Micro Black Holes and Dark Matter as fuel for spaceship?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the speculative concepts of using dark matter and micro black holes as potential energy sources for future spacecraft. It includes theoretical models and ideas surrounding the feasibility and implications of these energy sources, touching on both the scientific and technical challenges involved.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose using dark matter as fuel by shrinking it to a critical point with neutralinos, which could annihilate and release energy.
  • Others suggest that micro black holes could serve as energy sources through the emission of Hawking radiation.
  • Concerns are raised about the speculative nature of these ideas, with some participants noting that they are not part of mainstream science.
  • One participant mentions that the energy output from micro black holes would only equal the energy input required to create them, questioning the practicality of using them as a power source.
  • Another participant suggests that if micro black holes are to be used, a specific protocol for 'feeding' them would be necessary.
  • There is a discussion about whether it would be more efficient to feed energy directly into an engine rather than using a black hole.
  • A later reply references ongoing discussions about the physical possibility of black hole starships and the potential impact of quantum gravity effects on these proposals.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a general consensus that the ideas presented are highly speculative and not widely accepted in mainstream science. However, there is no agreement on the feasibility or practicality of the proposed concepts, and multiple competing views remain regarding the use of dark matter and micro black holes as energy sources.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the speculative nature of the theories discussed, the dependence on unproven models, and unresolved questions about the energy dynamics involved in creating and utilizing micro black holes.

infinitebubble
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I've been reading several ideas postulated by some researchers using either Dark Matter and or a micro Black Hole as energy sources to power a future spacecraft .

1) using dark matter as fuel to power a spacecraft by taking dark matter into a cavity and shrinking it to critical point using neutralinos (Neutralinos are curious in that they are their own antiparticles: two neutralinos colliding under the right circumstances will annihilate each other giving off tremendous energy). https://arxiv.org/abs/0908.1429

2) using micro black hole which could be used as the energy source. This would be a Schwarzschild, or non-rotating, black hole which outputs Hawking Radiation for power. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131203-could-black-holes-provide-energy

Since CERN and the LHC both have the capability of producing micro BH's, it would be fascinating if they could scale the micro BH such that it could potentially be used for such an engine (of course we have the technical hurdle to contain it properly and to feed it).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_black_hole
 
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infinitebubble said:
I've been reading several ideas postulated by some researchers using either Dark Matter and or a micro Black Hole as energy sources to power a future spacecraft .

All of these ideas are highly speculative. Do you have a particular question? There's not much we can discuss here since none of this is mainstream science.

infinitebubble said:
Since CERN and the LHC both have the capability of producing micro BH's

This is also highly speculative.
 
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infinitebubble said:
Since CERN and the LHC both have the capability of producing micro BH's, it would be fascinating if they could scale the micro BH such that it could potentially be used for such an engine
The main issue here is you only get out the energy you put into generating the micro BHs, see the responses in my Black hole explosions thread.
 
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PeterDonis said:
All of these ideas are highly speculative. Do you have a particular question? There's not much we can discuss here since none of this is mainstream science.
This is also highly speculative.

Understood and if the thread needs to be locked so be it... but thought this would be a good discussion since some of the science is there along with papers.
 
stoomart said:
The main issue here is you only get out the energy you put into generating the micro BHs, see the responses in my Black hole explosions thread.

Hence why the 'feeding' of the micro BH would have to follow some protocol.
 
infinitebubble said:
some of the science is there along with papers.

I've moved this thread to the Beyond the Standard Model forum because, while you did provide a link to a paper, it's using theoretical models which are speculative at this point, so the BtSM forum is the right place to discuss them.
 
infinitebubble said:
Hence why the 'feeding' of the micro BH would have to follow some protocol.
I don't see the point in the black hole then, why not just feed the energy directly into the engine?

Edit: Here's some more discussion: Are Black Hole Starships Possible?

We investigate whether it is physically possible to build starships or power sources using the Hawking radiation of an artificial black hole as a power source. The proposal seems to be at the edge of possibility, but quantum gravity effects could change the picture.​
 
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