Answering Questions About How Black Holes Die, Entropy, & Vacuums

From StarTalk.

What is nothing? Could a dying back hole cause the Big Bang? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer fan questions about a black hole’s dying gasp, lunar eclipses, and the meaning of nothing.

Why don’t we see a lunar eclipse every month? What happens when a black hole reaches the end of its life? Could the Big Bang itself have been a black hole explosion? Learn about how Hawking radiation accelerates, the runaway evaporation of dying black holes, and why their final “last gasp” would light up the universe in gamma rays.

Is “black hole” the right name for it? Should we call it a “black omega star”? We explore the limits of spacetime and causality. Could our universe be influenced by the gravity of a parallel universe? Could the universe “split” to prevent paradoxes if time travel were possible? Neil recalls Stephen Hawking’s time travel party and why the laws of physics might forbid going backward in time.

We discuss Jupiter’s protective gravitational shield, entropy and the illusion of order on Earth, and what really keeps life humming in an open system powered by the Sun. Finally, the conversation ventures into the vacuum. What is a vacuum? Why don’t fans work in space? What is nothing, really? We explore how even the emptiest parts of space still teem with quantum activity, virtual particles, and the fabric of spacetime itself.

Thanks to our Patrons Josh Gibson, John Radford, Jacob Carlile, Amelyah, Rebecca, Jalien, Logan woods, Justin Stauffer, Boaters Edge, Elizabeth Martinez, Kate Kessner, Kathy Cook, Mohamed Gamal, Sebastian Goeller, Scott Keller, Pravin Kadel, Jake M, David, Lehnert, Chris Fauerbach, Mic Phillips, Sandra Pink, João Samuel Lopes, Darnell Pisco, Santiago, Chewee, Dave, Jeditanker, Mayssam Sayyadian, Thomas Weisbjerg, Max, Harry Wells, Jonathan Lara, Brooks Long, Viktor Damjanovski, ion, David Cowles, Brian Swinteck, Opid Son, Ed, Robert Davis, aaron benedetti, George Daeem, Guillaume Franc, Zach Derbecker, Randle, andrew, j, Patrick Shoemake, Методи Кирилов, Robert Forbes Morrison, Denisse Campo, Scott Knapp, Anthony Suarez, Judy houck, Deyonn Froio, Marquis, Donald Johnson, Mandi G, Kathy Harris-Langham, Gerardo Diaz, Eric Fournier, Sylvia C., clionadh martin, Ari Timonen, Greg Morris, Micheal H., thomas hennigan, Alexandra Bugge, Chris Tenney, Taters, Precious, and Jason Perks for supporting us this week.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction: Grab Bag
00:50 – Why Is There Not a Lunar Eclipse Every Month?
04:40 – A Black Hole’s Final Explosion
09:35 – Taking the Hole Out of Black Hole
16:59 – How the Universe Preserves Causality
24:20 – Jupiter: The Protector of the Solar System
27:54 – How Earth Has Order Among Entropy
35:49 – Adding Relativistic Velocities
39:52 – The Shape of the Fabric of Space
42:43 – The Value of Scientific Understanding
47:33 – What is Nothing?
54:30 – Closing Thoughts

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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