May 14th, 2003, 11:23 PM
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Major General
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Join Date: Oct 2002
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Re: "Real" ringworlds
Quote:
Originally posted by Dingocat85:
The only thing physicists see as a use for black holes (besides a big trash can  ) is going forward in time, in a sense.
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Actually, there is the theoretical possibility of using one to get energy - Microscopic black holes produce Hawking Radiation - the smaller the black hole, the more radiation produced. However, you can't readily control the rate of production (it is a function of the black hole's mass, which can be difficult to change). You could also capture energy by feeding the black hole matter - gas dropped into a black hole heats up to compensate for the gravitational potential energy loss, and hot gas produces light, some of which can escape the gravity well from the black hole.
Mind you, to get this energy, you have to be able to manipulate a small black hole, which is probably very difficult (if possible) and very dangerous.
[ May 14, 2003, 22:33: Message edited by: Jack Simth ]
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Of course, by the time I finish this post, it will already be obsolete. C'est la vie.
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