https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Big+Black+Holeexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-25T14:08:11ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1680:_Black_Hole&diff=1200691680: Black Hole2016-05-13T12:22:15Z<p>Big Black Hole: citation provided</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1680<br />
| date = May 13, 2016<br />
| title = Black Hole<br />
| image = black_hole.png<br />
| titletext = It also brings all the boys, and everything else, to the yard.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|More details... What would happen if a black hole like this was in a living room... It's not clear what exactly in the comic is a reference to the Big Lebowski movie. This needs clarification}}<br />
[[Cueball]] is curious as to why [[Black Hat]] has a miniature {{w|black hole}} on his table; Black Hat responds that it "really brings the room together", making a pun on both the black hole aesthetically completing the room as well as it literally "bringing the room together" through its gravitational pull. Evidently the black hole is massive enough to bring the room together optically into visible {{w|Einstein ring}}s by {{w|gravitational lensing}}.<br />
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The comic references 'The Dude's' rug in the film "{{w|The Big Lebowski}}", whilst the title text makes a more contemporary cultural reference to a well-known song lyric from the song "{{w|Milkshake (song)|Milkshake}}" by {{w|Kelis}}; however, in this case, since {{w|gravity}} does not discriminate between which things it will attract{{Citation needed}} (according to the {{w|equivalence principle}}), it brings "the boys, and everything else", to Black Hat's yard.<br />
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[[Randall]] describes a similar scenario in the "Neutron Bullet" chapter of the [http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ what if? book], and a black hole of similar dimensions in the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|129|Black Hole Moon}}''.<br />
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As depicted, the black hole is inconsistent with some aspect of physics:<br />
* A large black hole would bring the room together... in less time than Cueball could converse with Black Hat.<br />
* A small black hole could have {{w|tidal force}}s weak enough to permit Cueball to stand near it. However, unlike the scenario in "Neutron Bullet", it would emit {{w|Hawking radiation}} powerful enough to tear the room apart.<br />
* A neutrally charged black hole would fall through the coffee table and burrow to Earth's core.<br />
* This black hole appears to be about the size of a marble. A marble size is approximately earth's {{w|Schwarzschild radius}}, suggesting this black hole to have earth-like mass.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
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:[Cueball is standing near a coffee table as Black Hat approaches. They are presumably in Black Hat's living room. The coffee table has a miniature black hole on top of it, resting on a small pedestal.]<br />
:Cueball: Why do you have a miniature black hole on your coffee table?<br />
:Black Hat: It really brings the room together.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]</div>Big Black Hole