Stephen Hawking’s black hole paradox may finally have a solution

Black holes may not destroy all information about what they were originally made of, according to a new set of quantum calculations, which would solve a major physics paradox first described by Stephen Hawking

By Leah Crane

One of the biggest paradoxes in astrophysics may finally be solved. The question of what happens to information when it falls into a black hole has vexed physicists for decades, and now a group of researchers claims to have figured it out.

When Stephen Hawking calculated that black holes should slowly evaporate by emitting radiation – now called Hawking radiation – he also created a problem. His work suggested the radiation should be emitted in a way that depended only on the black …