ACEIZE Tracking the current state of Science and Technology

Dr. Erik Verlinde, physics professor at the University of Amsterdam recently released a paper titled 'On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton'. It appears as though the paper is as yet unpublished. In the paper Dr. Verlinde argues that gravity is an emergent consequence of the laws of thermodynamics, and not a separate phenomenon. Dennis Overbye of the NY Times probably has the most succinct explanation:

It goes something like this: your hair frizzles in the heat and humidity, because there are more ways for your hair to be curled than to be straight, and nature likes options. So it takes a force to pull hair straight and eliminate nature’s options. Forget curved space or the spooky attraction at a distance described by Isaac Newton’s equations well enough to let us navigate the rings of Saturn, the force we call gravity is simply a byproduct of nature’s propensity to maximize disorder.

Thanks to scottmillerinva for the link suggestion!