Physicists may have observed Hawking radiation for the first time
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - 03:35
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- In 1974, Stephen Hawking predicted that black holes emit thermal radiation due to quantum effects, which causes the black holes to lose mass and perhaps ultimately vanish. But despite numerous attempts to observe Hawking radiation, astronomers have so far detected no sign of it. Now, however, a team of scientists from Italy claims to have observed something that looks very much like Hawking radiation from an event hole horizon they created in the lab.