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Stephen Hawking: on Black Holes

These collapsed stars challenge the very nature of space and time, as they contain a singularity - a phenomenon where the normal rules of the universe break down

Professor Stephen Hawking delivers his 成人快手 Reith Lecture on black holes. These collapsed stars challenge the very nature of space and time, as they contain a singularity - a phenomenon where the normal rules of the universe break down. They have held an enduring fascination for Professor Hawking throughout his life.

Rather than see them as scary, destructive and dark he says if properly understood, they could unlock the deepest secrets of the cosmos. Professor Hawking describes the history of scientific thinking about black holes, and explains how they have posed tough challenges to conventional understanding of the laws which govern the universe.

Professor Hawking then explains his own hypothesis that black holes may emit a form of radiation, now known as Hawking Radiation. He discusses about the search for mini black holes, noting that so far "no-one has found any, which is a pity because if they had, I would have got a Nobel Prize." And he advances a theory that information may remain stored within black holes in a scrambled form.

50 minutes

Last on

Sun 7 Feb 2016 12:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 6 Feb 2016 20:06GMT
  • Sun 7 Feb 2016 12:06GMT

An illustrated guide to black holes

As explained by Stephen Hawking

The Reith Lectures on Radio 4

Archive recordings from the 成人快手's flagship annual lecture series going back to 1948