| | A '''black hole''' is a theoretical formation in space with near-[[infinity|infinite]] density and sufficient gravitational force that escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Thus, "black" refers to the impossibility of any light ([[photon]]s) escaping, thereby making them completely dark.<ref>They are assumed to come into existence from extremely large stars that collapse into a state of high density when they run out of fusion fuel. An object becomes a black hole when it lies entirely inside the Schwarzschild radius (see below) determined by its mass. For most objects, the Schwarzschild radius is very tiny compared with its size (for Earth it is about 1 centimeter), so the object could not lie inside that radius.</ref> But reports of black holes may simply be a scientific form of [[fake news]]. | | A '''black hole''' is a theoretical formation in space with near-[[infinity|infinite]] density and sufficient gravitational force that escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. Thus, "black" refers to the impossibility of any light ([[photon]]s) escaping, thereby making them completely dark.<ref>They are assumed to come into existence from extremely large stars that collapse into a state of high density when they run out of fusion fuel. An object becomes a black hole when it lies entirely inside the Schwarzschild radius (see below) determined by its mass. For most objects, the Schwarzschild radius is very tiny compared with its size (for Earth it is about 1 centimeter), so the object could not lie inside that radius.</ref> But reports of black holes may simply be a scientific form of [[fake news]]. |
| − | Black holes are increasingly promoted by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the ''[[New York Times]]'', glossy magazines, and movies including ''Event Horizon'' (1997), ''The Black Hole'' (TV, 2006), and ''Interstellar'' (2014). Black holes fail the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science, because it is impossible to prove that they do not exist anywhere in the universe. | + | Black holes are increasingly promoted by [[liberal]] publications, such as the science page of the ''[[New York Times]]'', glossy magazines, and movies including ''Event Horizon'' (1997), ''The Black Hole'' (TV, 2006), and ''Interstellar'' (2014). Black holes fail the [[falsifiability]] requirement of science, because it is impossible to prove that they do not exist anywhere in the universe. Black holes also have meaning in everyday speech, as in "his office has become a black hole!" |
| | Black holes had never been directly observed, and there is no direct evidence for their existence. In early 2019 astronomers released a photo-shopped image of a super-massive black hole located in the galaxy Messier 87 - some 55 million light-years away<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/04/10/see-black-hole-first-time-images-event-horizon-telescope/</ref>. That alleged black hole has since been informally named "Powehi".<ref>http://time.com/5569262/black-hole-hawaii-powehi/</ref> | | Black holes had never been directly observed, and there is no direct evidence for their existence. In early 2019 astronomers released a photo-shopped image of a super-massive black hole located in the galaxy Messier 87 - some 55 million light-years away<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/04/10/see-black-hole-first-time-images-event-horizon-telescope/</ref>. That alleged black hole has since been informally named "Powehi".<ref>http://time.com/5569262/black-hole-hawaii-powehi/</ref> |