What If a Tiny Black Hole Pierced Your Body? Science Has Answers

A new study explores what would happen if a tiny black hole passed through a human body. The idea was first imagined in a 1974 science fiction story by Larry Niven. Now, a physicist has calculated the real-world effects of such an event. Robert Scherrer, a professor at Vanderbilt University, examined the consequences of a primordial black hole (PBH) moving through a person. As it passes, the black hole would create a supersonic shock wave. It would also pull on nearby atoms with tidal forces strong enough to tear apart brain cells.

A black hole with a mass above 1.4 × 10^79 grams could release energy comparable to a .22-caliber bullet, making it lethal. Below this threshold, it would pass through unnoticed. Scherrer’s work helps eliminate certain black hole masses as possible dark matter candidates.

The Milky Way’s dark matter halo is enormous. If PBHs exist within it, the distance between them would be vast. The chance of a person ever encountering a lethal black hole remains less than one in ten trillion. The calculations show that a black hole’s shock wave poses the greatest threat to a human body. The findings also contribute to the search for dark matter. Physicists continue to study whether primordial black holes could explain its mysterious presence.