Cosmology

Mini black holes could spell trouble

LARGE colliding black holes between a pair of black holes, outside the horizon, it might
could be a breeding ground for the bubbles could be expected be that they would expand
tiny black holes. If we spot signs of  to collide with one another. instead of falling in.”
these cosmic lightweights, it could The researchers calculated that This would be a disaster of
provide proof of the fundamental if multiple bubbles collided at apocalyptic proportions. “If one
nature of our universe. once, the intersecting surface of these bubbles of true vacuum
There have been hints in could become infinitely dense, escaped, it would destroy the
particle physics that our universe forming a micro- black hole universe – oops,” says Gregory.
may not be in the lowest possible ([Link]/abs/2111.07178). The fact that the universe is still
energy state – instead of a true Because of a process called
vacuum, it may be in a state called Hawking radiation, these tiny “If one of these bubbles
a false or metastable vacuum. If black holes would emit a random of true vacuum escaped,
any part of the universe were to mix of particles and evaporate it would destroy the
ESA

collapse into a true vacuum, the away extremely quickly. universe – oops”
laws of physics as we know them Konoplich and his colleagues
would collapse inside that bubble Illustration of two calculated that this entire around suggests that bubbles
of vacuum, which would expand black holes spiralling process could take place in just of true vacuum are rare, if they
at the speed of light and eventually towards each other about 10 milliseconds before exist at all, she says.
swallow up everything. the larger black holes collided However, if they do exist and
Some research has suggested colliding black holes. “In the and devoured any bubbles or form micro black holes, we could
that the extreme gravity near a region between the colliding micro black holes in their way. detect the random radiation
black hole could create a foam horizons of the black holes, you But if bubbles of true vacuum from their eventual evaporation.
of small bubbles of true vacuum. have gravitational pull from both do exist, it isn’t necessarily a “If we can detect something like
If those bubbles immediately sides balancing out, so maybe for certainty that the bubbles will this, it would be very important
fell into the black hole, though, a short time interval the bubble safely fall into the huge black holes because it would prove that our
that process could occur without can exist sandwiched between the that enable their formation, says universe is metastable from
destroying the universe. two black holes,” says Konoplich. Ruth Gregory at King’s College an observational result, not
Rostislav Konoplich at The surface of each vacuum London. “We know that these just theoretical,” says Konoplich.
Manhattan College in New York bubble would be expected to form bubbles, once they’re formed, That would be a major insight
and his colleagues calculated what a kind of film similar to a regular start to expand quite quickly into the fundamental nature of
might happen if these vacuum soap bubble. Given even a small and rapidly reach the speed of our universe, which theoretical
bubbles formed in between two amount of time to percolate light,” says Gregory. “If they’re physicists are still debating. ❚

Plant genetics

Genetic diversity of find in the supermarket nowadays, Heirloom in Europe in the 16th century,
they have more diversity than the tomatoes come they remain very similar otherwise
heirloom tomatoes traditional [European] ones.” in many shapes (bioRxiv, [Link]/g7mb).
GAP PHOTOS/VIRGINIA GREY

is surprisingly low A handful of varieties of tomato and sizes The modern varieties were far
were brought to Europe from the more genetically diverse, in line
THE colours, sizes and shapes of Americas around the 16th century, with previous research. The reason
the tomato varieties traditionally and were then grown mostly by for this is that modern breeders
grown in Europe vary greatly, but poorer farmers in Spain and Italy. crossed plants with wild varieties
it turns out this diversity is only Blanca’s team partially to reintroduce some of the variety
skin deep. Apart from the few sequenced the genomes of more “There are few diverse sites, lost during domestication.
genes controlling these obvious than 1000 tomatoes developed but the ones that are diverse, they Having lots of genetic diversity
characteristics, these tomatoes in Europe – and now classed as are very diverse,” says Blanca. is really important, says Blanca.
are virtually identical genetically. heirloom varieties – alongside This is because the European It provides the raw material for
“It’s like a desert with some another 200 or so modern varieties. farmers selected for mutants that creating new varieties that can cope
oases of variety,” says Jose Blanca The researchers found significant had an obvious effect, he says. with evolving pests and diseases,
at Valencia Polytechnic University diversity at just 300 sites in the But because all the varieties derive and with a changing climate. ❚
in Spain. “The tomatoes that you genomes of the heirloom varieties. from just a few plants that arrived Michael Le Page

12 | New Scientist | 4 December 2021