Uploaded March 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
November 14, 2012
Dr. Roger Blandford (Kavli Institute, Stanford University)
While black holes are popularly associated with death and doom, astrophysicists increasingly see them as creators, not destroyers — playing a major role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planets. Dr. Blandford (whose research interests include black holes, galaxies, and cosmology) summarizes why scientists now think that black holes of various sizes actually do exist, describes some of their strange properties, and explains their "environmental impact" on the universe at large.
November 14, 2012
Dr. Roger Blandford (Kavli Institute, Stanford University)
While black holes are popularly associated with death and doom, astrophysicists increasingly see them as creators, not destroyers — playing a major role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planets. Dr. Blandford (whose research interests include black holes, galaxies, and cosmology) summarizes why scientists now think that black holes of various sizes actually do exist, describes some of their strange properties, and explains their "environmental impact" on the universe at large.
