Tiny Black Holes EVERYWHERE!
What the if primordial black holes — the size of a single hydrogen atom — are zooming around everywhere and make up all the dark matter in the universe? MIT physicist David Kaiser walks us through a world where microscopic black holes formed fractions of a second after the Big Bang are quietly cruising through our solar system at 250 kilometers per second, hitting absolutely nothing, but making Mars wobble. From Hawking radiation explosions to the Tunguska mystery to whether Brooklyn is safe from rogue black holes, this episode covers the smallest, most elusive objects that might explain the biggest mystery in physics.
Learn more about David Kaiser's primordial black hole research:
MIT PBH Research Group: https://sites.mit.edu/mitpbh/
David Kaiser's essay in the London Review of Books — a great accessible overview with historical context: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n11/david-kaiser/black-hole-flyby
The ultrahigh-energy neutrino paper (open access): https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/vnm4-7wdc
"Close Encounters of a Primordial Kind" — the Mars wobbles paper: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.063533 (also available open access on arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.17217)
Primordial black holes with QCD color charge (open access): https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.231402
Full list of press coverage: https://sites.mit.edu/mitpbh/news/
Selected press coverage:
MIT News — Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter: https://news.mit.edu/2024/exotic-black-holes-could-be-dark-matter-byproduct-0606
MIT News — Mars wobble could be dark matter: https://news.mit.edu/2024/mars-wobble-could-be-dark-matter-mit-study-finds-0917
MIT News — Could a primordial black hole explain a mysteriously energetic neutrino?: https://news.mit.edu/2025/could-primordial-black-holes-last-burst-explain-mysteriously-energetic-neutrino-0918
CNN — Black holes and dark matter: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/17/science/black-holes-dark-matter-scn/index.html
LA Times — Tiny black holes zipping through the solar system: https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2024-09-17/tiny-black-holes-zipping-through-the-solar-system
Scientific American — Dark matter black holes could fly through the solar system once a decade: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-matter-black-holes-could-fly-through-the-solar-system-once-a-decade/
Quanta Magazine — Monster neutrino could be a messenger of ancient black holes: https://www.quantamagazine.org/monster-neutrino-could-be-a-messenger-of-ancient-black-holes-20260123/
APS Physics — "The Solar System as a Black Hole Detector" (Mars wobbles): https://physics.aps.org/articles/v17/s98
APS Physics — "New Suspect for Neutrino Signals" (neutrino paper): https://physics.aps.org/articles/v18/s124
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