Black Holes Don't Exist?
By Emma Norman
It’s possible that black holes may disappear into the abyss of uncertainty from whence they came. New research suggests that they cannot actually exist.In a (very small) nutshell, a black hole is a point in space where gravity is so strong that nothing that enters it can ever escape, not even light. (Get a bigger nutshell here.)
However, black holes are not quite as straight forward as they appear to be. There is also a theory, known as Hawking radiation (named after a certain Stephen Hawking), that matter can actually escape these supposedly inescapable black holes.
|
For four decades physicists have been puzzling over how black holes can be infinite plugholes yet how it could also be possible for them to regurgitate what they have swallowed.
Conventional theory states that time is infinite in black holes. Therefore when an object reaches the event horizon (a point through which even light can not pass) it would actually stop and remain there forever. So if black holes were to radiate their mass then they should evaporate before they even existed.
Lawrence Krauss and fellow physicists at Case Western Reserve reckon they have the answers to the many queries over the two theories. The team have produced a mathematical formula which shows that black holes simply cannot exist.
Isn’t it typical, just when you think you’re getting to grips with the mystery of black holes, some other clever chaps and chappesses come along and say it’s all impossible anyway!
Krauss backs up his numbers by stating that no one has actually seen a black hole, but we know some people who beg to differ.
Well the mystery will continue and this story reminds you how so much of what we think we know is actually still theory and open to debate.
Anyhow, if someone did happen to stumble across a black hole it would be quite a while before they’d be able to come back and tell us about it. Leaving a place where time is infinite is tricky – eternity is a sod of a long time.
Check out Emma's page or stay for more science from the dark side:
- Interesting - In a spin over black holes
- Bizarre - Black hole scoffs star
- A to Z - B is for black holes
Image: N
Share this
