6 Weird Facts About Gravity

Gravity is part of our lives here on Earth, we take it for granted in fact we didn’t even realise it existed until an apple fell from a tree in front of Isaac Newton, making him realise it was there. Gravity is much more than fruit falling from trees, it draws all objects together in direct proportion to their mass amongst many other things you probably don’t know. Check out these 6 weird facts about gravity.

Gravity is all in your head

Gravity is pretty consistent on Earth, but our perception of gravity certainly isn’t. In April 2011 research suggested that people can judge falling objects when they are sitting upright better than they can when they are lying on their side. This, in turn, suggests that our perception of gravity is less based on our visual clues and more rooted in our bodies orientation. This could lead to new ways of helping astronauts deal with microgravity in space.

Back down to Earth is tough

Astronauts are aware that the switch from the weightlessness of space to the gravity here on Earth is tough on our bodies. When gravity is absent or reduced our muscles atrophy and our bones lose bone mass. NASA thinks that astronauts lose around 1% of bone mass per month in space. When returning to Earths gravity the body needs time to adjust the heart must work harder to provide the brain with a constant supply of blood. Mentally it is also challenging; many astronauts break things for weeks after returning to Earth, assuming they will be weightless they simply ‘drop’ them after use!