In episode 56 of Astronomy Cast, I noted that hoping that a black hole will lead to another dimension is sort of like a frog thinking that a blender will take him to another realm.
Astronomy Cast listener Isaac Windham animated the sequence, just to really drive the point home…
And here’s the transcript from the show, so you’ll all get the reference. Thanks Isaac!
Fraser: Why do people think we might live in a black hole? That seems kind of crazy to me.
Pamela: It’s a lot of science fiction. There’s this idea in science fiction that you can fly into a black hole and emerge in a completely different part of our universe, in an alternate universe… and so from these fiction writings, the idea has gotten into the zeitgeist that you fly into a black hole and you fly into a different universe – which means a universe can be inside of a black hole.
The problem is real black holes just lead to death.
Fraser: I guess that’s the question – it’s like a frog asking if I hop into that blender, will it lead me to another universe?
Pamela: Exactly
Fraser: No, no it won’t – a universe of pain.
Pamela: It will lead to death, and yeah – where death leads to is a personal question not based in facts and not addressable in this show.
Fraser: Right, so it’s almost like it’s become a kind of philosophical question and it goes back to that extra-dimensional conversation we had in a well-received episode we did back in the day. I guess it’s kind of like it’s different – could it be so different that it’s not really a devastating matter crusher? Could it be a bold new universe we could explore? (Says the frog hopping into his blender.