In 1915, Einstein published his theory of General Relativity. Our understanding of the nature of reality changed. Space and time merged, and we learned that each entity’s experience of space and time could be different depending on mass and speed. I still remember the day I learned in school that gravity results from the shape of space-time — like a marble rolling around on a blanket. What a powerful visual! That image stuck with me, and I’ve always thought it was one of the coolest bits of scientific insight ever imagined.
This year, Muse magazine celebrated the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory. I was lucky to get to contribute two articles (in addition to my regular technology column).
The first is an interview with Max Tegmark, who recently published a book about physics and parallel universes: Our Mathematical Universe. It’s a great read! Einstein is quoted throughout, and his theories imply some of the parallel universes that are probably out there.
The second article is about the MICROSCOPE mission, which will test the equivalence principle, a part of Einstein’s theory that basically says that objects of different masses fall at the same rate. If you drop a hammer and a feather while standing on the moon, they hit the dust at the same time. An astronaut actually performed a demonstration during the Apollo 15 mission. So cool!
