Dear Dr B: What do physicists mean by �quantum gravity�?

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�please could you give me a simple definition of "quantum gravity"?

J.�

Dear J,
Physicists refer with �quantum gravity� not so much to a specific theory but to the sought-after solution to various problems in the established theories. The most pressing problem is that the standard model combined with general relativity is internally inconsistent. If we just use

We understand gravity just fine, thank you.

Yesterday I came across a Q&A on the website of Discover magazine, titled �The Root of Gravity - Does recent research bring us any closer to understanding it?� Jeff Lepler from Michigan has the following question:



�Q: Are we any closer to understanding the root cause of gravity between objects with mass? Can we use our newly discovered knowledge of the Higgs boson or gravitational waves to

Experimental Search for Quantum Gravity 2016

Research in quantum gravity is quite a challenge since we neither have a theory nor data. But some of us like a challenge.
So far, most effort in the field has gone into using requirements of mathematical consistency to construct a theory. It is impossible of course to construct a theory based on mathematical consistency alone, because we can never prove our assumptions to be true. All we know is

I�ve read a lot of books recently

[Reading is to writing what eating is to...]

Dreams Of A Final Theory: The Scientist's Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature
Steven Weinberg
Vintage, Reprint Edition (1994)

This book appeared when I was still in high school and I didn�t take note of it then. Later it seemed too out-of-date to bother, but meanwhile it�s almost become a historical document. Written with the pretty explicit aim

Sorry, the universe wasn�t made for you

Last month, game reviewers were all over No Man�s Sky, a new space adventure launched to much press attention. Unlike previous video games, this one calculates players� environments from scratch rather than revealing hand-crafted landscapes and creatures. The calculations populate No Man�s Sky�s virtual universe with about 1019 planets, all with different flora and fauna � at least that�s what