this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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199
What would a world where gravity is a weather condition look like? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
76 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Apologies if this doesn't fit here, not sure where else to post something like this on lemmy

I think having gravity act like weather might be an interesting concept for a fantasy world, where each country has its own gravity patterns, some tend to be heavier some tend to be lighter, some are all over the place

For a few examples, there could be a desert with gravity so high you can get dragged down into the sand

Could be a country with gravity so low everyone uses personal aircraft that work like bicycles instead of land vehicles

Animals in higher gravity areas would have less dense bones, more muscle, etc and lower gravity would have far larger animals because they can support more weight

In a really high gravity area people might need exoskeletons to prevent long term damage

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[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think having people travel between them could be pretty weird. John Carter on Mars showed how going to a low gravity place would have some benefits (he could jump around like a flea). The people living on Mars though thought there gravity was "normal" because they'd always experienced it, however they did have simpler flying machines.

But if a creature traveled to a higher gravity zone they'd just be crushed like a human on the sea floor. Would all these monsters creep from the high gravity places and destroy low gravity civilizations?

Would the borders be sharp? What's driving the differences? Dense unground metal deposits? Wizards?

I don't think it's horrible but there's a lot to be worked out.

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I like the underground ore deposit idea but it doesn't account for gravity changing

I would imagine the gravity change would be gradual rather than sharp, so you wouldn't just step over a border and be instantly crushed, they'd have fair warning to turn back

Though I imagine it would be an issue similar to how drastic temperature changes are an issue (for example if someone from Finland went to live in Texas and couldn't deal with the heat or vice versa)

The animals from higher gravity areas would likely be dangerous, however their bodies would likely have evolved to be far less dense, bones could be broken more easily, they could be pushed around more easily/flung into the air and wouldn't be well equipped to deal with that

Also, guns would still exist, creatures still wouldn't be able to easily cross oceans so I imagine to a modern society they wouldn't be too much of a threat in the same way that gorillas are pretty scary up close but aren't really a problem realistically

Definitely are a lot of finer technical points to work out which is kind of the point of this post, just interested to explore the possibilities

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If entering lower gravity areas causes bones and muscle to become less dense, then entering higher gravity areas causes bones and muscle to become more dense. Just look at what happens to those on the ISS after long expose to low g forces. The animals from high gravity areas would likely be shorter, but stronger in musclemass and bone density and/or structure. Higher gravity would also mean higher air density. So maybe the air would be more soupy and difficult to travel through. So perhaps the animals would be more aerodynamic. A stiff beeze would ruin your day!

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Ooh interesting point, imagine you go on holiday to a higher gravity area and not only does it become difficult to hold yourself up (might need some kind of protective suit or exoskeleton for tourists to take some of the weight and prevent injury) but also get battered by the wind as you try to move

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://gpg.geosci.xyz/content/gravity/gravity_basics.html

If for some reason the whole planet were made of a less dense material except underneath my house was a massive deposit of gold or lead or something, yes, in reality, that variation in gravity can be measured.

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/indian-ocean-gravity-hole/

Further reading.

Obviously in your fictional world there has to be a reason tiny anomalies are amped up to eleven. But yes, geology drives gravity variations.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think the way I'd do it if I were writing a story about this world would be to just not mention the technicalities

Either it's a medieval level fantasy world where they don't understand how it works and it's equivalent to how the sun works or weather works

Or it's modern day and people generally don't talk about the finer technicalities the same way people don't go around casually discussing in detail what causes wind to blow or temperatures to rise and fall

Also, it's fantasy so it could also just be it works that way because all poweful space cthulu decided that's how it works

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think your readers would just except that gravity is just smudged across the planet. Sure, some fantasy has iffy rules and little explanation, but something like this smacks more of high fantasy or even scifi.

You don't need to have a geologist character boring your characters, but some level of lore explaining folke reasons for the variation is going to color your world and sell it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It will absolutely help to have some hint at an explanation

But if the world is not at the the technological level required to figure it out then it wouldn't make any sense for them to explain it scientifically

They could perhaps explain it as it is this way because the gods made it this way, or because it's fantasy it actually could be because the gods made it that way (hence my magic space cthulu comment)

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Would all these monsters creep from the high gravity places and destroy low gravity civilizations?

You've just reminded me of a book series I started reading a few years ago. I think it was caused by the Earth having much higher gravity than other planets, but the story was basically humans were super strong. Because of this, they could jump long distances and punch through walls.

I'm going to have to start reading it again, if I can remember what it was called.