Albert Einstein described black holes as “the most perfect macroscopic objects there are in the universe: the only elements in their construction are our concepts of space and time,” which has inspired astrophysicists to question how big these paradoxical objects, these “Gates of Hell” might become?
A team of scientists now suggest that these behemoths lurking at the centers of galaxies could reach “stupendously large” sizes–where the higher their mass, the greater their power–“they would be like a mini, galaxy-sized Big Bang,” according to Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo, at Université de Montréal, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Observational Astrophysics of Black Holes. These enigmatic objects, as affirmed by quantum theory, could be incredibly complex and concentrate an enormous amount of information inside themselves –the largest hard disk that exists in nature, in two dimensions.
“Stupendously Large Black Holes” (SLABs)
Discovering such gargantuan black holes may shed light on the nature of a significant fraction of the mysterious dark matter. These “stupendously large black holes” (SLABs) in galactic nuclei, exist in theory and may have been seeded by primordial black holes, suggests Florian Kuhnel who holds the Chair on Cosmology at the Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics. The largest known black hole in the observable universe is powering the quasar TON 618 with a mass of 66 billion solar masses, leading to conjectures that even larger exist either within or beyond the observable universe, and to question if there is any upper limit to their sizes.
Primordial Black Holes –Source of Dark Matter?
Which leads to the speculation that primordial black holes formed during the cosmic Dark Age following the Big Bang, before the formation of the first stars.” It’s been hypothesized that there could be black holes that formed in the very early universe before stars existed at all,” said Savvas Koushiappas, a dark-matter physicist at Brown University, about the possibility that with future gravitational wave experiments, we’ll be able to look back to a time before the formation of the first stars to see if black hole events existed before stars formed in the cosmos, then we’ll know that those black holes are not of stellar origin.
These primordial black holes, gravity wells formed just moments after the Big Bang could be an explanation for dark matter. Shortly after the Big Bang, quantum mechanical fluctuations led to the density distribution of matter that we observe today in the expanding universe. Some of those density fluctuations might have been large enough to result in black holes peppered throughout the universe, suggested Koushiappas, coauthor of the 2017 study with Harvard’s Avi Loeb. The study outlined how scientists could use gravitational wave experiments to test the existence of primordial black holes first proposed in the early 1970s by Stephen Hawking and collaborators but have yet to be detected.
“Either primordial black holes exist, or the early universe evolved in a way that’s very different from the standard cosmological model. Either would be very important discoveries, say Koushiappas and Loeb. Primordial black holes, suggest Loeb and Koushiappas, fall into a category of entities known as MACHOs, or Massive Compact Halo Objects. Some scientists have proposed that dark matter—the unseen stuff that is thought to comprise most of the mass of the universe—may be made of MACHOs in the form of primordial black holes. A detection of primordial black holes would bolster that idea, while continued non-detection would cast doubt upon it.
“The really exciting thing about primordial black holes is that there are so many mysteries that in principle they could explain,” says Stephen Hawking’s colleague, physicist Bernard Carr. “Not the least of them being the existence of dark matter and dark energy.”
“One exciting possibility is that a population of primordial black holes may have created dark matter in the early universe,” wrote Dan Hooper, head of the theoretical astrophysics group at Fermilab in reply to to an email from Daily Galaxy, asking Hooper what new physics could be revealed by the discovery of these elusive relics. “If these black holes were initially lighter than a million kilograms or so,” Hooper added, “they would have evaporated in the first second after the Big Bang. In the process of this evaporation, they could have created any number of exotic forms of matter and energy, including dark matter.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
