black hole spotting

Dr Avery Broderick of CITA spoke at the RASC Toronto Centre meeting about imaging black holes. Fascinating stuff. Lots of math.

He entertained questions at the end. I asked two:

Do you get asked often what happens if you get sucked into a black hole? (Note: I did not ask what happens?) He said he did. And went on to explain the horrible outcome, of being stretched apart. He clearly supports spaghettification! Ugh. He made it almost sound pleasant.

Later I asked: Are black holes "normal?" Are they required? What is their purpose? He immediately pointed out that I had moved us into the metaphysical. And that he was rooted in the physical. He reminded us that we should be sceptical...

It will be very interesting seeing what they see.