StarTalk Radio

Cosmic Queries – Multiverse Nesting Dolls

21 snips
Dec 9, 2025
In this lively discussion, comedian Paul Mecurio joins Neil deGrasse Tyson to tackle cosmic curiosities. They ponder if our universe could reside inside a black hole, leading to mind-bending theories of nesting universes. The duo explores how gravity assists work through amusing anecdotes, while delving into the true nature of time at black holes' event horizons. Paul’s comedic touch lightens the heavy topics of Hawking radiation and cosmic selection, making astrophysics both intriguing and entertaining!
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INSIGHT

What A Black Hole-Within-Universe Would Look Like

  • If our universe sits inside a black hole, observers inside would see incoming matter funneled toward the singularity.
  • Merging parent black holes would appear as horizons coalescing and matter collapsing into one larger black hole.
INSIGHT

Universe Selection Via Black Hole Fertility

  • A proposed cosmic natural selection suggests universes producing many black holes are more likely to spawn descendant universes.
  • We are likeliest to inhabit a universe whose physical laws favor black hole formation.
INSIGHT

How Hawking Radiation Causes Evaporation

  • Hawking radiation arises from particle-antiparticle pairs created by the gravitational field near a black hole.
  • One particle can escape while its partner falls in, causing the black hole to lose mass over time.
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