Are black holes places or objects? Neil deGrasse Tyson and cohosts Chuck Nice and Gary O’Reilly answer grab-bag questions about distorting spacetime, Olbers’ Paradox, singularities, the shape of the universe, and more with astrophysicist Charles Liu.

Could you create a cloak of black holes to make time cease for you? Learn about configurations of black holes, time dilation, and Einstein’s relativity. Would it take you until the end of time to reach the singularity of a black hole? What would you see if you fell into a black hole? Are we all just prisoners of the present? Plus, Neil divulges how you can hear his voice at a Beyoncé concert.

Can you transfer information using quantum entanglement? We break down how subspace gets used in Star Trek, what it means for gravity to distort spacetime, and how gravity can be used to deflect asteroids. Discover Olbers’ Paradox: why isn’t the entire night sky bright with starlight?

If Neil and Charles could time travel, where would they go? Could The Big Bang be a white hole? We talk about creating a Dyson swarm, using aerogel to insulate a journey into inner Earth, and the shape of the universe. Is the universe really flat?

Thanks to our Patrons Logan Kent, James in 3d, Renee Skrip, Maarten Spruijt, Alan Domonoske, Liam Predergast, sparkman, Cecil J Taylor, abhinav yadav, and Markus Gustafsson for supporting us this week.

NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free.

Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus

Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn

Support us on Patreon:   / startalkradio  

FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk:
Twitter:   / startalkradio  
Facebook:   / startalk  
Instagram:   / startalk  

About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

#StarTalk #neildegrassetyson

00:00 - Introduction: Grab Bag
1:46 - Making a Cloak of Black Holes
6:44 - Are Black Holes Just Concentrated Gravity?
9:05 - Falling Towards an Black Hole’s Singularity?
12:27 - Neil’s Beyoncé Cameo
14:24 - Second Channel Announcement: StarTalk Plus
15:08 - Subspace & Transferring Information with Quantum Entanglement
18:53 - Distorting Spacetime with Gravity
22:59 - Olbers’ Paradox: Why is the Sky Dark at Night?
27:12 - StarTalk Patreon
29:42 - Where Would We Time Travel?
30:30 - Physics in Discworld Books
31:34 - Big Bang = White Hole?
32:52 - Can We Create a Dyson Swarm
34:05 - Uses of Aerogel
36:29 - The Universe is Flat
38:06 - Closing: Black Holes Don’t Suck