Black Hole? Pfft, I Can Take It...

Black hole definition: a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. Around a black hole is an 'event horizon', which marks, as Wikipedia so perfectly put it, "the point of no return". Once matter has crossed this border, they can only move inwards to the heart of the black hole - their doom.

These things can swallow whole stars, dragging them by the ankles, with no say on the matter. Should we be anxious? Not even a little bit?

Black holes come in many sizes. The largest cause matter to collapse inwards and suck them into a deep, frankly angry pit of despair and whatnot. At the other end of the scale, the smallest black holes evaporate because of Hawking radiation.

The weighty, robust black holes can be detected due to how light bends around other objects as a cause of the black hole's pull of gravity. But what about the moderately-sized black holes; not the puny puffs of smoke, not the great, lumbering boulders. The smooth, handsome pebble, sitting in your hand with a comfortable, satisfying weight.

Sorry to go all poetic there - the pebbles of deep space I am waxing lyrical about are approximately 10⁹ to 10²⁰ tonnes, existing since the Big Bang and still cruising relatively peacefully through galaxy and solar system alike.

Now, if a black hole like that was to collide with our lush, green planet, we would know about it. At a speed of approximately a few hundred kilometres/second, this pebble would have a much larger impact than a small, thumb-sized rock plopping into the Pacific. It would actually penetrate the Earth, end to end, creating a tiny, nucleus-sized tunnel through our beloved planet and emerging out the other side. As though it was holding an apple corer in front of it as it charged at us. Or something like that.

As it exited from the Earth's outer core, the core would vibrate, creating "spherically symmetrical shock waves". The effect would be global, but not apocalyptic, fortunately. A magnitude-4 earthquake, yes. Many seismologists dropping their hats and exclaiming in a panicky, excitable fashion, yes. But not 'The Day After Tomorrow'-style, end of the world brouhaha.

No. That will come when Martians decide they want a taste of the high-life and overthrow the human race. Just you wait, they won't be able to resist Maltesers. Nobody can. It's a fact of life. And it will be our downfall. Cheerio!

References and Quotes: The New Scientist, Wikipedia

Lurking in the Depths... Shoot, My Biscuit Broke...

What is living in your PG Tips?

As I sit and write this, I have a steaming mug of milky tea beside my laptop. Over the past few months, I have grown more and more attached to the delightfully heart-warming beverage, thanks to Britain's cold snap in January-February, and Spring's belated arrival.

I have often heard that tea has many benefits, and heard even more often of its dangers. So I decided to investigate - what am I (and I'm sure, plenty of you) actually drinking?

The Good Stuff

White and green teas have the highest concentrations of antioxidants, but don't despair, black tea also has a substantial amount of them too. The specific antioxidant is called a catechin, pronounced "katt-eh-kin", I believe. Now, antioxidants, we hear about these all the time... but, if I'm honest, I'm as clueless about antioxidants as I am about quantum physics. Which is rather clueless to be frank, although I promise to master QP in a future post.

Antioxidants - molecules which inhibit oxidation of other molecules.

And oxidation is bad, so I'm warming to antioxidants. You see, oxidation is the loss of electrons from a substance, and these reactions produce free radicals.

Free radicals - atoms, molecules, ions with unpaired electrons, making them highly chemically reactive.

So these radicals start chain reactions in cells, catching the innocent cell unaware and fatally wounding it. Antioxidants stop these chain reactions by removing free radicals... by offering themselves up as juicy sacrifices to be oxidised by the radicals.

I sort of feel indebted to these antioxidants now...

Tea's antioxidant, the catechin, is also found in strawberries and some cocoa solids. Catechins are flavonoids - plant pigments which add the colour to their flowers. It can reduce the risk of 4 major health problems: stroke, diabetes, cancer and heart failure, apparently, but obviously, drinking 16 barrels of Earl Grey a day isn't going to make you invincible. You have to add routine exercise, balanced diet, banana face masks and a flowy red cape to the mix before you can really be invincible.

The Bad Stuff

Tea plants naturally absorb elements like fluoride and aluminium. Excessive amounts of fluoride leads to bone pains and fractures, whilst aluminium leads to an untimely death. But a mug of tea contains such small traces that you can wipe that anxious frown off your face.

And then, or course, there is caffeine. Some people live off the stuff, whilst others avoid it at all costs. Headaches and nausea are common symptoms of moderate caffeine intake, whilst long-term effects include the risk of developing cardiovascular and hepatic diseases. Oh, and diuresis, which, if you're not sure, means you pretty much have to carry your toilet around in your pocket all day (excessive urination).

Like most things, tea is a mix of good and bad, and I won't bore with the 'moderation' lecture. So, I'm off to microwave my mug now, as this post has taken long enough to freeze my tea into a brown ice lolly. Cheerio!