Stop the Presses.  Gravity is a Force and Space is not Curved.

So I get most of my physics from YouTube and the latest news flash is that Einstein’s belief that mass warps space-time may be put aside for a theory where gravity is a force again and space-time isn’t curved.  In fact, maybe it’s not space-time anymore just space and time.

Uh, okay.  Personally, I never understood why (or how) space could be curved.  I didn’t see why light couldn’t just be affected by gravity the same as everything else.  I mean what does it mean to say space is curved?  Space, per se, is nothing.  It is the lack of something and all it has is location so how can a bit of nothing be curved?  Now the fact that matter and even light can be deflected in their motion through space makes sense.  We can see it all the time with magnets and projectiles in a gravity field.  It’s Newton’s law extended by all the other theories that identify the other forces; electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear forces.  So why say space is curved?  According to the report (and I’m not saying I can fathom this) this new way of looking at gravity also eliminates the current paradox between quantum theory and Einstein’s conception of gravity.  In your face Albert!

Now to be fair to Professor Einstein later on he had been thinking about a similar system he called Teleparallel Gravity.  So maybe all of this is just more reviewing old ideas because nothing new has been discovered.  But I think it makes sense to bring the best minds to bear on these fundamental questions.  Of course, if there’s no space-time then all of the science fiction that used the term becomes dated and passe.  Such is life.

Now, if there is no warping of space does that mean Black Holes can’t tear a hole in it?  Is there no such thing as a singularity?  Are there no worm holes and no way to go from one universe to another?  Next thing you know they’ll be telling me that the speed of light isn’t the fastest speed possible and faster-than-light travel is perfectly achievable if only I can buy enough dynamite from the ACME company and strap it to the back of my rocket sled.

Okay, now the inertialess drives of Doc Smith’s Skylark and Lensman series are science again and jungle worlds with naked red-haired amazon warrior women who can become part of the federation are totally realistic again.  I just hope that the ultra-intelligent but hopelessly-evil amoeboid Eddorians don’t find out about this quantum gravity thing before the Arisians do, so we will still have a chance to perfect a way to destroy Ploor with an inertialess planet that we’ve somehow translated from another dimension and then restored its inertia in time to use it as an irresistible planet wrecker.  Oh wait, I just said there are no alternate dimensions.

Okay, forget that last bit.  But otherwise, I’m completely on board with this new quantum gravity/non-curved space rigamarole.  Let’s just try and give it a cooler name.