Regina Barber

And general relativity talks about how space-time itself has a shape to it. a shape that is distorted by all the wonders inside of it. All the beautiful stars, planets, galaxies, black holes. Their distortion of space-time is gravity. And if you push that gravity to its extreme, you get black holes. And some physicists theorize that white holes could also exist.

And general relativity talks about how space-time itself has a shape to it. a shape that is distorted by all the wonders inside of it. All the beautiful stars, planets, galaxies, black holes. Their distortion of space-time is gravity. And if you push that gravity to its extreme, you get black holes. And some physicists theorize that white holes could also exist.

And that would be the opposite to a black hole. They'd push out matter instead of consuming it. And the thing that could connect them is a wormhole. But scientists have never seen one. And as a lifelong Trekkie, I have long wanted to know, could we ever? Or are wormholes purely science fiction?

And that would be the opposite to a black hole. They'd push out matter instead of consuming it. And the thing that could connect them is a wormhole. But scientists have never seen one. And as a lifelong Trekkie, I have long wanted to know, could we ever? Or are wormholes purely science fiction?

And that would be the opposite to a black hole. They'd push out matter instead of consuming it. And the thing that could connect them is a wormhole. But scientists have never seen one. And as a lifelong Trekkie, I have long wanted to know, could we ever? Or are wormholes purely science fiction?

So today on the show, wormholes, the geometry of space-time, and how, to a theoretical physicist, if the math checks out, you can't rule it out. I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, Ron, let's start with hard stuff today.

So today on the show, wormholes, the geometry of space-time, and how, to a theoretical physicist, if the math checks out, you can't rule it out. I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, Ron, let's start with hard stuff today.

So today on the show, wormholes, the geometry of space-time, and how, to a theoretical physicist, if the math checks out, you can't rule it out. I'm Regina Barber, and you're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, Ron, let's start with hard stuff today.

Honestly, because like before we can talk about like fun wormholes, we kind of need to talk about Einstein's theory of general relativity. And this seems like kind of jargony, but it has been talked about in movies. Can you help us out? Can you summarize the theory of general relativity?

Honestly, because like before we can talk about like fun wormholes, we kind of need to talk about Einstein's theory of general relativity. And this seems like kind of jargony, but it has been talked about in movies. Can you help us out? Can you summarize the theory of general relativity?

Honestly, because like before we can talk about like fun wormholes, we kind of need to talk about Einstein's theory of general relativity. And this seems like kind of jargony, but it has been talked about in movies. Can you help us out? Can you summarize the theory of general relativity?

Like a planet going around, like Earth going around the sun.

Like a planet going around, like Earth going around the sun.

Like a planet going around, like Earth going around the sun.

Like the things at the mall where you put the coin in. That's what I would always say to my students.

Like the things at the mall where you put the coin in. That's what I would always say to my students.

Like the things at the mall where you put the coin in. That's what I would always say to my students.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Space is curving, and one consequence of that curving is wormholes. Can you describe a wormhole?

Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Space is curving, and one consequence of that curving is wormholes. Can you describe a wormhole?

Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Space is curving, and one consequence of that curving is wormholes. Can you describe a wormhole?