Have you ever imagined what would happen if gravity was turned off?
Probably it would turn out to be worse than you can ever imagine!
Gravitational force is an attractive force and it is one of the fundamental forces in nature. Being the weakest force in the universe it’s gravity that holds the planets in orbits around the sun, keeps the moon in its orbit around the Earth and keeps the stars, galaxies, nebulae and all the other cosmic stuff in their respective positions. It is due to the extreme strength of this force that humongous objects like the black holes eat pretty much everything that tries to cross their path, including the fastest sprinter of the universe, light. It is this force that keeps the universe running and grounded.Earth exerts its gravity on all things that exist on it. This encompasses everything right from the tiniest insects to the mighty and towering skyscrapers. Nothing can escape the force of gravity, particularly when it possesses a mass.
As we all know gravity has made life possible on earth. But, wait ! Let’s hypothesize a situation where the gravity of the universe ceases. Although it’s difficult to imagine such a scenario as gravity acts on us throughout our lifetime from the time we are born until we are dead, let us try to imagine the possible events that might occur in the aftermath of the disappearance of gravity.
I guess that people might think that they would be floating in the air in the absence of gravity like the astronauts in a space ship. But the truth is far fetched from reality and seemingly unpleasant. Every object on earth would become weightless. Nothing would be held in place. The earth would continue to spin, without exerting its gravitational pull on the objects to keep them tied. The lack of gravity would possibly turn humans and other objects with mass into fast-moving tumbleweeds.
The real apocalypse would probabaly start when the atmosphere floats off into space which means that we will not be able to breathe unless we have oxygen cylinders. The sunlight would penetrate the earth more than it would actually do in the presence of the atmosphere, raising the temperature to many folds. Earth would have lost its oceans, rivers and all water bodies to outer space. A sudden loss of air pressure would damage everyone’s ears causing rapid bleeding. The earth would experience an incredible amount of pressure causing its building and rocks to break apart. Life on earth would be completely wiped out. What about us? Oh, of course, we would all die.
The life-supporting planet would have lost all lives. The lack of gravity would cause the earth to break into chunks, drifting into space.
A similar fate would befall the universe. Stars will run out, planets would fly apart, a massive explosion of everything due to incredible pressure could occur. Eventually, the infinite cosmos would plunge into darkness with the remnants of the apocalypse drifting around.
Isn’t that frightening ? A space of nothingness can never be imagined. Nevertheless, gravity is a good thing and a life saver.
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