"Electromagnetism is, in many ways, the best-measured of all the fundamental interactions, and its strength is known to better than 1-part-in-a-billion from precision laboratory experiments."
"Gravitation, despite being the first fundamental force ever discovered, remains only extremely poorly known: to only 1-part-in-a-few-thousand, where the uncertainty shows up in the fourth significant digit."
"The quest to understand the Universe scientifically, in many ways, began with gravity. In ancient times, every human was greeted with a dazzling night sky, filled with thousands of glittering points of light."
"A new measurement of the gravitational constant was announced: the culmination of a decade of efforts at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology."
The universe is governed by fundamental laws and constants that are universal. Four fundamental forces exist: electromagnetism, gravitation, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force. Electromagnetism is precisely measured, while gravitation is poorly known, with significant uncertainty in its constant. A new measurement of the gravitational constant was announced in April 2026, revealing deeper mysteries. The scientific quest to understand the universe began with gravity, as ancient humans observed the night sky and the movement of celestial bodies.
Read at Big Think
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