String Theory
General relativity predicts the smallest primordial black holes would have evaporated by now, but if there were a fourth spatial dimension — as predicted by string theory — it would affect how gravity acts on small scales and "slow down the evaporation quite substantially". This could mean there are several thousand black holes in our galaxy. To test this theory scientists will use the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope which was put in orbit by NASA on June 11, 2008. If they observe specific small interference patterns within gamma-ray bursts, it could be the first indirect evidence for primordial black holes and string theory.
Read more about this topic: Primordial Black Hole
Famous quotes containing the words string and/or theory:
“... looped with the creep of varying light,
Monkey-brown, fish-grey, a string of infected circles
Loitering like bullies, about to coagulate....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“The great tragedy of science—the slaying of a beautiful theory by an ugly fact.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)