00:00There's still a lot we don't really know about black holes, as the closest one to us
00:08is around 1600 light years away, and because they gobble up literally everything that passes
00:12through their event horizon, even light, meaning looking at one is impossible, we rather have
00:17to look at its effects on nearby light and matter.
00:20Which is why physicists created a simulation of a black hole by using a string of atoms
00:23lined up, effectively creating a black hole's event horizon in a lab.
00:28But when they did this, something strange started to happen, the event horizon began
00:32to glow.
00:33The researchers say this is effectively what is known as Hawking radiation, or what is
00:37still considered theoretical radiation released by a black hole's event horizon.
00:41The physicists outline how this could help solve some fundamental issues with our current
00:44universal models, specifically how the theory of relativity interacts with quantum mechanics,
00:49two theories that are currently at odds mathematically.
00:52That's because nothing can pass the event horizon, not even something traveling as fast
00:56as light, but theoretically Hawking radiation, which Science Alert reports is similar to
01:00thermal radiation, could, and in fact the simulation sort of proved this, as electrons
01:04were able to travel along the single chain of atoms, heating up and glowing, effectively
01:09letting radiation cross the uncrossable event horizon.
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