Black holes are the great unknown of physics, and deeply scary things. But the theoretical physics around them has increasingly trended towards black holes not being so bad. In fact, some think we might be on one now and not even have noticed, and sentient life might be circling one now. And now it’s starting to look like black holes might be genuinely survivable.
Black holes are weird because of their dense gravity. In theory, the closer to a black hole you get, the longer space and time stretch out until you get to infinity. But that makes absolutely no sense. It would imply that at the center of a black hole, time stops, and reconciling that with the fact that time very much does not stop anywhere else has been difficult. Theoretical physicists from the University of Valencia and the University of Lisbon have applied a novel approach to the structure of black holes that claims they’re a bit like crystals, with “imperfections” and a center that serves as a wormhole.
So, if you fell into a black hole, sooner or later you’d pop out the other side, restored to your original form. Now, you’d probably be in an entirely different universe floating through the void of space, and it’s not entirely clear what would happen to you while you were in that hole. Currently the theory includes being crushed to a long thin strand, so there’s some engineering work that needs to be done in that respect. But if you solve that problem, you could come out the other side intact and ready to see what other realities have to offer. We’re assuming everybody will be a cowboy. That’s how quantum physics works, right?
(Via Ruvid)