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Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
What could go wrong? Scientists create the world's first black hole BOMB in the lab
It might sound like the culmination of a Bond villain's latest evil scheme. But the world's first 'black hole bomb' has officially become a reality. This theoretical doomsday device uses a series of spinning mirrors to reflect and amplify the waves of energy escaping from a black hole. In real black holes, this energy grows exponentially until it is either vented or the whole system explodes with the power of a supernova. Thankfully, the version created in the lab is just a safe demonstration model. Instead of drawing its power from a black hole, the bomb amplifies magnetic fields through a complex series of mirrors. During testing, the black hole bomb did explode - although the scientists reassure that this was 'nothing serious'. Professor Danielle Faccio, co-author of the study from the University of Glasgow, said: '[It was] more of a "pop" than an actual explosive "bang". However, she added: 'If one scaled this up in size, the "bang" would become more serious.' The key to the black hole bomb is an effect known as 'superradiance'. Professor Vito Cardoso, an expert on superradiance from the Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal who was not involved in the study, told MailOnline: 'Superradiance is the phenomenon whereby radiation is amplified when it interacts with a rotating object. 'In simple terms: if you send sound or electromagnetic waves of very low frequency to a spinning cylinder then certain "modes" will come back with more energy! In other words, energy is transferred from spinning objects to radiation.' There isn't anything mysterious about taking energy from a spinning object - just think about how you gain energy by stepping onto a spinning carousel. The black hole bomb simply applies this idea to a strange quirk of black hole physics - with explosive results. Due to 'weird and counterintuitive' rules of general relativity, when objects spin very close to a black hole they appear to gain energy from nothing. Professor Faccio explained: 'Seen from the outside, you will see an object or wave reflect away from the black hole and gain energy in the process. 'If you now create a surrounding cavity or mirror of some kind so that the wave gets reflected back and forth between the mirror and black hole, you will have a continuous and runaway amplification effect.' How does a black hole bomb work? A black hole bomb works by exploiting an effect called superradiance. When radiation approaches a spinning black hole it gains energy before escaping. This slightly slows down the spin of the black hole like someone stepping onto a carousel. But if the energy is reflected back inwards, this speeds up the spin of the black hole and amplifies the energy again. The radiation bounces back and forth from the black hole and the mirror becomes stronger each time. Eventually, there is so much high-energy radiation that the heat and pressure overwhelm the system and it explodes. Eventually, this high amplitude energy builds up between the mirror and the black hole and heats up so much that the pressure causes the entire system to explode. Since the nearest black hole is around 1,500 light-years from Earth, testing this theory in practice has been essentially impossible. However, in their pre-print paper, the researchers demonstrated that the basic physics behind the theory really does work. Instead of using a black hole, the experimental version rotates a 4-centimetre-diameter aluminium cylinder inside three layers of metal coils which are spun around the cylinder. The rotating coils can be used to both produce a magnetic field and reflect some of the field back into the system. In this model, the coils take the place of the mirrors while the magnetic fields play the role of light spinning around a black hole. During their testing, the researchers discovered that the small, low-frequency magnetic fields were quickly amplified into much larger signals. Even without the coils producing a magnetic field, the spinning device would still generate a runaway signal just like a black hole would. While the lab-based black hole bomb isn't nearly as powerful as a real black hole bomb, it was still capable of producing shocking amounts of power. Professor Faccio said: 'The electrical components in our setup were literally exploding!' While you might worry that the technology could be used to make an actual bomb, Professor Faccio insists it is 'hard to see' how this could happen. In fact, the researchers point out that this process could be beneficial in energy collection processes like what is already happening inside wind turbines. Instead, the more terrifying possibility is creating a real black hole bomb out in space. Theoretically, this could allow you to create a limitless source of energy. Although our own civilisation isn't yet up to the task, there is nothing to prevent another society from creating a scaled-up version of Professor Faccio's device. Professor Cardoso says: 'We can easily imagine a slightly more advanced civilization than us using something like this with a black hole! 'It's amazing, extracting energy from the vacuum to power a society.' But, just like nuclear power, a vast source of energy can quickly become a bomb if it isn't managed correctly. 'Any piece of technology with an immense power can always be dangerous,' concludes Professor Cardoso. 'In this particular case, a bad regulation - like nuclear plants - could lead to overproduction of radiation and therefore to explosion.' BLACK HOLES HAVE A GRAVITATIONAL PULL SO STRONG NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE Black holes are so dense and their gravitational pull is so strong that no form of radiation can escape them - not even light. They act as intense sources of gravity which hoover up dust and gas around them. Their intense gravitational pull is thought to be what stars in galaxies orbit around. How they are formed is still poorly understood. Astronomers believe they may form when a large cloud of gas up to 100,000 times bigger than the sun, collapses into a black hole. Many of these black hole seeds then merge to form much larger supermassive black holes, which are found at the centre of every known massive galaxy. Alternatively, a supermassive black hole seed could come from a giant star, about 100 times the sun's mass, that ultimately forms into a black hole after it runs out of fuel and collapses. When these giant stars die, they also go 'supernova', a huge explosion that expels the matter from the outer layers of the star into deep space.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Countries compete to keep skilled young workers
In 2020, Duarte Dias, a Portuguese software engineer, accepted a job offer to work in Microsoft's Dublin subsidiary. A little over a year later, he joined a team at Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle, where he still works. Even though he misses the Portuguese laid-back approach to life, and the family-like team spirit of the work environments there, he does not regret, not for one second, his choice of pursuing an international career. Mr Dias's decision was made easier by all the financial impact of moving. The verdict of the spreadsheet was clear: staying in Portugal would be financially ruinous. "I did simulations of how much money I would save a year in Portugal, and I quickly realised that I wouldn't be able to have a comfortable life financially, even if I got one of the most well-paying jobs available in engineering for my experience level," says. A two-year job experience in Portugal while Mr Dias was concluding his masters at Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico cemented his conviction: his yearly income amounted to €35,000 ($36,000; £29,000). But his take home salary was much, much less. His income placed him in a tax bracket which meant up to 40% of this gross salary went to the state. "Financially it was bad. It would be very hard to save money if I didn't live with my parents," he recalls. Moving to Ireland meant an immediate hike in his salary prospects, almost doubling to €60,000. The money is even better in the US, where he now earns upwards of $160,000 before a 20% income tax rate, much lower than at home. Mr Dias intends to return to Lisbon in two years' time with "with many more savings". Keeping skilled workers like Mr Dias in Portugal has been a concern for recent governments. In 2020, the administration led by the Socialist Party's Antonio Costa launched IRS Jovem, a programme of tax reductions for workers less than 30 years old and tiered by level of education. In 2022, 73,684 taxpayers benefitted from this incentive, according to official data. After a snap election in March, the new centre-right Portuguese government led by Luis Montenegro doubled down on the idea and expanded it from five to 10 years, and to all workers under 35 independently of their educational levels. The proposal, passed by the Portuguese parliament in late November, is due to benefit up to 400,000 workers, according to the Portuguese Ministry of Finance. But specialists say it likely won't be enough to keep the young from going abroad. "It is unlikely that, on its own, the tax regime will make young workers remain in the country, whether because professional opportunities are more abundant in foreign countries, or due to the fact this tax benefit applies only to yearly incomes under €28,000," says Sérgio Vasques, professor of tax law at the Católica Lisbon School of Law. He points out that the Portuguese government still takes more of the average worker's salary than most richer nations. Known as the tax wedge, the ratio between the amount of taxes paid by an average single worker without children and the corresponding total labour cost for the employer, stands at 42.3% in Portugal. That's the 8th highest among the 38 member countries of the OECD. "This is a tax regime that is an enemy of qualified work and professional success. This regime will not solve this problem," adds Mr Vasques. Mr Vasques, also a former secretary of state for tax affairs in the early 2010s, adds: "I also cannot imagine a young professional deciding to move to Portugal just because of an extra couple hundred euros at the end of the year. "Not even a low-skilled worker will make a decision based on that. Portuguese food works probably better as an incentive to move here than that tax regime". Rita de La Feria, chair of tax law at the University of Leeds, reminds that the exodus of young people isn't just a Portuguese problem, and that Europe is grappling with the challenges of young emigration. According to a study requested by the Portuguese Parliament, as of July, in the European Union Portugal, Poland and Croatia had special tax regimes based on the taxpayers' ages. "The challenges are very obvious: worker mobility is higher. The problem is that the country spends very large amounts on training for them to leave for other countries as soon as they enter the workforce," she said. Ms de La Feria, who moved to the UK at a young age, told the BBC that when she left Portugal she did not intend to "leave for good: many leave their countries of origin thinking they will come back at some point. But once they form a family, it's almost impossible to return." Antonio Almeida, a software engineer like Mr Dias, left Portugal during the pandemic in late 2020 for a job in Berlin, right after finishing his degree. He would change the German capital for Brussels two years later. All his work experience was done abroad. "Back in 2020, we were offered monthly salaries of €1,300, gross, in Lisbon. Berlin offered me €4,200 for a junior role." Even with a 40% income tax rate in Germany, there was a considerable net gain. "It wasn't a difficult decision," says Mr Almeida. Now in Belgium - where taxes are higher, he stresses - returning to his homeland isn't a priority. "I think of returning eventually, mainly for family reasons. "But at the moment my life standards are very high and I like the way of life of central Europe. And the main problem in Portugal is low salaries, not taxes." Mr Almeida does not consider the Portuguese tax changes as a major factor when thinking of the pros and cons of coming back home. "Up until today I never thought about it." Mr Dias agrees: "Salaries outside Portugal will always be higher, and all those who don't have any personal or familial connections to the country won't have any kind of financial or career incentive to stay there". Hair: 'It's just thrown away but it's gold' Scientists work on 'superhuman' vision systems for robots Why employees smuggle AI into work
BBC News
25-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Countries compete to keep skilled young workers
In 2020, Duarte Dias, a Portuguese software engineer, accepted a job offer to work in Microsoft's Dublin subsidiary.A little over a year later, he joined a team at Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle, where he still though he misses the Portuguese laid-back approach to life, and the family-like team spirit of the work environments there, he does not regret, not for one second, his choice of pursuing an international Dias's decision was made easier by all the financial impact of verdict of the spreadsheet was clear: staying in Portugal would be financially ruinous."I did simulations of how much money I would save a year in Portugal, and I quickly realised that I wouldn't be able to have a comfortable life financially, even if I got one of the most well-paying jobs available in engineering for my experience level," says. A two-year job experience in Portugal while Mr Dias was concluding his masters at Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico cemented his conviction: his yearly income amounted to €35,000 ($36,000; £29,000).But his take home salary was much, much income placed him in a tax bracket which meant up to 40% of this gross salary went to the state. "Financially it was bad. It would be very hard to save money if I didn't live with my parents," he to Ireland meant an immediate hike in his salary prospects, almost doubling to €60, money is even better in the US, where he now earns upwards of $160,000 before a 20% income tax rate, much lower than at Dias intends to return to Lisbon in two years' time with "with many more savings". Keeping skilled workers like Mr Dias in Portugal has been a concern for recent 2020, the administration led by the Socialist Party's Antonio Costa launched IRS Jovem, a programme of tax reductions for workers less than 30 years old and tiered by level of 2022, 73,684 taxpayers benefitted from this incentive, according to official a snap election in March, the new centre-right Portuguese government led by Luis Montenegro doubled down on the idea and expanded it from five to 10 years, and to all workers under 35 independently of their educational proposal, passed by the Portuguese parliament in late November, is due to benefit up to 400,000 workers, according to the Portuguese Ministry of Finance. But specialists say it likely won't be enough to keep the young from going abroad."It is unlikely that, on its own, the tax regime will make young workers remain in the country, whether because professional opportunities are more abundant in foreign countries, or due to the fact this tax benefit applies only to yearly incomes under €28,000," says Sérgio Vasques, professor of tax law at the Católica Lisbon School of points out that the Portuguese government still takes more of the average worker's salary than most richer nations. Known as the tax wedge, the ratio between the amount of taxes paid by an average single worker without children and the corresponding total labour cost for the employer, stands at 42.3% in the 8th highest among the 38 member countries of the OECD."This is a tax regime that is an enemy of qualified work and professional success. This regime will not solve this problem," adds Mr Vasques, also a former secretary of state for tax affairs in the early 2010s, adds: "I also cannot imagine a young professional deciding to move to Portugal just because of an extra couple hundred euros at the end of the year."Not even a low-skilled worker will make a decision based on that. Portuguese food works probably better as an incentive to move here than that tax regime". Rita de La Feria, chair of tax law at the University of Leeds, reminds that the exodus of young people isn't just a Portuguese problem, and that Europe is grappling with the challenges of young emigration. According to a study requested by the Portuguese Parliament, as of July, in the European Union Portugal, Poland and Croatia had special tax regimes based on the taxpayers' ages."The challenges are very obvious: worker mobility is higher. The problem is that the country spends very large amounts on training for them to leave for other countries as soon as they enter the workforce," she de La Feria, who moved to the UK at a young age, told the BBC that when she left Portugal she did not intend to "leave for good: many leave their countries of origin thinking they will come back at some point. But once they form a family, it's almost impossible to return." Antonio Almeida, a software engineer like Mr Dias, left Portugal during the pandemic in late 2020 for a job in Berlin, right after finishing his degree. He would change the German capital for Brussels two years later. All his work experience was done abroad."Back in 2020, we were offered monthly salaries of €1,300, gross, in Lisbon. Berlin offered me €4,200 for a junior role."Even with a 40% income tax rate in Germany, there was a considerable net gain. "It wasn't a difficult decision," says Mr in Belgium - where taxes are higher, he stresses - returning to his homeland isn't a priority. "I think of returning eventually, mainly for family reasons."But at the moment my life standards are very high and I like the way of life of central Europe. And the main problem in Portugal is low salaries, not taxes."Mr Almeida does not consider the Portuguese tax changes as a major factor when thinking of the pros and cons of coming back home."Up until today I never thought about it."Mr Dias agrees: "Salaries outside Portugal will always be higher, and all those who don't have any personal or familial connections to the country won't have any kind of financial or career incentive to stay there".
