Scary simulation shows what would happen if a tiny black hole came close to Earth

Think too much about black holes and space and you might end up in a frenzy thinking that we’re all going to die. Every now and again it feels like there’s a scare that the Earth is going to get swallowed up or simply, just not exist.

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been sucked into the fear of black holes once or twice - instead of you know, fearing much more common or likely events.

But a scary simulation does show what would happen if even a tiny little black hole came close to Earth.

Prepare to be terrified:

Probably something we should clear up first off is what a black hole even is.

NASA define it as ‘place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out’. Scary.

The video explains that a nine-millimetre black hole has the same mass as the entire Earth.

As the earth spins alongside the black hole, pieces of the planet literally rip off as it ‘pulls large chunks’ away.

Apparently, this is defined as ‘spaghettification’. And as much as that sounds as a fake name, it is genuinely real and was first described by the one and only Stephen Hawking.

YouTube/@ActionLabShorts

The name comes about as when the object gets strectched out more and more as it gets closer to the black hole, it creates a long, thin shape.

The simulation narrator explains: “Due to the tidal forces, the strong gravity right near the black hole, it rips things apart.

“And so all of the mass that’s right near it, as soon as you start dropping it, pulls the mass off the earth and goes towards the black hole.”

The video shows the planet having bit pieces torn off as it goes all black and red, like a fiery piece of coal.

YouTube/@ActionLabShorts

It also explained that the mass pulled towards the black hole ‘doesn’t actually go inside of it’.

The reaction would eventually ‘cause everything to explode outward and that explosion outward would push the Earth away from it’.

So basically, there’d be a big nuclear explosion.

And for those with a bit of a thing for simulation videos, there’s all kinds of videos to take in and be a little freaked out over.

You know like, what would actually happen to you if you were to causally just end up falling into a airplane’s jet engine.

Or if you just - for whatever reason - decided to jump from a pyramid.

Here’s hoping we don’t encounter a black hole any time soon anyway.

Topics: Science, Space, Technology, Weird

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_