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ArcticHelix OP t1_je9pnf0 wrote

Reply to comment by BmanUltima in G forces and turning in space by ArcticHelix

Is there a possible situation where they do not apply in turning?

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Upholder93 t1_je9sdyb wrote

Objects in freefall do not feel the effects of g-forces. This is why astronauts on the ISS are weightless, despite the gravity in LEO being almost the same as at the surface.

So it is possible for objects to move in a curve without feeling the effects of acceleration. However it requires they be accelerated by gravity and nothing gets in their way (the ISS is always accelerating toward the centre of the earth, it just has enough lateral momentum that it never hits it).

Conceptually, if you could create and manipulate gravitational fields, you could accelerate without feeling g-forces.

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b_a_t_m_4_n t1_je9tr5e wrote

Technically they're moving in a straight line through curved space. So they experience no inertial forces because their velocity never changes.

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Upholder93 t1_je9v3qg wrote

I was simplifying to a euclidean perspective, but yes, you're absolutely right.

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ArcticHelix OP t1_je9szaz wrote

Do you think that creating and manipulating gravity is possible in the future and if so would it be used?

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Upholder93 t1_je9ure2 wrote

The technology is the same as that necessary to manipulate space-time, so similar in notion to that used to create wormholes and warp bubbles, though perhaps a less complex application of it.

At present our theoretical understanding implies that this requires either exotic negative energy (which has not been proven to exist), or absolutely insane amounts of energy (think mass of planets level energies). So with our current understanding it's either physically or practically impossible.

However gravity is still probably the least we'll understood of the four fundamental forces, so it may be that future discoveries enable space-time manipulation for more reasonable energy expense. It's unlikely to happen soon, but if it can be done it will be. There is already research being done into reducing the energy demand, and much more into gravity itself.

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b_a_t_m_4_n t1_je9tv73 wrote

That would require that we understand what gravity is. And we don't yet.

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