There’s still a lot we don’t really know about black holes, as the closest one to us is around 1,600 light-years away. And because they gobble up literally everything that passes through their event horizon, even light, looking at one is impossible. we rather look at its effects on nearby light and matter.
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00:00There's still a lot we don't really know about black holes, as the closest one to us
00:08is around 1600 light years away, and because they gobble up literally everything that passes
00:12through their event horizon, even light, meaning looking at one is impossible, we rather have
00:17to look at its effects on nearby light and matter.
00:20Which is why physicists created a simulation of a black hole by using a string of atoms
00:23lined up, effectively creating a black hole's event horizon in a lab.
00:28But when they did this, something strange started to happen, the event horizon began
00:32to glow.
00:33The researchers say this is effectively what is known as Hawking radiation, or what is
00:37still considered theoretical radiation released by a black hole's event horizon.
00:41The physicists outline how this could help solve some fundamental issues with our current
00:44universal models, specifically how the theory of relativity interacts with quantum mechanics,
00:49two theories that are currently at odds mathematically.
00:52That's because nothing can pass the event horizon, not even something traveling as fast
00:56as light, but theoretically Hawking radiation, which Science Alert reports is similar to
01:00thermal radiation, could, and in fact the simulation sort of proved this, as electrons
01:04were able to travel along the single chain of atoms, heating up and glowing, effectively
01:09letting radiation cross the uncrossable event horizon.