The breakthrough, which was published in the journal Nature, is the first time scientists have demonstrated these forces in a laboratory.
Tobias Westphal, the study’s lead author, said: “According to Einstein, the gravitational force is a consequence of the fact that masses bend spacetime in which other masses move.
“So what we are actually measuring is how a ladybug warps space-time.”
In a vacuum, all objects near the Earth’s surface will accelerate towards the ground at the same speed – 9.8m per second.
On the Moon, objects will fall about six times slower because the satellite is about 80 times lighter than our planet.
On a ladybug, objects would fall about 30 billion times slower than on Earth.
