Now black holes only form from large stars as a result of supernovae outbursts. However, at the dawn of our Universe, primary black holes were formed with sizes as small as they could be. And what would happen if any of these objects existed now and passed through a human body.
Primary black holes
Back in 1974, science fiction writer Larry Niven proposed the idea that a human being could be killed by shooting a microscopic black hole into them. Researchers recently published a scientific paper addressing this issue.
The researchers first looked at where microscopic black holes might come from in general. At one time they could have formed massively at the very beginning of the Universe. Then they could have been as big as a hydrogen atom.
However, the smaller the black hole, the faster it loses mass due to Hawking radiation until it disappears altogether. Therefore, even primary black holes cannot exist in the modern world. The researchers calculated that their minimum possible mass is 1012 kg, that is, a billion tons.
On the other hand, if primary black holes with masses of 1020 kg or more existed somewhere near us, we would have noticed them by now because of the twinkling of stars. Therefore, it’s worth checking the danger from what enters this gap.
Black hole instead of a balloon
It is worth remembering that black holes in the above mass range, although weighing as much as an asteroid, are about a micrometer in size. If such an object hit a human body, it would destroy only a few cells in its path and fly onward. The gravitational gradient and shock wave would be the main destructive effect.
The gravitational gradient is the difference in the forces of attraction that is produced as a result of an object getting closer or farther away. It can be very powerful indeed, but only directly next to a tiny black hole.
Scientists have calculated that if a primary black hole passed through a body or limb, there would be no fatal consequences. It would be like being stabbed with a very fine needle: painful but not fatal. But in the case of passing through the head, the consequences can be extremely unpleasant, because important neurons of the brain can be damaged as a result.
However, the real danger from microscopic black holes is the shock wave. Moving through matter, the black hole pushes molecules out, forming a front of altered density. Scientists have calculated that even a black hole with a mass of 1014 kg can provide a shockwave energy comparable to a 22 caliber bullet.
However, you should not be afraid of such events. Scientists estimate that these objects are actually so rare that the average person has a 1 in 10 trillion chance of being affected by a microscopic black hole during their lifetime.
According to phys.org
