Bang!
Astronomers suspect that in the first second after the universe formed, the very first black holes also formed. These tiny though profoundly dense objects — think of an atom-sized particle wielding the mass of a mountain — are dubbed “primordial black holes.” But there’s a problem: There’s still no evidence they’ve ever existed.
Now, scientists have proposed a novel idea: Perhaps the proof is in front of us, here on Earth.
In new research published in the journal Physics of the Dark Universe, researchers conclude the ancient objects could have left observable proof in the form of microscopic tunnels, or even in hollowed-out objects beyond our planet like asteroids. Though the chance of finding micro-tunnels on Earth is likely small, they may be present in places around us, like the rocks, glass, and metal of buildings — particularly old buildings.
“The most difficult thing to see is what stands right in front of your nose,” Dejan Stojkovic, a professor of physics at the University at Buffalo who coauthored the research, told Mashable.
NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.
Black holes are almost unimaginably dense. If Earth was (hypothetically) crushed into a black hole, it would be under an inch across. Today, many black holes form following the collapse of massive objects like stars, notably after violent supernova explosions. The objects themselves aren’t rare: There are probably 100 million rogue black holes wandering our Milky Way Galaxy alone.
But looking for the first black holes in space has been fruitless. While astronomers can spot large black holes with telescopes — because these objects accrete large amounts of rapidly spinning matter around them that radiate bounties of energy — primordial black holes are too small to accrue such matter. What’s more, black holes are believed to emit a type of energy called Hawking radiation, which should be especially intense in small black holes, but that hasn’t been detected either. Yet physicists theorize they must be out there.
