Which Came First, the Galaxy or the Black Hole?
Michio Kaku is a futurist, popularizer of science, and theoretical physicist, as well as a bestselling author and the host of two radio programs. He is the co-founder of string field theory (a branch of string theory), and continues Einstein’s search to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory. He holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics and a joint appointment at City College of New York and the Graduate Center of C.U.N.Y. He is also a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
Kaku launched his Big Think blog, "Dr. Kaku's Universe," in March 2010.
Question: Are the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies involved in the formation of those galaxies? (Submitted by Andy Speight)
Michio Kaku: Well Andy, you ask a very touchy subject. What came first, the chicken or the egg, the galaxy or the black hole? We still don’t know. First of all, if you want to see the black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy go out tonight and look in the direction of Sagittarius. That is where we have a super-massive black hole at the very center or our own backyard, the Milky Way galaxy. It weighs two to three million times the mass of our sun.
Now the latest theory about which came first is the following: First, we think that out of the big bang came dark matter, invisible matter. If I held dark matter in my hand it would literally ooze its way right through my fingers, go right to the center of the earth, go to China and then go back and forth between China and my hand. That is dark matter. We think that dark matter begins to clump first because of gravity, then matter was attracted to the clumpiness creating the super-massive black hole and then later the galaxy itself began to form. We have computer simulations about this, but still the relationship is not yet clear.
Now remember, stars—we know almost everything about stellar evolution. That is because the Pentagon has given us physicists billions of dollars to model hydrogen bombs and a star is nothing but a hydrogen bomb. However, a galaxy consists of over a hundred billion stars, so it’s much more difficult to tell which came first, the black hole or the galaxy itself.
At the heart of every galaxy like our own Milky Way lies a supermassive black hole, but scientists are unsure which develops first.
Why the ocean you know and love won’t exist in 50 years
Can sensitive coral reefs survive another human generation?
- Coral reefs may not be able to survive another human decade because of the environmental stress we have placed on them, says author David Wallace-Wells. He posits that without meaningful changes to policies, the trend of them dying out, even in light of recent advances, will continue.
- The World Wildlife Fund says that 60 percent of all vertebrate mammals have died since just 1970. On top of this, recent studies suggest that insect populations may have fallen by as much as 75 percent over the last few decades.
- If it were not for our oceans, the planet would probably be already several degrees warmer than it is today due to the emissions we've expelled into the atmosphere.
Vikings unwittingly made their swords stronger by trying to imbue them with spirits
They didn't know it, but the rituals of Iron Age Scandinavians turned their iron into steel.
- Iron Age Scandinavians only had access to poor quality iron, which put them at a tactical disadvantage against their neighbors.
- To strengthen their swords, smiths used the bones of their dead ancestors and animals, hoping to transfer the spirit into their blades.
- They couldn't have known that in so doing, they actually were forging a rudimentary form of steel.
Health care: Information tech must catch up to medical marvels
Michael Dowling, Northwell Health's CEO, believes we're entering the age of smart medicine.
- The United States health care system has much room for improvement, and big tech may be laying the foundation for those improvements.
- Technological progress in medicine is coming from two fronts: medical technology and information technology.
- As information technology develops, patients will become active participants in their health care, and value-based care may become a reality.
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