Janna Levin

So a lot of these, they rebound because once they crunch, they've reached a new critical capacity where they can reignite to higher elements, heavier elements, and that sets off a bomb, essentially. So the star explodes, helpfully, because that's why you and I are here, because stars send their material back out into space, and you and I get to be made of carbon and oxygen and all this good stuff.

We're not just hydrogen. So the suns do that for us. And then what's left sometimes ends at a neutron star, which is a very cool object, very fascinating object, super dense, but bigger than a black hole, meaning it's not compact enough to become a black hole. It's an actual thing. A neutron star is a real thing. It's like a giant neutron.

We're not just hydrogen. So the suns do that for us. And then what's left sometimes ends at a neutron star, which is a very cool object, very fascinating object, super dense, but bigger than a black hole, meaning it's not compact enough to become a black hole. It's an actual thing. A neutron star is a real thing. It's like a giant neutron.

We're not just hydrogen. So the suns do that for us. And then what's left sometimes ends at a neutron star, which is a very cool object, very fascinating object, super dense, but bigger than a black hole, meaning it's not compact enough to become a black hole. It's an actual thing. A neutron star is a real thing. It's like a giant neutron.

Literally, electrons get jammed into the protons and make this giant nucleus and this superconducting matter. Very strange, amazing objects. But if it's heavier than that, the core, and that's heavier than twice the mass of the sun... It will become a black hole.

Literally, electrons get jammed into the protons and make this giant nucleus and this superconducting matter. Very strange, amazing objects. But if it's heavier than that, the core, and that's heavier than twice the mass of the sun... It will become a black hole.

Literally, electrons get jammed into the protons and make this giant nucleus and this superconducting matter. Very strange, amazing objects. But if it's heavier than that, the core, and that's heavier than twice the mass of the sun... It will become a black hole.

And Oppenheimer wrote this beautiful paper in 1939 with his student saying that they believed that the end state of gravitational collapse is actually a black hole. This is stunning and really a visionary conclusion. Now, the paper is published the same day the Nazis advance on Poland. And so it does not get a lot of fanfare in the newspapers.

And Oppenheimer wrote this beautiful paper in 1939 with his student saying that they believed that the end state of gravitational collapse is actually a black hole. This is stunning and really a visionary conclusion. Now, the paper is published the same day the Nazis advance on Poland. And so it does not get a lot of fanfare in the newspapers.

And Oppenheimer wrote this beautiful paper in 1939 with his student saying that they believed that the end state of gravitational collapse is actually a black hole. This is stunning and really a visionary conclusion. Now, the paper is published the same day the Nazis advance on Poland. And so it does not get a lot of fanfare in the newspapers.

What I also love about that lesson is how agnostic science is. because he was asking these utopian questions, as were other people of the time, about the nuclear physics and stars. You might know this play, Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn. There's this line that he attributes to Bohr.

What I also love about that lesson is how agnostic science is. because he was asking these utopian questions, as were other people of the time, about the nuclear physics and stars. You might know this play, Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn. There's this line that he attributes to Bohr.

What I also love about that lesson is how agnostic science is. because he was asking these utopian questions, as were other people of the time, about the nuclear physics and stars. You might know this play, Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn. There's this line that he attributes to Bohr.

Bohr was the great thinker of early foundations of quantum mechanics, Danish physicist, where Bohr says to his wife, nobody's thought of a way to kill people using quantum mechanics. Now, of course, then there's the nuclear bomb. And what I love about this was the pressure scientists were under to do something with this nuclear physics and to enter this race over a nuclear weapon.

Bohr was the great thinker of early foundations of quantum mechanics, Danish physicist, where Bohr says to his wife, nobody's thought of a way to kill people using quantum mechanics. Now, of course, then there's the nuclear bomb. And what I love about this was the pressure scientists were under to do something with this nuclear physics and to enter this race over a nuclear weapon.

Bohr was the great thinker of early foundations of quantum mechanics, Danish physicist, where Bohr says to his wife, nobody's thought of a way to kill people using quantum mechanics. Now, of course, then there's the nuclear bomb. And what I love about this was the pressure scientists were under to do something with this nuclear physics and to enter this race over a nuclear weapon.

But really, at the same time, 1939, really, Oppenheimer's thinking about black holes. There's even a small line in Chris Nolan's film It's very hard to catch. There's a reference to it in the film where they're sort of joking, well, I guess nobody's going to pay attention to your paper now, you know, because of the Nazi advance on Poland.

But really, at the same time, 1939, really, Oppenheimer's thinking about black holes. There's even a small line in Chris Nolan's film It's very hard to catch. There's a reference to it in the film where they're sort of joking, well, I guess nobody's going to pay attention to your paper now, you know, because of the Nazi advance on Poland.

But really, at the same time, 1939, really, Oppenheimer's thinking about black holes. There's even a small line in Chris Nolan's film It's very hard to catch. There's a reference to it in the film where they're sort of joking, well, I guess nobody's going to pay attention to your paper now, you know, because of the Nazi advance on Poland.

Right.