Germany successfully created 'black hole' in molecule

German scientists have successfully created a "black hole" with a strong gravitational force inside a molecule using the world's most powerful X-ray beam.

Simulation of the shape of a molecular black hole created in the laboratory. Photo: DESY.

A team of researchers in Germany created a molecular black hole by shining the world's most powerful X-ray beam, International Business Times reported yesterday, citing experimental results published in the journal Nature.

Strong X-ray beam100 times the intensity of all the sunlight focused on a point the size of a fingernail on EarthThis beam is directed at a crystal of the compound iodomethane. The crystal contains a large, heavy iodine atom that can interact with X-rays.

The X-ray instantly removes all the negatively charged electrons from the iodine atom, leaving only the positively charged electrons. This positive charge is so strong that it sucks all the remaining electrons from the molecule within a few millionths of a billionth of a second.

A total of 54 of the molecule's 62 electrons were stripped away by the X-ray beam, creating the most positively charged iodomethane molecule ever observed. Unable to support such a large charge, the molecule exploded into many small pieces.

The force exerted by charged iodine atoms on electrons is thought to be greater than the gravitational force of black holes in the universe,according to Robin Santra, lead author of the study at the Center for Free Electron Laser Science in Germany.However, unlike black holes in the universe, the force that creates the attraction of molecular black holes is the Coulomb force, not gravity.

The discovery will help scientists refine the use of the most powerful X-ray sources, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source X-ray Free-electron at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the US. The results will also help them better understand the structure of viruses and bacteria.

According to VNE