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I wonder if this is an opportunity to detect intelligent life. If the black hole is affecting any intelligent life on the way, they might do something to save t
by unrealp 4y ago
I wonder if this is an opportunity to detect intelligent life. If the black hole is affecting any intelligent life on the way, they might do something to save themselves or their planet, which might be detectable?
- chasil 4y agoUnlikely. It has been seen no where else. And what would we do if we saw it? It's likely beyond the cosmological horizon, meaning that a reply is impossible.
- iamgopal 4y agoOr this itself just two alien race fighting with each other. Wait till we see another black hole going other way.
- pyinstallwoes 4y agoOr an act of creation in cosmic husbandry by some extremely advanced intelligence
- blacksmith_tb 4y agoIf they could do something on a scale to stop (or even avoid) a runaway black hole they'd have to be enormously powerful. I would think even for species well beyond our capabilities the only option would be to flee.
- dontupvoteme 4y agoBy our current understanding the only thing one could do to a black hole is increase its mass (useless) or attempt to change its path gravitationally (requiring a massive amount of gravity -> requiring a massive, massive amount of energy) Fleeing probably makes the most sense for any species.
- Razengan 4y agoWhat if this is CAUSED by intelligent life? Maybe this is part of a galactic-scale engineering project? Actual pic btw: https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01GWQ1FTQCCZS72F2GPD4QTJXK.png https://stsci-opo.org/STScI-01GWQ1FTQCCZS72F2GPD4QTJXK.png
- unrealp 4y agoyes. like the black hole is clearing up the path for intergalactic super highway in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- state_less 4y agoPerhaps we could play some galactic billiards someday with a good gravitational model and plenty of computation. Send a flair out lasting over a hundred millions years, letting others know, “hey, we lived here.”
- dsq 4y agoThanks for the pic. Actually much more exciting than the artist's imagination.
- once_inc 4y agoPlease note that the black hole is causing star formation from gas, not moving star systems. From what I gathered from the article, there are very few stars actually in its path, and it is mostly just plowing through a large gas cloud.