What happens if we push physics to the absolute limit, maybe even breaking it and the universe in the process?

如果我們將物理學推向絕對極限，甚至在此過程中打破物理學和宇宙，會發生什麼？

Let's create a tiny black hole about the mass of our moon in the Kurzgesagt labs and try to rip it apart.

讓我們在庫爾茲格薩特實驗室裡製造一個和我們的月球品質差不多的小黑洞，然後試著把它撕裂。

Experiment 1

實驗 1

Nuke it

核彈

Big booms break things, so to set the mood, let's explode the world's entire nuclear arsenal around our black hole.

大爆炸會打破東西，所以為了營造氣氛，讓我們在黑洞周圍引爆全世界的核武庫吧。

Boom!

Boom！

Black holes swallow whatever crosses their event horizon, matter and energy.

黑洞會吞噬任何穿過其事件視界的物質和能量。

And since E equals mc squared, all the energy that enters a black hole increases its mass.

由於 E 等於 mc 的平方，所有進入黑洞的能量都會增加它的品質。

The mass of a black hole is proportional to its size, so as we nuke our tiny black hole, it just gets bigger and more massive.

黑洞的品質與它的大小成正比，所以當我們用核彈攻擊我們的小黑洞時，它只會變得越來越大，品質越來越高。

Experiment 2

實驗 2

Antimatter

反物質

Matter and antimatter annihilate each other.

物質和反物質會相互湮滅。

What will happen if we throw a moon's mass of antimatter at it?

如果我們向它扔一個月球品質的反物質，會發生什麼？

Unfortunately, when an object enters a black hole, the black hole will completely delete its past identity, whether it's made of matter or of antimatter.

不幸的是，當一個物體進入黑洞時，黑洞會完全刪除它過去的身份，無論它是由物質還是反物質構成。

Black holes only care about gravity, which only depends on the total mass-energy of an object.

黑洞只關心引力，而引力只取決於物體的總品質-能量。

And the mass of a particle is the same as its corresponding antiparticle, so throwing an antimoon has the same effect as throwing a moon.

而粒子的品質與相應反粒子的品質相同，是以投擲反月亮與投擲月亮的效果相同。

The black hole just gets more massive.

黑洞的品質會越來越大。

This deleting ability of black holes is pretty interesting.

黑洞的這種刪除能力非常有趣。

It means that despite their size and power, black holes are, in a way, similar to elementary particles.

這意味著，儘管黑洞的體積和能量很大，但在某種程度上，它與基本粒子相似。

An elementary particle, like an electron, is an extremely simple object, fully specified by just three numbers, its mass, spin, and charge.

基本粒子，如電子，是一個極其簡單的物體，只需三個數字，即品質、自旋和電荷，就能完全確定。

And, amazingly, the same is true for black holes.

令人驚奇的是，黑洞也是如此。

They have a mass, they can rotate, and carry an electric charge.

它們有品質，可以旋轉，並帶有電荷。

Once a black hole forms, it doesn't matter if it comes from a collapsed star, an antistar, or a banana, it will always be fully described by those three numbers, nothing else.

黑洞一旦形成，不管它是來自坍縮的恆星、反恆星還是香蕉，它總是完全由這三個數字來描述，別無其他。

But if a black hole is basically a weird particle, could we destroy it with an anti-black hole?

但是，如果黑洞基本上是一種奇怪的粒子，我們能用反黑洞摧毀它嗎？

How exciting!

真令人興奮

A particle has the same mass as its corresponding antiparticle, but opposite charge.

粒子與相應的反粒子品質相同，但電荷相反。

Since a black hole has mass and electric charge, its corresponding anti-black hole should have the same mass and opposite electric charge.

由於黑洞具有品質和電荷，其對應的反黑洞應該具有相同的品質和相反的電荷。

What if we make them collide?

如果我們讓它們相撞呢？

Sadly, the charge will just add up and cancel out.

可悲的是，這些費用加起來就會抵消掉。

So, after the collision, we'll just get a new black hole twice as massive with no charge.

所以，碰撞之後，我們只會得到一個兩倍大的新黑洞，而且不收費。

Okay, we need to think bigger, and stretch physics harder.

好吧，我們需要想得更遠，更努力地擴展物理學。

It's true that a black hole can carry spin and charge, but even for these crazy objects, there are limits.

黑洞的確可以攜帶自旋和電荷，但即使是這些瘋狂的物體，也有其侷限性。

If the spin or the charge of a black hole becomes too large, something really weird will happen.

如果黑洞的自旋或電荷變得過大，就會發生非常奇怪的事情。

The event horizon will dissolve.

事件視界將會消散。

In a simplified way, we think of black holes as hiding a singularity inside, an infinitely compressed mass with such strong gravity that absolutely nothing can escape from its surroundings, not even light.

簡單地說，我們認為黑洞內部隱藏著一個奇點，一個被無限壓縮的品質，它具有強大的引力，絕對沒有任何東西可以從它的周圍逃逸，甚至光也不行。

This is why a black hole looks like a black sphere of nothingness.

這就是為什麼黑洞看起來像一個虛無的黑球。

The event horizon is the outer edge of this ultimate prison.

事件視界是這個終極監獄的外緣。

Cross it, and you'll never be able to come back.

越過它，你就再也回不來了。

But when a black hole rotates, it works a bit like a spinning washing machine.

但當黑洞旋轉時，它的工作原理有點像旋轉的洗衣機。

It's as if the rotation wants to repel nearby objects and push them out of the black hole, which doesn't happen because its gravity is so strong.

這就好像旋轉想要排斥附近的物體，並把它們推出黑洞，但由於黑洞的引力非常強大，這並沒有發生。

But, if the rotation gets too fast, this effect will win, and the event horizon will disappear.

但是，如果旋轉速度過快，這種效應就會獲勝，事件視界就會消失。

Nearby objects won't be imprisoned forever anymore.

附近的物體不會再被永遠禁錮。

The same thing happens with the electric charge.

電荷也是如此。

Make it too large, and our ironclad jail will break open.

如果規模太大，我們的鐵牢就會被打破。

If we manage to destroy the event horizon, the singularity would still be there, and objects would still naturally fall towards it.

如果我們設法破壞了事件穹界，奇點仍會存在，物體仍會自然地向它墜落。

If you hit it, you would still die horribly and quickly.

如果你擊中了它，你還是會死得很慘，而且死得很迅速。

But the vicinity of the singularity won't be an inescapable prison anymore.

但奇點附近將不再是無法逃脫的牢籠。

You could get as close as you want and come back.

你可以盡情靠近，然後再回來。

This should count as destroying the black hole.

這應該算作摧毀黑洞。

Can we do it?

我們能做到嗎？

Experiment 5. Overfeeding.

實驗 5.過度餵養。

All we have to do is to overcharge or overspin the black hole.

我們要做的就是讓黑洞過度充電或過度旋轉。

We could do this by throwing objects with a small mass and a lot of charge or angular momentum so that the charge or spin increases faster than the mass.

我們可以通過投擲品質小而電荷或角動量大的物體，使電荷或自旋的增加速度快於品質的增加速度。

We have to overfeed the black hole until it reaches the point where it breaks open.

我們必須為黑洞提供過多的食物，直到它達到破裂的程度。

However, whether you can actually do this is the subject of passionate argument among physicists.

然而，能否真正做到這一點，物理學家們卻爭論不休。

Think of a charged black hole.

想想一個帶電的黑洞。

Equal charges repel each other, and the more of the same charges you squish together, the more they push back.

相等的電荷會相互排斥，相同的電荷擠在一起越多，反作用力就越大。

So let's say that we have a negatively charged black hole and we want to overfeed it with electrons, for example, whose charge is far larger than its mass.

比方說，我們有一個帶負電荷的黑洞，我們想給它輸入電子，電子的電荷遠大於它的品質。

The electrons will feel an electrostatic repulsion, and the more electrons we throw, the larger the negative charge of the black hole will be and the stronger the repulsion.

電子會感受到靜電斥力，我們拋出的電子越多，黑洞的負電荷就越大，斥力就越強。

But once we reach the upper limit, the electrostatic repulsion will be so strong that it won't allow any more electrons to come in.

但一旦達到上限，靜電斥力就會非常強大，不再允許任何電子進入。

At this point, the black hole will refuse to be overfed.

此時，黑洞會拒絕過量進食。

With the spin, it's similar.

旋轉也差不多。

Once the black hole reaches its upper limit, it won't gobble more spin.

一旦黑洞達到上限，它就不會吞噬更多的自旋。

But some scientists have discovered what looks like a loophole.

但一些科學家發現了一個看似漏洞的東西。

If an instant before the black hole reaches the limit, we throw the right amount of matter in in just the right way, it looks like we could actually overfeed it.

如果在黑洞達到極限之前的一瞬間，我們以正確的方式將適量的物質扔進去，看起來我們實際上可以讓它吃得過飽。

Most scientists are skeptical, but let's give it a try anyway.

大多數科學家對此持懷疑態度，但我們還是要試一試。

The end.

結束。

Breaking physics.

突破物理學。

There is a catch, though.

不過也有一個問題。

The event horizon of a black hole hides the singularity.

黑洞的事件穹界隱藏著奇點。

So destroying the horizon would leave us with a naked singularity, one that is not hidden by an event horizon.

是以，如果破壞了事件視界，我們就會看到一個赤裸裸的奇點，一個沒有被事件視界掩蓋的奇點。

And this poses a problem.

這就帶來了一個問題。

It could mean the end of physics as we know it.

這可能意味著我們所知的物理學的終結。

There's a big dirty secret about black holes.

關於黑洞有一個骯髒的大祕密。

Contrary to widespread belief, the singularity of a black hole is not really at its center.

與普遍的看法相反，黑洞的奇點其實並不在它的中心。

No, it's in the future of whatever crosses the horizon.

不，它在未來的地平線上。

Black holes warp the universe so drastically that at the event horizon, space and time switch their roles.

黑洞使宇宙急劇扭曲，以至於在事件視界處，空間和時間互換了角色。

Once you cross it, falling towards the center means going towards the future.

一旦越過它，向中心墜落就意味著走向未來。

That's why you can't escape.

這就是你無法逃脫的原因。

Stopping your fall and turning back would be just as impossible as stopping time and traveling to the past.

停止墜落和回頭就像停止時間和回到過去一樣不可能。

So the singularity is actually in your future, not in front of you.

是以，奇點其實就在你的未來，而不是眼前。

And just like you can't see your own future, you won't see the singularity until you hit it.

就像你無法預見自己的未來一樣，在你遇到奇點之前，你也無法預見奇點。

But you also can't hit something that's in your future, only sort of experience it, like you'll experience your next birthday when it happens.

但你也無法擊中未來的東西，只能算是經歷它，就像你會經歷下一個生日一樣。

Singularities that are in the future are not a problem because we can't see them or interact with them.

未來的奇點不是問題，因為我們看不到它們，也無法與它們互動。

But a naked singularity would be in front of us for all of us to see.

但是，赤裸裸的奇點就會出現在我們面前，讓我們所有人都能看到。

What would we see?

我們會看到什麼？

Well, the whole point is that it's impossible to know.

問題的關鍵在於，這是不可能知道的。

A singularity is a region of infinite gravity, and gravity is the bending of space-time.

奇點是引力無限的區域，而引力是時空的彎曲。

At a singularity, the bending is so radical that the fabric of space-time is literally broken.

在奇點處，彎曲如此劇烈，以至於時空結構都被打破了。

Space and time don't exist anymore.

空間和時間不再存在。

This means that you can't predict anything, since predicting means making a forecast about where and when something will happen.

這意味著你無法預測任何事情，因為預測意味著對事情發生的時間和地點做出預測。

But where and when have lost their meaning.

但何時何地已經失去了意義。

So we have an unpredictable thing with infinite gravity and therefore infinite energy.

是以，我們有一個不可預測的東西，它具有無限的引力，是以也具有無限的能量。

This means that anything could come out of it for no reason, from a pile of bananas to lost socks or a solar system.

這意味著，從一堆香蕉到丟失的襪子或太陽系，任何東西都可能無緣無故地從裡面出來。

Predictability, causality, and physics as we know it would break down.

我們所知的可預測性、因果關係和物理學都會瓦解。

We think that singularities should exist in nature because we can prove that under very general conditions, gravitational collapse leads to the formation of singularities.

我們認為自然界應該存在奇點，因為我們可以證明，在非常普遍的條件下，引力塌縮會導致奇點的形成。

However, scientists think that nature forbids the formation of naked singularities.

然而，科學家們認為，大自然禁止形成裸奇點。

Something enforces the creation of an event horizon around them to prevent their insanity from infecting the rest of the universe.

有什麼東西強制在他們周圍製造了一個事件穹界，以防止他們的瘋狂感染宇宙的其他部分。

Without event horizons, physics may not make sense at all.

沒有事件視界，物理學可能根本沒有意義。

So although black holes have been portrayed as the ultimate monsters of the universe, they may actually be the heroes that keep us safe from the madness of singularities.

是以，儘管黑洞一直被描繪成宇宙中的終極怪物，但它們實際上可能是保護我們免受奇點瘋狂傷害的英雄。

So if we do destroy the horizon, we might destroy the fundamental rules of the universe.

是以，如果我們真的破壞了地平線，就可能破壞宇宙的基本規則。

You know what? Let's not do that.

你知道嗎？讓我們不要這樣做。

Conclusion.

結論

The safe option.

安全的選擇

As far as we know, there's just one safe method to destroy a black hole.

據我們所知，只有一種安全的方法可以摧毀黑洞。

Wait.

等等。

All black holes emit tiny particles, a phenomenon called Hawking radiation.

所有黑洞都會發射微小粒子，這種現象被稱為霍金輻射。

This process causes them to slowly lose mass until they eventually evaporate, leaving behind no horizon and no naked singularity.

這個過程會使它們慢慢失去品質，直到最終蒸發，不留下地平線和裸露的奇點。

The time it takes for a black hole to completely evaporate depends on its mass.

黑洞完全蒸發所需的時間取決於它的品質。

For our mini black hole, the size of a speck of dust, it will be about 10 to the power of 44 years.

對於我們這個只有一粒塵埃大小的迷你黑洞來說，大約需要 44 年的 10 倍。

10 billion trillion trillion times the present age of the universe.

是現在宇宙年齡的 100 億兆倍。

So is it possible to destroy a black hole?

那麼有可能摧毀黑洞嗎？

Yes. We just have to wait.

是的我們只需等待。

But you don't have to wait that long.

但你不必等那麼久。

There are plenty of fascinating things to explore right here on this planet right now, if you have the knowledge to understand them.

現在，在這個星球上就有很多迷人的事物值得探索，只要你有足夠的知識去了解它們。

To help you with that, we've created a series of lessons to take your scientific knowledge to the next level.

為此，我們開設了一系列課程，讓您的科學知識更上一層樓。

Made in collaboration with our friends at Brilliant.org, these lessons give you a deeper understanding of the topics from our most popular videos, from rabies and mammalian metabolism to climate science and supernovas.

這些課程是與我們在 Brilliant.org 的朋友合作製作的，讓您更深入地瞭解我們最受歡迎的視頻中的主題，從狂犬病和哺乳動物的新陳代謝到氣候科學和超新星。

There's even a lesson on black holes where you can delve into the fundamental principles behind their behavior and life cycle.

甚至還有關於黑洞的課程，讓你深入瞭解黑洞行為和生命週期背後的基本原理。

Brilliant is the best way to master key concepts in everything from maths and science to computer science and beyond.

Brilliant 是掌握從數學、科學到計算機科學等所有領域關鍵概念的最佳方法。

Just set your goal and Brilliant designs the perfect path and equips you with the right tools to reach it.

只需設定目標，Brilliant 就會設計出完美的路徑，併為你配備實現目標的正確工具。

Brilliant has thousands of lessons to explore and each one is interactive like a one-on-one version of a Kurzgesagt video.

Brilliant 有數千節課程可供探索，每節課都是互動的，就像一對一版的 Kurzgesagt 視頻。

Their latest course, Exploring Data Visually, will teach you everything you need and nothing you don't to start your journey in data science.

他們的最新課程 "直觀地探索數據"（Exploring Data Visually）將教給你開啟數據科學之旅所需的一切，沒有什麼是你不需要的。

No coding skills required.

無需編碼技能。

You'll analyze real data sets like one about Starbucks and learn the skills to draw insights for yourself.

您將分析真實的數據集，如關於星巴克的數據集，並學習自己得出見解的技能。

In a world overflowing with information, data skills are becoming essential in virtually every field.

在這個資訊氾濫的世界，數據技能幾乎成為每個領域的必備技能。

Brilliant is the perfect place to start learning them.

Brilliant 是開始學習它們的理想場所。

To get hands-on with Kurzgesagt lessons and explore everything Brilliant has to offer, you can start your free 30-day trial by signing up at brilliant.org.

要親身體驗 Kurzgesagt 課程並探索 Brilliant 提供的一切，您可以在 brilliant.org 上註冊，開始為期 30 天的免費試用。

There's even an extra perk for Kurzgesagt viewers.

Kurzgesagt 的觀眾甚至還有額外的福利。

The first 200 people to use the link get 20% off an annual membership once their trial ends.

試用期結束後，前 200 名使用該鏈接的用戶可享受年度會籍八折優惠。

We love seeing how the gears interlock with our research.

我們喜歡看到齒輪是如何與我們的研究相互關聯的。

Brilliant gives you the tools to understand how everything fits together.

Brilliant 為您提供工具，讓您瞭解一切是如何結合在一起的。

Brilliant.

真聰明