A pair of astrophysicists at Tianjin University, in China, has proposed ways that humans in the distant future might use black holes as an energy source. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review D, Zhan-Feng Mai and Run-Qiu Yang outline two possible scenarios in which energy could potentially be harvested from primordial black holes.
As scientists continue to look for ways to meet the energy needs of a growing global population, some have begun to look for options that may not have been considered in the past. In this new effort, the researchers consider the possibility of tapping black holes as a way to power human needs of the future by turning them into batteries.
The first option suggests future astro-engineers could "charge" a primordial black hole (a very small black hole with no spin that formed soon after the Big Bang) by feeding it electrically charged particles until the black hole begins to repel them, signaling it is fully charged, like a battery. Energy could then be collected from the black hole through the use of superradiance, whereby some of the electromagnetic or gravitational waves carrying more energy than was fed in are deflected into the black hole, captured first and converted into a usable energy source.
The second possibility would involve retrieving energy stored in the form of particle pairs that form in the presence of an electric field. Prior research has shown that an electric field exists around the event horizon of black holes, some of which are strong enough to create both electrons and positrons. Under such a scenario, the positrons of a fully charged black hole would be ejected and available for collection and use as an energy source.
The researchers do not delve into the physical means involved in harvesting energy from a black hole, or estimate how long it might take to develop the technology to carry out such a difficult task. But they calculate that such engineering could have a recharging efficiency of approximately 25%.
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FAQs
Energy could then be collected from the black hole through the use of superradiance, whereby some of the electromagnetic or gravitational waves carrying more energy than was fed in are deflected into the black hole, captured first and converted into a usable energy source.
What are the 2 ways a black hole can be formed? ›
How Do Black Holes Form? Primordial black holes are thought to have formed in the early universe, soon after the big bang. Stellar black holes form when the center of a very massive star collapses in upon itself. This collapse also causes a supernova, or an exploding star, that blasts part of the star into space.
What are the uses of black holes? ›
Black holes are formed through a clash of Universal energy ripples, or through stellar collapse. Its micro level roles are to: recycle cosmological debris, stabilize the formation of galaxies, define the shape of galaxies, and stratify space around them.
Can we use black holes to time travel? ›
Stretching time
A clock near a black hole will tick very slowly compared to one on Earth. One year near a black hole could mean 80 years on Earth, as you may have seen illustrated in the movie Interstellar. In this way, black holes can be used to travel to the future.
What two things do black holes emit? ›
Although light can't escape a black hole's event horizon, the enormous tidal forces in its vicinity cause nearby matter to heat up to millions of degrees and emit radio waves and X-rays.
What is the 2 type of black hole? ›
Types of Black Holes
Astronomers generally divide black holes into three categories according to their mass: stellar-mass, supermassive, and intermediate-mass. The mass ranges that define each group are approximate, and scientists are always reassessing where the boundaries should be set.
What are two ways we can see a black hole? ›
For example, at the center of the Milky Way , we see an empty spot where all of the stars are circling around as if they were orbiting a really dense mass. That's where the black hole is. The second way is by observing the matter falling into the black hole.
How can our black hole become active again? ›
The black hole may not be dormant forever. Other materialmay eventually come into range of the black hole's influence and kick-start the process again. The black hole will become 'active' again.
Which are good methods of observing black holes? ›
Using powerful observatories on Earth, astronomers can see the jets of plasma that black holes spew into space , detect the ripples in space-time from black holes colliding , and may soon even peer at the disc of disrupted mass and energy that surrounds the black hole's event horizon, the edge beyond which nothing can ...
Where do black holes take you? ›
By their calculations, quantum mechanics could feasibly turn the event horizon into a giant wall of fire and anything coming into contact would burn in an instant. In that sense, black holes lead nowhere because nothing could ever get inside.
Black holes are regions in space where an enormous amount of mass is packed into a tiny volume. This creates a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape. They are created when giant stars collapse, and perhaps by other methods that are still unknown.
How do black holes help Earth? ›
If anything, we benefit from their existence. The stellar explosions that produce black holes also spew elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen into space. The collisions of black holes and neutron stars help spread heavier elements, such as gold and platinum. These elements make up our Earth, and our own selves.
Who can survive a black hole? ›
Within any black hole is the central point, the singularity, which has infinite gravity and where mass is compressed into an infinitely small point. There, it is game over. There's no surviving. And therefore the idea of traveling through time and space, via black hole or wormhole, don't really register in reality.
What energy is released from a black hole? ›
Hawking radiation is the theoretical thermal black-body radiation released outside a black hole's event horizon. This is counterintuitive because once ordinary electromagnetic radiation is inside the event horizon, it cannot escape.
Do black holes shoot out energy? ›
If a black hole is large enough, some of the matter "falling" into the black hole can sometimes be "shot out" in huge jets of energy. Such jets can sometimes shoot across the universe for up to millions of light years like some kind of enormous spotlight.
What is the black hole theory of power? ›
A black hole theory of social power holds that when an institution gets too much power, that power will snowball, making institution ever harder to stop.
How do black holes produce high energy radiation? ›
Hawking radiation is produced in the vicinity of the black hole, due to gravitational vacuum polarization; the virtual particle-antiparticle pairs that are thus created may, then, gain energy directly from the black hole's gravitational field as at least one of them falls rapidly, allowing the other to escape.
