6 comments

  • sgt101 24 minutes ago
    Could this kind of trigger effect the standard candle application of Type 1a's? For example, if a black hole triggers a type 1a and that perturbs the type 1a light curve in some way (possibly because less mass could be consumed in the explosion than you would get if one was triggered by mass accretion) and the rate of triggering of this kind changed over time as the universe aged and somehow the population of primordial black holes changed, or the distributions of white dwarf candidates and pbhs changed...
  • Schlagbohrer 17 minutes ago
    3-Body-Problem once again vindicated as the scariest possible explanation for the Fermi Paradox
    • 9dev 4 minutes ago
      Many physicists have pointed out several flaws in the dark forest theory, which makes for a great read but doesn’t really carry over to the real universe 1:1.
    • criddell 6 minutes ago
      Do you intend to say dark forest hypothesis?
  • cousinbryce 29 minutes ago
    Anyone have guesses about how a transiting primordial black hole would effect a Sun like star? Paper is about tidal forces inducing supernova in white dwarfs. For that matter how might it effect sea tides?
    • pavel_lishin 8 minutes ago
      For the latter, you mught enjoy Greg Egan's "Perihelion Summer".
    • ButlerianJihad 5 minutes ago
      Sun-like stars are effected by a concentration of critical mass that results in stable nuclear fusion.

      Tides on Earth are effected by the Moon’s gravity.

      Perhaps you meant “affected”

      • SoftTalker 0 minutes ago
        Perhaps you could answer the question in the sense it was obviously meant.
  • boesboes 28 minutes ago
    Wouldn't Type Ia supernovas caused by blackholes have a different brightness? That could mean the entire cosmic ladder needs to be revised, maybe this could resolve the crisis in cosmology..
  • thisisauserid 44 minutes ago
    The "Great Filter" answer to the Fermi Paradox.
    • stronglikedan 18 minutes ago
      It seems like it would be the most efficient implementation of the Great Filter, since it would just look like a natural occurrence to any observers.
  • empath75 47 minutes ago
    This is one of those headlines where I simultaneously think "cool" and now have a new source of low-grade background anxiety about. It can have a seat next to false vacuum collapse.
    • OneDeuxTriSeiGo 5 minutes ago
      In that case you may enjoy “The Blue Afternoon that Lasted Forever” by Daniel Wilson.

      https://web.archive.org/web/20260310115201/https://www.willi...

    • Zigurd 28 minutes ago
      Take comfort in the fact that compared to the size of the universe, the speed of light is like molasses in January. Cosmological eschatology is a very slow game, and the odds of you being alive and in the right place to be a spectator are literally astronomically small.
    • trollbridge 33 minutes ago
      The good news about black holes is that even if one transited the solar system, it would be extremely unlikely to come anywhere near earth.
      • ben_w 13 minutes ago
        The bad news is that if a black hole is not primordial, the minimum mass is high enough (2-4 M) that it doesn't so much "pass through our system" as "we pass through its".

        I'm not 100% confident, but rough approximation suggests that a close approach of even 5 AU even at typical interstellar velocities might have an unplesant climate impact by increasing the eccentricity of our orbit.

        • mynegation 4 minutes ago
          Did you mean 5 AU or 5 ly? 5 AU at 2-4 M sol intuitively seems like a complete and utter havoc.