Janna Levin

I don't mind being incautious about thinking about what the math tells us. I'm not such an observer. I'm very theoretical in my work. It's really pen on paper a lot. These are thought experiments that I think we can perform and contemplate. Whether or not we'll ever know is another question.

And so one of the most beautiful things that we suspect happens on the inside of a black hole is that space and time, in some sense, swap places. So while I'm on the outside of the black hole, let's say I'm in a nice, comfortable space station, this black hole may be 10 times the mass of the sun, 60 kilometers across. I could be 100 kilometers out. That's very, very close. Orbiting quite safely.

And so one of the most beautiful things that we suspect happens on the inside of a black hole is that space and time, in some sense, swap places. So while I'm on the outside of the black hole, let's say I'm in a nice, comfortable space station, this black hole may be 10 times the mass of the sun, 60 kilometers across. I could be 100 kilometers out. That's very, very close. Orbiting quite safely.

And so one of the most beautiful things that we suspect happens on the inside of a black hole is that space and time, in some sense, swap places. So while I'm on the outside of the black hole, let's say I'm in a nice, comfortable space station, this black hole may be 10 times the mass of the sun, 60 kilometers across. I could be 100 kilometers out. That's very, very close. Orbiting quite safely.

No big deal. You know, hanging out. I don't bug the black hole. Black hole doesn't bug me. It won't suck me up like a vacuum or anything crazy. But my astronaut friend jumps in. As they cross the event horizon, what I'm calling space, I'm looking on the outside at this... spherical shadow of the black hole cast by maybe light around it. It's a shadow because everything gets too close, falls in.

No big deal. You know, hanging out. I don't bug the black hole. Black hole doesn't bug me. It won't suck me up like a vacuum or anything crazy. But my astronaut friend jumps in. As they cross the event horizon, what I'm calling space, I'm looking on the outside at this... spherical shadow of the black hole cast by maybe light around it. It's a shadow because everything gets too close, falls in.

No big deal. You know, hanging out. I don't bug the black hole. Black hole doesn't bug me. It won't suck me up like a vacuum or anything crazy. But my astronaut friend jumps in. As they cross the event horizon, what I'm calling space, I'm looking on the outside at this... spherical shadow of the black hole cast by maybe light around it. It's a shadow because everything gets too close, falls in.

It's just this contrast against a bright sky. I think, oh, there's a center of a sphere. And in the center of the sphere is the singularity. It's a point in space from my perspective. But from the perspective of the astronaut who falls in, it's actually a point in time.

It's just this contrast against a bright sky. I think, oh, there's a center of a sphere. And in the center of the sphere is the singularity. It's a point in space from my perspective. But from the perspective of the astronaut who falls in, it's actually a point in time.

It's just this contrast against a bright sky. I think, oh, there's a center of a sphere. And in the center of the sphere is the singularity. It's a point in space from my perspective. But from the perspective of the astronaut who falls in, it's actually a point in time.

So their notions of space and time have rotated so completely that what I'm calling a direction in space towards the center of the black hole, like the center of a physical sphere, they're going to tell me what they can't tell me, but they're going to come to the conclusion, oh, no, that's not a location in space. That's a location in time.

So their notions of space and time have rotated so completely that what I'm calling a direction in space towards the center of the black hole, like the center of a physical sphere, they're going to tell me what they can't tell me, but they're going to come to the conclusion, oh, no, that's not a location in space. That's a location in time.

So their notions of space and time have rotated so completely that what I'm calling a direction in space towards the center of the black hole, like the center of a physical sphere, they're going to tell me what they can't tell me, but they're going to come to the conclusion, oh, no, that's not a location in space. That's a location in time.

In other words, the singularity ends up in their future, and they can no more avoid the singularity than they can avoid time coming their way. So there's no shenanigans you can do once you're inside the black hole to try to skirt it, the singularity. You can't set yourself up in orbit around it. You can't try to fire rockets and stay away from it because it's in your future.

In other words, the singularity ends up in their future, and they can no more avoid the singularity than they can avoid time coming their way. So there's no shenanigans you can do once you're inside the black hole to try to skirt it, the singularity. You can't set yourself up in orbit around it. You can't try to fire rockets and stay away from it because it's in your future.

In other words, the singularity ends up in their future, and they can no more avoid the singularity than they can avoid time coming their way. So there's no shenanigans you can do once you're inside the black hole to try to skirt it, the singularity. You can't set yourself up in orbit around it. You can't try to fire rockets and stay away from it because it's in your future.

And there's an inevitable moment when you will hit it. Usually for a stellar mass black hole, we think it's microseconds.

And there's an inevitable moment when you will hit it. Usually for a stellar mass black hole, we think it's microseconds.

And there's an inevitable moment when you will hit it. Usually for a stellar mass black hole, we think it's microseconds.

Yes, from their perspective, the singularities in their future.