Red October", an officer on the bridge shouted "gravity anomaly values in milligals". This was a breach of U.S. security when the movie was made because it was a classified secret that gravity measurements were used to navigate. (The technology which can "see" the terrain.) Let's not talk about how we feel, but operational measurement! Better still, how gravity anomaly values can be measured. Anyway, this technology is already *de-classifed*. 


Alphonsus