I’ve recently changed the title of this blog to “gMOD: gravity modification”.  Why gMOD?  First, it stands for “gravity modification”.  The traditional use of the term “antigravity” has been a hinderance to earnest researchers.  Dr. Ron Koczor of the Science Directorate, NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center knows about choosing the terminology to match your audience.  During an interview with him for a previous article he told me, “When you talk to the general public or the kids whose eyes are half-glazed with anticipation, call it “antigravity”.  But when you talk to people who control the course of research and who themselves have the credibility of their decisions questioned by higher-ups, I think you need to rethink your use of that term.”

Others, such as Dr. Tajmar, have used “artificial gravity”.  However that brings to mind only positive gravity that attracts.  Dr. Tajmar’s studies have discussed both an attractive and repulsive effect, so artificial gravity draws upon the wrong imagery to cover these effects.  In lieu of the term artificial gravity, Dr. Koczor prefers “gravity modification”.

I have used the term “modified gravity”, or modG, in past articles.  However, the term “Modified Gravity” has recently been used to describe a theoretical distance-dependence of gravity as an alternative to “dark matter” or Modified Newtonian Dynamics.  Therefore I’ve returned to Ron’s use of gravity modification to describe methods of modifying gravity locally whether attractive or repulsive.  Hence, “gMOD”.

There is also the “iPod” effect.  Like the first generation of digital “e” functions (email, eLearning, eCommerce, etc.), Apple has glommed onto the “i” devices (iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc.) and has defended it vigorously.  So I’ve coined “gMOD” or “gMod” as a way to described gravity-related functions and devices.  Hey, why not?

I also have a logo.  The floating “g” suggests that gravity is modified… even optional!  Enjoy.