Many of the world’s greatest mysteries remain unsolved. How exactly were the pyramids built? What exactly is happening in the Bermuda Triangle? Why is pizza so darned good? The biggest mystery physicists and astronomers deal with daily is, “what exactly happens inside of a black hole?” Black holes are famously known for not allowing anything to escape, including light. So how exactly can we see inside of a black hole if nothing escapes? Unfortunately, most of the theories involving black holes are speculative at best.
Well, leave it to one of the greatest minds of our time, Stephen Hawking to come up with a new proposition. Recenty, Hawking spoke at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. During his presentation, Hawking discussed the concept of information and how it may not disappear when entering a black hole. In this context, information is seen as the entire makeup of our being, each individual particle. Particles cannot simply evaporate into thin air, so the question remains, “what exactly happens to this “information””? Hawking suggested the following:
““I propose that the information is stored not in the interior of the black hole as one might expect, but on its boundary, the event horizon,” he said.”
Hawking went on to elaborate on what exactly happens to this information. The particles can use the small outgoing energy from the black hole known as Hawking Radiation to escape. The information has two potential routes: one, if the black hole does not have enough energy, the information will become stuck in two-dimensional space. The other outcome is that the information can be pushed out with enough force into another universe.
““The message of this lecture is that black holes ain’t as black as they are painted,” he said. “They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought.””
Thinking about what happens to us in a black hole is beyond fascinating. One would have to assume that our physical body would become obliterated upon entry into the black hole. If our body’s “information” finds it’s way to another universe, what will become of it. Will we still have cognitive thought and be stuck aimlessly in another universe, floating past planets and stars?
(Thanks to qz.com for quotes and information).
