What if Earth's gravity suddenly dropped by 50%?

[00:00:00]What would happen if Earth's gravity suddenly decreased by 50%? Sounds pretty [music] awesome, right? Your body weight would instantly be cut in half. You could jump much higher than normal. High jumpers, long jumpers, and basketball players would be breaking world records one after another.

[00:00:16]But that's only the beginning. Gravity is what keeps everything anchored to the ground. If it became half as strong, plants could grow much taller. Giant animals like elephants and giraffes could eventually evolve to become even larger than they are today. However, the human body would run into trouble. Our bones and muscles are designed to function under Earth's current gravity.

[00:00:36]If gravity remained lower for a long time, our muscles would shrink. Our bones would become more fragile, and our hearts [music] would weaken because they would no longer need to work as hard as before.

[00:00:46]But the biggest concern would be up in the sky.

[00:00:49]Part of Earth's atmosphere would begin escaping into space. Air pressure would decrease. Humans would have to work harder to get enough oxygen with every breath.

[00:00:58]Water would also boil at lower temperatures.

[00:01:01]Even cooking food would no longer be the same. On the other hand, rockets would benefit enormously. NASA and other space agencies would need much less fuel to launch spacecraft into space. Space travel could become cheaper than ever before.

[00:01:15]But then another problem would appear.

[00:01:16]The moon is held in place by Earth's gravity. If Earth's gravity became significantly weaker, the moon's orbit could gradually change over time. And one day, that familiar object in the night sky might slowly appear smaller as the moon drifts farther and farther away from [music] us. So, if you woke up tomorrow and Earth's gravity was only half as strong, what would be the first thing you do?