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Hawking Gracefully, Formally Loses Black Hole Bet

Posted by timothy on from the fails-to-give-wheelchair-ride dept.

Liora writes "Today at the 17th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation in Dublin, Cambridge University professor Stephen Hawking said in his talk titled The Information Paradox for Black Holes that he was wrong about the formation of an event horizon in a black hole, and that matter is not destroyed in a way defying subatomic theory, as he had previously believed. According to the talk's short, "the way the information gets out seems to be that a true event horizon never forms, just an apparent horizon." A New York Times story and a Wired story are available, both apparently based on Reuters information." (This is the formal announcement promised last week.)

6 of 485 comments (clear)

  1. Good for Hawking by neilcSD · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's great to see such an eminent scientist willingly admit that he was wrong, or at least only partially right. It seems that all too often the path that people and organizations choose is to deny, spin, and turn things on their heads to avoid embarassment. Hawking showed he is a good sport, proving not only does he have a brilliant mind, he is a classy person as well.

    1. Re:Good for Hawking by BCW2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree. A true gentleman and brilliant mind. It would be nice if others could follow his example, like Politicians, SCO, everyone in Hollywood.

      --
      Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
    2. Re:Good for Hawking by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A sad state the world is in when someone not being an asshole is surprising.

      --
      Beep beep.
  2. bet was more of a joke by oneiron · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really don't understand why the bet sneaks into every headline about this story. Why are humans so obsessed with who was right and wrong? That we have the information is all that really matters...

  3. Re:Like Einstein? by Xoro · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wasted? Nonsense.

    The objections Einstein posed to quantum theory were not spurious fluff, but hard-nosed challenges that any successful theory would have to meet. He made Bohr sweat more than once.

    Would you prefer we just let something as absurd as quantum mechanics just slide? Scientists might as well all join the monestaries again.

    Your statement "pretty much known to be true" is timid and sugary. Bring on the Einsteins.

    --
    Kill, Tux, kill!
  4. Am I missing something? by steve+buttgereit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From the Rueters article pubished by wired...

    For over 200 years, scientists have puzzled over black holes, which form when stars burn all their fuel and collapse, creating a huge gravitational pull.

    Now I'm no scientist, but 200 years of black holes seems like they're giving the issue more duration than history warrants. I thought the concept of a 'black hole' was a consequence of Einstein's relativity work (general, special I can never remember which is which... think it's general).

    Am I wrong and just missed a whole bunch of science history?

    Cheers!
    SCB