Gravity’s oldest constant remains unsolved after 340 years
Space.com reports that the gravitational constant Big G—the oldest fundamental constant in physics—remains the least precisely known after 340 years. A decade-long effort led by NIST’s Stephan Schlamminger used a refined torsion‑balance experiment with an envelope bias to avoid “intellectual phase locking,” producing a Big G value slightly lower than CODATA’s standard. The result, among 17 measurements, suggests a possible revision to Earth's mass if correct, but the persistent discrepancies between experiments mean the fundamental mystery of gravity’s strength is not solved.
