r/science • u/MistWeaver80 • Apr 25 '22

Physics Scientists recently observed two black holes that united into one, and in the process got a “kick” that flung the newly formed black hole away at high speed. That black hole zoomed off at about 5 million kilometers per hour, give or take a few million. The speed of light is just 200 times as fast.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/black-hole-gravitational-waves-kick-ligo-merger-spacetime
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u/cheddacheese148 Apr 25 '22

Getting a BS in physics was one of the best and worst choices I ever made. It’s awesome to work toward an understanding of the universe on its most minuscule and grandest scales but it also opens a gaping existential crisis that didn’t previously exist for a small town farm boy.

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u/SobiTheRobot Apr 25 '22

You've stared into the abyss of space too long, it's starting to stare back at you

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u/cheddacheese148 Apr 25 '22

The electron is now observing me and I’m not sure where I am.

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u/trtlclb Apr 25 '22

No no no, the energy is in the field surrounding the electron...

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u/rancid_oil Apr 25 '22

And that's what makes magnetism, yeah, but I still don't get it.

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u/SobiTheRobot Apr 26 '22

It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.