Blackhole 032718

Blackhole (032718)

A giant of science died recently, in the person of Stephen Hawking (March 14, 2018).  His worldwide bestseller, A Brief History of Time, gave an abbreviated and simplified tale of time and space from the perspective of physics.  By profession, he was a theoretical physicist but his contribution far exceeded his field of expertise.

From a cameo appearance (on non-appearance) in the sitcom series of “The Big-Bang Theory” to the animated series of “The Simpsons”, Stephen Hawking gave birth to giant ideas and brought them to the level of the masses and that of the non-scientific minds. 

Collectively, there was a trend of do-it-yourself (DIY) practice in almost every field of human endeavor, that trend could even be attributed to his genius.

Statistically he should have died in his twenties, if not in his thirties, but fortunately, he ended up being blessed with a long scientific life (all of 76 summers).

Among the many ideas attributed to him, Stephen Hawking articulated the possibilities and realities of blackholes.  Of what they are, of what they could be, of how they could be and what they mean in the vast expanse of the universe.  Just recently, someone postulated (or mused) that our universe may be located inside and blackhole and we have just not realized it yet.  Now that is an intriguing thought.

Blackholes are literal holes in the universe where the gravitational pull is so great that even light cannot escape.  And surprisingly, blackholes are expanding, eating and devouring stars in the process.  Just imagine a gravitational pull where even light cannot escape?  And imagine that such a hole is ever expanding, consuming stars, planets and eventually galaxies in the near future.  Our solar system may be near an undiscovered blackhole somewhere or an ever expanding blackhole somewhere.

Some theoretical physicists are even postulating that at the rate the universe is expanding and at the rate that the thousands (is not millions) of blackholes are expanding, the universe might be eaten by a blackhole.

Upon closer studies of blackholes, it was also attributed to Mr. Hawking that there are hundreds, if not thousands of blackholes in our galaxy alone.  Ever expanding blackholes might even fuse with other blackholes creating a bigger blackhole that is now capable of consuming more stars and heavenly bodies.

Mr. Hawking is also attributed to had discovered that blackholes also give out a radiation, and this radiation is now named after him, this is now called the “Hawking Radiation Effect”.  Now what is the implication of this? Though there is a massive gravitational force inside the blackhole, there are struggles beneath it (or inside it) and these struggles are producing a radiation effect.

Considering that Stephen Hawking suffers from a medical condition that renders him an invalid, his contribution to science, physics and pop culture in general is beyond measure.  When Albert Einstein died, the world needed another face to symbolize intellect.  After Einstein, Hawking took that role. I would postulate that somehow, somewhere, somehow, there is a vacancy in this role of symbolism.

Just as nature abhors a vacuum, I am certain that someone would fit the role nicely in the near future.  That is if the blackhole that does not get him first and trap him perpetually with his massive gravitational pull.