Scientists from Columbia University publish paper on how to use black holes as an energy source

Scientists from Columbia University publish paper on how to use black holes as an energy source
HIGHLIGHTS

Scientists from Columbia University have published a paper that details how to siphon off power from a black hole

The full paper was published in the APS Physics journal

Imagine a world where we had unlimited power at our disposal? We could use that energy to actually power up starships that could help humans build off-world colonies and such. Well, that thought could soon be a reality as scientists from Columbia University have just published a paper in the APS Physics Journal that essentially details how we could use black holes as an energy source by tapping into their sheer power. We all know that black holes emit an insane amount of energy when spinning and this energy is what these scientists want to siphon. 

Black Hole power siphon

The idea here is to turn a black hole into an unlimited battery of sorts. If we truly had unlimited power, the applications and functions are truly endless. We could realistically set up off world colonies on the Moon and even on Mars. Right now though this is still a theoretical hypothesis, but the scientists state in their paper that, “Spinning black holes store rotational energy that can be extracted. When a black hole is immersed in an externally supplied magnetic field, reconnection of magnetic field lines within the ergosphere can generate negative energy (relative to infinity) particles that fall into the black hole event horizon while the other accelerated particles escape stealing energy from the black hole. We show analytically that energy extraction via magnetic reconnection is possible when the black hole spin is high … and the plasma is strongly magnetized.”. 

This is real cutting edge stuff here. These scientists are basically talking about drawing energy out of the singularity of a black hole! If that isn't the most awesome sci-fi thing ever, then I do not know what is! The real-world applications of this kind of power are unimaginable. Let’s see what the future holds in store for us. 

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