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From: chuck@dartvax.UUCP (Chuck Simmons)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: antimatter -> black hole
Message-ID: <4325@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Mar-86 12:46:49 EST
Article-I.D.: dartvax.4325
Posted: Wed Mar 19 12:46:49 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Mar-86 03:25:30 EST
References: <8603181749.AA05299@s1-b.arpa>
Reply-To: chuck@dartvax.UUCP (Chuck Simmons)
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 25
Summary: black holes evaporate

> Unfortunately the more matter you drop the more massive the hole gets.
> Fortunately the only part of the matter that ends up really in the
> hole is the part not converted to energy, so the more efficient you
> can engineer the system the slower the hole gets massive, so with
> close to 100% efficiency the hole lasts close to forever.
>
> What is current expert opinion on the existance of small black holes
> ... [quote taken out of context]

The last I heard, experts were of the opinion that black holes (especially 
small black holes) have a tendency to evaporate.  Thus most of the small
black holes that may have been created in the Big Bang are no longer with
us, and if we do learn how to construct small black holes, they will tend to
evaporate quickly.

On the other hand, if we learn how to care for and feed a black hole so that
it can be used as an energy source, we won't have to worry about it growing
too large.  Every now and then we can simply stop feeding it and wait for it
to evaporate a little.  (By having lots of little black holes and only
feeding one at a time, we can even keep up a continuous supply of energy.)

Chuck Simmons     chuck@dartvax