Wednesday, April 30, 2008

This just in! Black holes are awesome


In an article from Space.com (also posted on yahoo's news site), Scientists reveal that their model for black hole jetting is probably correct.

For those not geeky enough to know what a black hole jet is, here's a 5 second explanation: It's basically a bunch of stuff that black holes shoot out into the universe from time to time. The thing that makes this event so exceptional is that the stuff is fired off at nearly the speed of light. We mere humans (currently) have no way of making stuff move like this (though, arguably, our particle accelerators will probably be close in the near future - at a vastly lower volume of "stuff," of course.)

At any rate, this story also has a lighter side. Black holes, through the use of their jets, are kind of the random bullies of the universe. So, the next time your big brother gets you in a headlock, warn him that you have secret plans to extract revenge via spiral-wound magnetic fields!

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