What If Gravity Isn’t Quantum? New Experiments Explore

What If Gravity Isn’t Quantum? New Experiments Explore

From PBS Space Time by PBS

May 5, 2026 · 24 min

About this episode

The episode discusses potential experiments to connect quantum mechanics with general relativity without requiring massive particle colliders.

👉 Head to https://brilliant.org/spacetime/ for a 30-day free trial + 20% off your annual subscription Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime If we discover how to connect quantum mechanics with general relativity we’ll pretty much win physics. There are multiple theories that claim to do this, but it’s notoriously difficult to test them. They seem to require absurd experiments like a particle collider the size of a galaxy. Or we could try to physics smarter, instead of physicsing harder. Let’s talk about some ideas for quantum gravity experiments that can be done on a non-galaxy-sized lab bench, and in some cases already have been done. PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Christopher Pollack, Lorenzo Braccini, & Matt O'Dowd Post Production…

People in this episode

Host: Matt O'Dowd

Topics covered

  • quantum mechanics
  • general relativity
  • quantum gravity experiments
  • physics
  • science
  • astronomy

Keywords

  • quantum gravity
  • experiments
  • general relativity
  • quantum mechanics
  • physics
  • PBS Space Time

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS

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