Episode
How the Universe Works: Black Holes: The Secret Origin
Overview
Recent discoveries could explain how supermassive black holes grow so big, one of the universe's most mysterious questions. Neither dark matter nor cannibalism can fully explain these monsters, but the latest science might finally provide an answer.
Details
- Series
- How the Universe Works
- Season
- Season 5
- Episode
- Episode 3
- Air date
- 2016-12-06
- Runtime
- 42 min
Episode context
Black Holes: The Secret Origin is Episode 3 in Season 5 of How the Universe Works. It aired on 2016-12-06. The runtime is 42 min.
Previous / Next
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The first close-up images of Pluto revealed unimaginable secrets of this mysterious frozen world. Now, scientists investigate if Pluto is home to a warm ocean of liquid water beneath its surface, and whether this underground ocean could harbor life.
More episodes from this season
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From the furthest reaches of space to our own cosmic backyard, we count down the discoveries that changed everything we know about our universe.
Episode 5: Stars That Kill
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Episode 6: The Universe's Deadliest
The universe is a dangerous place, and we explore the deadliest spots in the cosmos. Between earth and the edge of the universe, there are a million ways to die, and our crash test dummy is on a mission to reveal the worst.
Episode 7: Life and Death on the Red Planet
Life once existed on Mars, but a series of devastating mass extinctions have made present-day life nearly impossible. The latest science shows how Martian life keeps bouncing back as it transforms from a watery world like Earth into a desert planet.
Episode 8: The Dark Matter Enigma
Dark matter is the biggest mystery of the cosmos. Scientists know that it has been vital to our universe since its birth, and new discoveries reveal that it could create black holes, cause mass extinctions, and might even shape life on Earth itself.
Episode 9: Strangest Alien Worlds
Discoveries of new planets have revealed countless worlds much stranger than Earth. Some of these worlds don't have stars, others are made out of diamonds. Will we ever find a planet like Earth, or are these distant worlds stranger than fiction?