How to make a black hole.
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There’s more than one way to make a black hole, says NASA’s Michelle Thaller. They’re not always formed from dead stars. For example, there are teeny tiny black holes all around us, the result of high-energy cosmic rays slamming into our atmosphere with enough force to cram matter together so densely that no light can escape.
CERN is trying to create artificial black holes right now, but don’t worry, it’s not dangerous. Scientists there are attempting to smash two particles together with such intensity that it creates a black hole that would live for just a millionth of a second.
Thaller uses a brilliant analogy involving a rubber sheet, a marble, and an elephant to explain why different black holes have varying densities. Watch and learn!
Bonus fact: If the Earth became a black hole, it would be crushed to the size of a ping-pong ball.
MICHELLE THALLER:
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