Monster Gobbles us Up

Most recent answer: 10/05/2017

Q:
I am a writer and know very little about physics. I have, in one of my young adult books, a space "monster" the takes chunks of land and materials from the planet, converts it to energy, and grows. It is enclosed with a lattice type perimeter that holds the light and energy inside. My dilemma, how might I be able to "kill" the monster? I have researched the new absolute black materials and thought that the space ship would be coated with it, but am lost from there. The ship is very small compared to the monster. Any ideas for me? I know this is an odd question! thanks
- Pat (age 62)
st louis, mo, usa
A:

Your monster has quite a bit in common with a black hole.There's no known way to keep them from gobbling things up.  Everything it gobbles is converted to a shell of scrambled up particles, maybe elementary strings. In the extremely long run, however, we'll all be excreted in the form of a thin soup of electromagnetic radiation and the black holes will be gone.

Meanwhile, you can always invent some vulnerability for your monster. Perhaps its mother held it by the heel when she gave it that lattice-like perimeter, leaving a weak spot.

Mike W.

 


(published on 10/05/2017)