As a kid, Mark Swaim used to think that falling into a black hole would mean instant death. Many others believe the same, thanks to the movies and TV shows that portrayed black holes as gigantic vacuums that destroyed everything in its path. However, this myth was debunked. Black holes do not have infinite mass, which means that unless you are traveling extremely close to them, you aren’t likely to get sucked in.
A common question Mark fields from the class is this: what actually happens when you do get sucked into a black hole? Do you instantly get crushed and destroyed, or does something more complicated happen?
Two Realities
At first, Mark Swaim was astonished to hear that reality would become split in two if he were to be sucked into a black hole. This effectively clones you and your existence. In one of the realities, your body would instantly be incinerated, which effectively kills you. In the other reality, however, you would fall into this black hole completely and utterly unharmed. What happens from there, scientists have yet to figure out.
Why Would This Happen?
Black holes are where the laws of physics begin to break down. Through Einstein’s findings, humans found out that gravity can warp space, causing it to become curved. Mark Swaim shares that when stars begin to collapse and turn into black holes, space-time also becomes warped inside of it, twisting reality. The gravitational field found within these black holes is so strong that even light cannot escape – hence the term “black hole.”
As for what happens inside these black holes, no one really knows. People are dying to know, but it’s all speculation at this point, even with many astrophysicists dedicating their whole lives to attempt to find an answer. But Mark Swaim hopes that through the years, and the efforts of many, many physicists, more can be known about black holes.
Mark Swaim 