7 Comments

1. Roue le Jour says:
   June 19, 2011 at 5:55 pm

   In case anybody is interested, the movie I was looking for was a “Doom Watch” one off called “Winter Angel”. Here’s the computer screen I remember. Apparently the black hole would explode if you didn’t keep feeding it. Hmmn. I don’t think so, Mr. Deckard.
2. NickM says:
   June 19, 2011 at 11:58 pm

   Exploding black holes… Hmm. Not part of my astrophysics MSc. Glad you found it Roue!
3. CountingCats says:
   June 20, 2011 at 12:29 am

   Well, if the black hole was small enough for hawking radiation output to exceed any random particles it was able to feed on, then yeah. Although, just the energy released by dumping in the occasional rock or puppy dog would probably kill you regardless. Not to mention any time dilation effects.

   Anyone bar me remember this episode of Stargate? With all sorts of groovy black hole gravitational time dilation stuff?
4. RAB says:
   June 20, 2011 at 2:52 am

   To paraphrase the words of the immortal Alfred E Neuman….

   Clean and non defamatory? Who Us?

   Glad you finally found the prog Roue. I was wracking my brains, cos I’m usually good at old TV shows. A sort of updated Quatermass then?
5. Roue le Jour says:
   June 20, 2011 at 4:55 pm

   The black hole was created as an endless energy source, so it would be pretty small. Hard to make a big one, I’m thinking. Still, wouldn’t generate any CO2, so let’s get started, what could possibly go wrong?

   Ah, Quatermass and the rocket group. Yeah, pretty much, but with added eco, if I remember the actual series correctly. This was an attempt to ‘reboot’ it that failed. Prof. Q. would have thought they were a bunch of tossers anyway.
6. NickM says:
   June 20, 2011 at 8:03 pm

   Cats,
   Hawking radiation means black holes sort of evaporate. As to harnessing Hawking radiation… Tricky, it’s pretty low grade-stuff thermodynamcally. You are probably better off extracting energy from stuff in orbit around the hole. If though you could create and control a naked singularity… Well I’m not sure about energy but that would be a hell of a weapon.

   Roue,
   Erm… It is hard to make a big one but it is easier for it to just happen. Swings and roundabouts and all that.

   And more to the point. The Kerr solution to the Einstein field equations allows time-travel.

   Cue, intense Igor laughter!
7. CountingCats says:
   June 20, 2011 at 9:12 pm

   Nick, I was talking tongue in cheek. The black hole in this case was apparently so small it was emitting a greater mass in hawking radiation than was being absorbed, and was reaching its evaporative limit. Only by manually feeding it was it being kept from its final explosive demise. So, the choices were kill all in the locality by allowing it to finally explode, or kill everyone in the locality from the radiation caused by the tidal effects tearing matter into its subatomic components, and their immediate gravitational collapse.

   Either way, they’re stuffed.

   Besides, something small enough to explode would be too small to eat anything much. Atoms would be bigger.