Black holes are a threat to the planet: Now we could produce infinite energy this way

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The theoretical concept that energy can be harvested from black holes has interested scientists for decades. One theory is called the Penrose process and involves the ergosphere, which is the space outside the event horizon of a black hole where the pull of gravity is so powerful that spacetime and the motion of objects are affected, eldiario24.com.

Black holes are the source of dark energy

After years of intense, specialized observation of massive black holes at the centers of galaxies, scientists have finally proven that these deep-space phenomena are the source of dark energy, which is described as the “missing” 70% of the universe. In the ergosphere, the forces cause objects to rotate in the same direction that the black hole spins due to the frame-dragging effect, they cannot remain in the same place relative to an observer.

The frame-dragging effect is related to Einstein’s theory of relativity and it occurs around gigantic rotating objects, like black holes. When a black hole spins, it drags the spacetime with it, which has the same effect on objects and light in the vicinity.

After realizing the significance of what the team of scientists has discovered, Dr Chris Pearson, co-author from STFC RAL Space said:

“If the theory holds, then this is going to revolutionize the whole of cosmology, because at last we’ve got a solution for the origin of dark energy that’s been perplexing cosmologists and theoretical physicists for more than 20 years.”

Explaining the Penrose process

Ergospherical physics shows that if a mass nearing the event horizon is broken into two parts and one lands in the black hole, the other part may exit the ergosphere with more energy than it approached. The black hole contributes some of its angular momentum, which increases the mass’s energy. The Penrose process has to do with this property of black holes whereby timespace is carried along with the incredible rotation.

The amazing gap in knowledge that’s just been filled explains the source of dark energy: gravity combined with black holes. This essentially means that our picture of the universe is complete.

A team of 17 brilliant researchers from nine countries worked on the black hole research, led by the University of Hawai’i and assisted by STFC RAL Space physicists and the Imperial College London. The findings have been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and The Astrophysical Journal. Study co-author from the Department of Physics at Imperial, Dr Dave Clements, said:

“This is a really surprising result. We started off looking at how black holes grow over time, and may have found the answer to one of the biggest problems in cosmology.”

The applications of the new findings for energy harnessing

A premise following the findings involves harnessing energy by splitting and merging magnetic field lines in the ergosphere. The infalling matter would naturally split into two plasma flows, one of which would benefit from an energy boost from the black hole.

There’s another option called the Blandford-Znajek process whereby an external magnetic field is used to extract a black hole’s rotational energy. In these events, the black hole functions as a conductor spinning in the magnetic field of its accretion disk. As the magnetic field lines are carried around the black hole, they eject jets of plasma in opposite directions, and this process is believed to be behind the plasma jets witnessed in quasars.

Gravity vs dark energy

Although gravitational rotation should mean that the Universe’s expansion is slowing down, researchers discovered in the 1990s that it’s actually speeding up and the distance between galaxies is growing at an increasing rate.

The term “dark energy” was coined to explain the force that propels galaxies apart more forcefully than gravity can pull them closer. The idea is linked to a concept proposed by Einstein called the “cosmological constant”, which was abandoned but was believed to be responsible for counteracting gravity and preventing the collapse of the Universe.

The concept has been revived to explain the accelerating expansion with vacuum energy being an inherent spacetime component that’s increasing the distance between galaxies.

The potential for harvesting dark energy is based on findings that suggest that black holes can gain mass in a process that has to do with containing vacuum energy, and the potential for future development is an exciting research direction that’s hoped to unlock some of the Universe’s unlimited potential for power.