If you come too close, they'll devour you and add your energy to their collection.

如果你走得太接近, 它們就會把你吞噬和吸收你的能量

And so, the energy is lost to us forever.

然後這些能量就永遠屬於這些黑洞

Or is it? It turns out there's a universe cheat code.

或許不然。 原來有密技可以偷取這些能量

A way of powering civilizations until the very death of everything, or of constructing the largest bomb in the universe.

可以為文明提供能量，直到所有東西滅亡。或者可以建造宇宙裡最大的炸彈

But how?

哪這密技是什麼呢?

Didn't we learn that all energy is trapped forever in black holes, even light?

我們不是說就算光那麼快的能量都逃不出黑洞的引力嗎？

This is true.

那倒沒錯。

Everything you think you know about the weirdest thing in the universe is about to get weirder, for one simple reason:

你對黑洞所知的一切將會因為一個原因變得更奇怪：

Black holes are spinning.

黑洞都在旋轉。

When really really massive stars die, their cores collapse under their own gravity into black holes.

巨大恆星滅亡時，恆星的核心會因為本身的引力而塌陷成黑洞

This means something very big becomes very, very tiny. Like the tiniest anything can be in this universe.

這超級巨大的物體變成超級微小，比宇宙任何東西還要小

But stars are rotating and a fundamental property of our universe is that things that are spinning don't want to stop spinning.

這些恆星本來就在旋轉，而在宇宙的定律裡，旋轉的物體會繼續旋轉。

We call this: angular momentum.

這叫做角動量。

And this angular momentum can't go away. A big thing that spins and becomes smaller, spins faster.

角動量不會消失。 當一件旋轉的物體變小，它就會轉得更快

So, as the core of a star collapses, its momentum makes it spin faster and faster and faster, until it collapses into a black hole .

當恆心核心塌陷時，其角動量會令它越轉越快，直到它變成黑洞

And the black hole keeps on spinning, inconceivably fast.

這黑洞會一直以不可思議的速度旋轉

Some of them spin millions of times a second.

有些黑洞每秒旋轉幾百萬次

Just like non spinning black holes,

跟不旋轉的黑洞一樣，

...spinning black holes have an event horizon and a singularity at their core, where all of their mass is concentrated.

旋轉黑洞都有個事件視界 (Event Horizon) 和位於黑洞中心、集中所有物質的奇異點 (Singularity)

The singularity is usually described as a single infinitely small point with no surface area.

奇異點一半被形容為一個無限小而沒有表面的點

But points can't rotate, so a rotating singularity can't be a point.

可是點並不能旋轉，所以一個旋轉的奇異點不可能是一個點

Instead, it's a RINGularity.

而是一個奇異圈 (Ringularity)

A ringularity is a ring with a thickness of zero and no surface, spinning extremely fast, containing all the mass of the black hole.

奇異圈是一個沒有厚度和表面、以極快速度旋轉、集合黑洞全部的物質的圈

The black hole is spinning so fast, that it morphs space and time itself.

黑洞旋轉的速度足以扭曲時空本身

It literally drags space with it, such is its power.

黑洞能量之大，把空間本身牽著走，

This creates a new and super weird region of space-time: the Ergosphere, which envelops the black hole.

造成一個非常奇怪的新時空空間：動圈 (Ergosphere)。這空間把黑洞包圍

If space and time are completely broken inside the event horizon, then they're only half broken inside the ergosphere.

如果時間跟空間在事件視界裡面是完全破滅的，那在動圈裡它們就只是半破滅

Inside the ergosphere, nothing makes sense.

在動圈裡，一切都不合理

It's possible to enter it and then leave it again, but it's probably not a great experience.

我們可以進入和離開動圈，可是這大概不是個舒服的旅程

You can imagine it like this: Falling into a static black hole is like sliding down a hole.

你可以想像：掉進一個靜止的黑洞就像滑進一個洞

Being inside the ergosphere of a spinning black hole is like spiraling down a deadly drain.

而處於一個旋轉黑洞的動圈裡就像在一個漩渦當中，被捲入可怕的中心

The black hole transfers its own kinetic energy in the form of rotation, to everything that enters the ergosphere.

黑洞將本身的動能以旋轉的方式轉移到進入動圈的所有物質

The ringularity makes you dance whether you want to or not.

奇異圈會逼你「跳舞」。

You need to move faster than the speed of light just to stand still here, which is impossible.

要在動圈裡站著不動的話，你需要比光速還快

But here's our cheat code: We can steal this energy, and there's a lot of energy to steal.

這就是我們的密技：我們可以偷取這能量，這超大量的能量

Take the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

用銀河系中心的超大質量黑洞為例子，

We could steal as much energy from it as every single star in the Milky Way emits in a billion years combined.

我們可以偷取的能量相等於銀河系裡所有恆星十億年釋放的能量

The easiest way to steal this energy is, oddly enough, to drop something into the black hole.

最容易偷取這能量的方式竟然是掉一點東西進黑洞裡

We've seen that the ringularity forces energy on us when we enter the ergosphere,

動圈裡的物體都會被奇異圈的能量推動

...which is a lot like being in a whirlpool, with space-time rushing around and around.

正正像漩渦一樣，時空本身就在衝沖旋轉

If you're clever you can use the water to your advantage, and swim faster than before.

聰明的你可以利用這特性而游得更快

In practice, this means sending a rocket into the ergosphere, and making a trade with the black hole:

現實中，這就代表把火箭送到洞圈裡，然後跟黑洞交易

We give it some mass-energy, and it gives us some of its rotational energy.

我們提供物質能量，然後黑洞提供它的部分旋轉能量

But it's not a fair trade, we get the better deal.

這並不是等價交易，我們賺了

Normally, if you fire a rocket, you exchange chemical energy for kinetic energy.

正常狀態下，火箭升空就是把化學能換成動能

This is like pushing yourself forward in a swimming pool.

就像你在游泳池往前游一樣

But if you fire a rocket inside the ergosphere, it's like pushing yourself forward in a wave pool.

可是在動圈裡的火箭就像在波浪池中的你

The rotational energy of the waves gives you a much stronger boost than you could get just by pushing yourself.

池中的旋轉能量推助你，讓你游得更快

The boost from the rotation of the back hole is so big, that you leave the ergosphere with much more energy than you entered it.

而黑洞提供很多的旋轉能量，你離開動圈時會比進入時擁有大量的額外能量

The black hole gives a tiny amount of its rotational energy to you, and slows down a little.

當黑洞給你一點它的旋轉能量後，它會轉的慢一點

Obviously, this requires a lot of food.

理所當然地，這需要大量的「食物」

Fortunately, black holes aren't picky eaters.

幸好，黑洞並不偏食

An advanced future civilization would probably harvest asteroids to drop them into the black hole when they needed an energy boost.

當未來的先進文明需要能量推助時，他們大概會採集彗星來跟黑洞做能量交易

But there's an even better way to get energy from a black hole, and oddly enough, it builds the biggest bomb any living thing could ever hope to build:

可是還有一個更好的方法可以從黑洞攝取能量。奇怪地，同時這也是建造宇宙中最大的炸彈的方法：

We only need two things to build a black hole bomb: a fast-spinning black hole, and a big mirror.

我們只需要：一個快速旋轉的黑洞和一面大鏡子

The mirror has to completely envelop the black hole,

這鏡子要完全包圍黑洞

...which is similar to a Dyson Sphere, a mega structure that harvests the energy of an entire star.

類似戴森球，一個用來收集整個恆星的能量的巨大結構

Although, our mirror would be easier to build.

可是，我們的大鏡子會比較容易建造

Mirrors are simpler, and black holes are much, much more compact than stars.

鏡子結構比較簡單，而黑洞也比較密集小巧

If we made the mirror 10 centimeters thick, the metal of a big asteroid would probably be enough material for a black hole with the mass of our Sun.

如果鏡子的厚度是10公分，而黑洞擁有等同我們太陽的質量，那一顆大彗星的金屬大概就足夠我們建造一個包圍這黑洞的鏡子

Once our mirror is in place, we only need to open a window, and shoot electromagnetic waves at the black hole.

鏡子一旦建造完成，我們只需要開一扇窗然後向黑洞發射電池波

You can imagine what happens next, by imagining tossing a ball at a wall, and it coming back faster than a bullet.

試想像，把一顆球向牆丟，然後球以比子彈更快的速度彈回來，這就是大鏡子的結果

The waves hit the black hole at light speed.

電磁波以光速射向黑洞

A small proportion of the waves falls past the event horizon to disappear forever.

小部分的電磁波掉進事件視界裡，永遠消失

But a much larger amount sloshes through the ergosphere,

但是大部分的電池波會在動圈裡被甩來甩去

...where the black hole forces some of its rotational energy on them, and amplifies them.

被黑洞的旋轉能量強化

They now begin superradiant scattering, which are fancy science words meaning:

然後開始 「超發光散射/超輻射散射」(Superradiant Scattering)

"Bouncing around between mirror and black hole and getting stronger."

大意是：「在鏡子和黑洞之間不斷反射，變得越來越強」

Every time they go around, they are getting exponentially stronger.

每一次經過動圈，電磁波就以幾何級數地被強化

By opening some windows in the mirror, we can extract the energy from the waves as fast as they grow.

然後我們就可以開幾扇窗來收集能量。 能量增長多快，我們就可以收集多少

Which we could use, in theory, to create what would be for all practical purposes, an endless source of energy for trillions of years.

理論上，這會容許我們創造一個幾萬億年用之不竭的能量來源

Or, we could blow it up.

或者我們可以把它引爆。

If the waves are not released, they will continue to get stronger and stronger,

如果這些電池波不被釋放，它們就會變得越來越強

...and take more and more energy from the black hole, until the mirror shatters.

從黑洞裡攝取更多的能量……直到鏡子破裂碎掉

A supermassive black hole would release as much energy as a supernova,

超大質量黑洞釋放的能量相等於一顆超新星

...making the bomb the largest explosion any living being could ever create.

這將會是任何生物創造的炸彈中最大威力的爆炸

The beauty of the black hole bomb, the Penrose process, and the super radiant scattering, is that they are not science-fiction.

這黑洞炸彈的美麗之處是，這並不是科學幻想。潘羅斯過程 (Penrose process)、超發光散射都是真正的科學現象

In the far far future, this might be the only way to survive in our dying universe.

在遠遠的未來，這可能是在宇宙滅亡之前唯一的生存辦法

After all the red dwarfs have cooled down, and all the white dwarfs transformed into black dwarfs, the universe will turn dark forever.

當紅巨星都冷卻下來、白矮星蛻變成黑矮星，宇宙就會永遠黯淡

Rotating black holes might be the only sources of energy in the entire universe that life could harvest.

旋轉黑洞可能會是生命唯一的能源

If so, the last living being in existence might one day end its life around a black hole.

宇宙中最後的生命體可能會在一個黑洞附近死去

Which is equally chilling and uplifting.

好嚇人，同時也讓人振奮

It turns out that even without any light, there are places we can go.

就算世界上再沒有光，我們還會有容身之所

Black holes are as interesting as they are mysterious, but there's actually a surprising amount we do know.

黑洞既有趣卻又很神秘，然而我們對它們的知識其實不少

Using math we can calculate things and come up with theories about how we die if we fall into them.

數學容許我們推算出人體掉進黑洞的下場

If you're the sort of person who gets excited about maths and calculating these things for yourself,

如果你對與數學和推算出這些現象感興趣和興奮

...our friends at Brilliant have put together a fantastic black hole quiz to help you get your head around them.

Brilliant 創造了一個小測驗去幫你理解這些東西

Brilliant is a problem-solving website that teaches you to think like a scientist, by guiding you through the problems.

Brilliant 是一個以解難為主題的網站，一步一步教你像個科學家般解決問題

They take concepts like these, break them up into bite-sized pieces, present clear thinking in each part, and then build back up to an interesting conclusion.

他們會把概念分為小單元，清楚的表達當中的思維，然後合成有趣又容易理解的結論

If you visit Brilliant.org/nutshell or click the link in the description, you can sign up for free and learn all kinds of cool stuff.

你可以去 Brilliant.org/nutshell 或者在下面的描述裡按超連結 ，然後免費登記去學習不同的趣味

And as a bonus for Kurzgesagt viewers, the first 688 people will also get 20% off their annual membership.

作為「Kurzgesagt種而言之」的觀眾，首688位登記的會獲得8全年會員折扣

If you want to truly learn about black holes and support Kurzgesagt, this is one of the best ways to do it.

想要真正學關於黑洞的知識和支持「種而言之」，這是最好的方法！