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Five decades ago , famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking speculate that theBig Bangmay have flooded the world with tiny fatal hole . Now , researchers believe they may have seen one explode .

In Feb. 2025 , the European collaboration KM3NeT — which consists of submerged demodulator off the coasts of France , Italy and Greece — announced the discovery ofa stupendously sinewy neutrino . This ghostly particle had an energy of around 100 PeV — over 25 time more energetic than the particles accelerate in the Large Hadron Collider , the humankind ’s most brawny molecule smasher .

an illustration of jagged white lines emerging from a black hole

An illustration of “Hawking radiation” leaking out of a black hole. New research into the origins of an incredibly powerful particle detected on Earth could pave the way to proving some of Hawking’s major black hole theories correct.

physicist have struggled to come up with an explanation for such an energetic neutrino . But now , a squad of researcher who were not involved in the original detection have propose a surprising hypothesis : The neutrino is the key signature of an evaporatingblack pickle . The team identify their proposal in apaperthat was uploaded to the arXiv database and has not been match - reviewed yet .

Hawking’s elephant-size black holes

In the seventies , Hawking realized that black holes are n’t totally sinister . Instead , through complex interactions between the calamitous holeevent horizonand the quantum theatre of space - sentence , they can emit a slow - but - steady stream of radiation , now roll in the hay as Hawking radiation . This meansblack holes evaporateand eventually vanish . In fact , as the black hole gets smaller , it breathe even more radiation therapy , until it essentially explode in a firestorm of eminent - Energy Department speck and radiation — like the neutrino spotted by the KM3Net collaboration .

Related : Stephen Hawking ’s black hole radiation paradox could finally be solved — if bootleg holes are n’t what they seem

But all known fatal pickle are very large — at least a few times the mass of the Lord’s Day , and oftensignificantly large . It will take well over 10 ^ 100 year for even the smallest experience black hole to die . If the KM3NeT neutrino is due to an explode bleak golf hole , it has to be much pocket-size — somewhere around 22,000 pounds ( 10,000 kilograms ) . That ’s about as heavy as two fully produce African elephants , compressed into a fatal hole smaller than an particle .

An illustration of a spinning black hole with multicolor light

The only known potential way to create such tiny mordant holes is in the chaotic events of the early Big Bang , which may have flooded the cosmos with"primordial " black holes . The minor primeval blackened muddle bring forth in the Big Bang would have exploded long ago , while prominent ones might persist to the present day .

Unfortunately , a 22,000 - Irish pound black hole should not survive all the way of life from the Big Bang to the present day . But the author guide out that there might be an additionalquantum mechanism — known as " memory burden " — that allows fateful holes to resist radioactive decay . This would appropriate a 22,000 - pound opprobrious hole to survive for billions of age before it ultimately exploded , charge a high - energy neutrino toward Earth in the process .

— Unproven Einstein hypothesis of ' gravitational memory ' may be substantial after all , new study hints

A red mass of irradiated gas swirls through space

— ' Cosmic Horseshoe ' may moderate black-market hole the size of it of 36 billion suns — one of the gravid ever detected

— Scientists may have just bring out 300 of the rarest black holes in the universe

primaeval contraband holes might be an account fordark matter — the inconspicuous gist that accounts for most of the topic in the cosmos — but so far , searches for them have move around up empty . This newfangled perceptiveness may ply an intriguing clue . The researchers found that if primeval disgraceful holes of this mass reach are abundant enough to account for all the sour matter , they should be exploding somewhat regularly . They gauge that if this guess is right , the KM3NeT collaboration should see another showstopping neutrino in the next few eld .

An illustration of a black hole with a small round object approaching it, causing a burst of energy

If that detection bump , then we may just have to radically rethink the way we approach dark affair , high-pitched - energy neutrino and even the physical science of the early universe .

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Galaxies observed by the JWST with those rotating one way circled in red, those rotating the other way circled in blue

An illustration of a black hole with light erupting from it

an illustration of two stars colliding in a flash of light

A lot of galaxies are seen as bright spots on a dark background. Toward the left, the JWST is shown in an illustration.

A close-up view of a barred spiral galaxy. Two spiral arms reach horizontally away from the core in the centre, merging into a broad network of gas and dust which fills the image. This material glows brightest orange along the path of the arms, and is darker red across the rest of the galaxy. Through many gaps in the dust, countless tiny stars can be seen, most densely around the core.

An illustration of a black hole surrounded by a cloud of dust, with an inset showing a zoomed in view of the black hole

A bright red arc of light seen against greyish red clouds in space. hundreds of stars dot the background

an illustration of a base on the moon

A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Screen-capture of a home security camera facing a front porch during an earthquake.

Circular alignment of stones in the center of an image full of stones

Three-dimensional rendering of an HIV virus

a photo of the Milky Way reflecting off of an alpine lake at night