March 1, 2020 6:58 pm

Monday, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice Answer More Questions on Black Holes, Dark Energy, and More

In last week’s blog post I talked about the perfect formula for a StarTalk Radio show: Neil deGrasse Tyson + Chuck Nice + Cosmic Queries on Mysteries of the Universe = a great episode. And as we know from any science experiment, why change the formula if it works? To follow up our great episode last week, Cosmic Queries – Black Holes and Dark Energy, we’re bringing you Part II!

X-ray and Optical image of Galaxy NGC 4945, by NASA, ESO et al.

Galaxy NGC 4945. Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ degli Studi Roma Tre/A.Marinucci et al, Optical: ESO/VLT & NASA/STScI.

Neil and Chuck get right back into it as we explore Hawking radiation. You’ll learn why a black hole’s consumption of matter doesn’t overpower Hawking radiation. Neil tells us what’s specifically “evaporating” due to Hawking radiation. He also tells us two remarkable facts about black holes that you may not know.

Discover more about our search for gamma rays and how a spy satellite accidently unlocked a new branch of astrophysics. You’ll learn more about singularities and the singularity at the beginning of our universe. Chuck shares how his son coined the word “ringularity.” Neil explains when string theory needs to be brought into the discussion to make sense of it all.

We ponder if black holes could be used as an intergalactic highway system from one galaxy to the next. Neil enlightens us about “white holes.” You’ll hear why, if nothing can escape a black hole, there are massive jets of x-rays coming of off supermassive black holes. We explore photons: how they get sucked into black holes if they’re massless and how they travel along the fabric of spacetime.

Neil continues his streak of telling us astounding facts about the universe as we discuss why light is trapped in our universe but gravity isn’t. We investigate the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe and if it could be infinitely smarter than life on Earth. Lastly, you’ll hear how 85% of our universe’s gravity comes from dark matter. All that, plus, Neil offers final thoughts on the evolution of the tree of life.

Please join us tomorrow for Cosmic Queries – Black Holes and Dark Energy Part II at 3pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re a StarTalk+ Patron or an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 3pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen

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