Harvard Professor Avi Loeb has recently explained how a black hole that orbits around a planet could be a sign of an advanced civilization.
This latest theory comes as many scientists continue to use strong NASA telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, to seek out life on other planets.
Energy From a Black Hole
For decades, scientists have theorized about the energy that a black hole may emit — and how this could be used to benefit civilizations.
For example, Nobel prize winner Roger Penrose proposed in 1971 that energy could be extracted from a black hole if it was rotating by building a harness around this black hole’s accretion disk.
The Penrose Process
This accretion disk of a black hole is where infalling matter can be accelerated to possibly the speed of light. Therefore, the release of this energy could occur in many different wavelengths.
This process — called the Penrose Process — has been adapted into many different methods and theories in the decades since.
Advanced Civilizations and Black Holes
John M. Smart took this theory another step further by stating that advanced intelligence or alien civilizations could migrate around black holes.
These civilizations could then use the energy of a black hole to their advantage. This theory, called the Transcension Hypothesis, has since been added on by Professor Loeb.
A Black Hole Moon
Loeb released a new paper published in the Research Notes of the AAS titled “Illumination of a Planet by a Black Hole Moon as a Technological Signature.”
According to Loeb, who is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and the founding Director of the Black Hole Initiative (BHI), a black hole could energize a planet that it orbits.
Powering Up a Planet
In this recent paper, Loeb theorizes that a black hole could be engineered to orbit around a planet. This engineering would be done by an advanced civilization.
The black hole would be incredibly small and only weigh about one hundred thousand tons. However, it could power up a planet with energy indefinitely.
Using Black Holes as an Energy Source
Since Stephen Hawking theorized about the emissions of black holes in 1975, scientists have begun to think of ways black holes could be used as an energy source for an entire planet.
Various theories have abounded, including the formation of a Dyson Sphere. Loeb has claimed that a black hole could be used to a great extent by an advanced civilization thanks to Hawking Radiation.
An Efficient Energy Engine
Loeb explained that this idea of a black hole moon orbiting around a planet could bring energy to an advanced civilization.
He said, “This black hole system is the most efficient engine that I ever thought about. The fuel is converted to energy with the perfect efficiency of 100%, because the mass falling into the black hole is ultimately coming out as Hawking radiation. I have not seen this idea discussed before and had a ‘Eureka moment’ when I realized it a few weeks ago. The only other method for converting mass to radiation with 100% efficiency is matter-antimatter annihilation.”
Using Matter as Fuel
Loeb also explained that any type of matter could be used as fuel to encourage this black hole to act as an energy source for an entire planet.
“The global energy use is a few terra-Watts, ten thousand times less than the power supply of this black hole,” Loeb stated. “The other advantage of this black hole engine is that it can use any form of matter as fuel. It could be trash. There is no better way to recycle trash than convert it into clean energy with 100% efficiency.”
Detecting These Black Hole Engines
Loeb further added that his theory could possibly be detected. According to the Harvard professor, these theorized black hole engines would be detectable even many light-years away.
Therefore, they would have a technosignature that would reveal an advanced alien civilization.
Looking for Technosignatures
Many scientists have tried to look for technosignatures and signs of advanced civilizations light years away from Earth. However, these technosinatures and ideas of black hole moons and Dyson Spheres are still theoretical.
Therefore, all of these ideas are speculative about what space could hold.
Finding Black Hole Engines
Loeb stated that potentially finding these black hole engines through technosignatures could be the next step.
He said, “The black hole engine could be discovered as a rogue rocky planet that is illuminated by a gamma-ray moon with no stellar-mass companion. If we ever find evidence for such an engine, we would need to consider the possibility that the source was created or trapped as a primordial black hole by a highly advanced technological civilization.”
