An Amsterdam university professor has come up with a new theory of gravity that might explain the curious motions made by stars in galaxies.

Emergent gravity, as the new theory is called, predicts the deviation in the stars that is usually explained by the existence of dark matter. The groundbreaking theory has been drawn up by professor Erik Verlinde, an expert in string theory at the University of Amsterdam and the Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Erik Verlinde first came up with a completely new theory of gravity in 2010. He believes gravity is not a fundamental force of nature, but a phenomenon resulting from changes in fundamental bits of information, stored in the structure of space time.

‘Many theoretical physicists like me are working on a revision of the theory [of gravity], and some major advancements have been made,’ says Verlinde. ‘We might be standing on the brink of a new scientific revolution that will radically change our views on the very nature of space, time and gravity’.