TEDTALKS-II

Week 14

Video-Black Hole

Instructor: Jay Jeong

Lecture(Documentary)

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration — was designed to capture images of a black hole. In coordinated press conferences across the globe, EHT researchers revealed that they succeeded, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow.

This 17-minute film explores the efforts that led to this historic image, from the science of Einstein and Schwarzschild to the struggles and successes of the EHT collaboration.

Key Sentences1. Their goal: to take a picture of a black hole, something so ambitious that it seemed

impossible... until now! The story of black holes begins as a puzzle.

2. In 1915 Karl Schwarzschild noticed that Einstein’s then-new general theory of relativity

predicted the existence of strange objects known as “singularities”.

3. They were places where his new equations describing gravity seemed to go haywire.

Inside them was a bizarre place where time stopped and space became infinite...

4. At the time, many scientists, including Einstein, considered them too strange to be worth

seriously researching.

5. A black hole is the most mysterious object in the Universe. It’s where matter gets to be in

such a small space and is so dense that the force of gravity prevents even light from

escaping.

6. They’re also these incredibly enigmatic and mysterious objects that live at the boundary

between our two great theories of physics: general relativity, which describes gravity, and

quantum mechanics, which describes the smallest things in the world.

7. If you want to make a test of the fundamental theories of the Universe you want to go to

the most extreme laboratories in the Universe, and a black hole is that.

8. But observing this most extreme laboratory requires an extreme instrument.

Key Sentences9. The immense gravity of black holes is an obstacle to viewing them directly. No light can

escape from them and they are tiny — crushing huge amounts of matter into small points of

darkness.

10. In fact, to achieve the necessary resolution to see black holes directly, a single telescope

would need to be the size of planet Earth — clearly too large to be feasible.

11. We all understand from a mathematical point of view that black holes exist, but to actually

see something is a very visceral experience and I think important for science and also for us to

believe in it.

12. In the late 1960s, a new technique changed astronomy. Called very long baseline

interferometry, it enabled several telescopes to observe as a team — creating a larger, “virtual”

telescope that could overcome constraints on telescope size.

13. But “seeing is believing”, and the team was dedicated to revealing a black hole for the first

time. To create it, eight telescopes across the world were linked together. ESO plays a key role

in two of these telescopes, both located on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile.

14. the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array — ALMA — and the Atacama Pathfinder

Experiment, known as APEX. The other telescopes that make up the EHT are the IRAM 30-

metre telescope in Spain, the Large Millimeter Telescope in Mexico, the Submillimeter

Telescope in Arizona, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and the Submillimeter Array, both in

Hawai’i, and finally the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica.

15. Together, they can achieve a resolution equivalent to reading a newspaper in Paris while

sitting in New York. The immense challenges of the project soon became clear.

Key Sentences16. The locations of the telescope also presented huge practical challenges. The environments

that are best for viewing the night sky are often the most difficult places to build observatories.

17. ALMA and APEX are located on the Chajnantor Plateau, at an altitude of 5000 metres in

the barren Chilean Atacama Desert, a place so inhospitable that it serves as testing ground for

Mars rovers. People working here had to use oxygen tanks as the air is too thin to breathe.

The dangers of altitude sickness were also shared by observers at the James Clerk Maxwell

Telescope and the Submillimeter Array located near the summit of the dormant volcano Mauna

Kea.

18. At the opposite extreme of the temperature scale, observers at the South Pole Telescope

in Antarctica had to endure sub-zero temperatures for long stretches of time.

Here, there were unique challenges; in winter the Sun never rises above the horizon, creating

a single night that lasts for months.

19. There are many black holes closer to home. But M87* was carefully selected.

It had two big advantages: It’s one of the biggest black holes known,

giving the astronomers a better chance of seeing it than smaller black holes in our

neighbourhood; and isn’t too far north or south in the sky.

20. The infalling matter becomes very concentrated, causing friction to heat it to form a

glowing plasma. The path of the light emitted by this glowing gas is determined by the black

hole: the light passing close by it is bent by the enormous gravity, skirting the edges, but light

passing too close is captured, never to escape. Seen from Earth with radio telescopes,

these effects manifest themselves as the shadow of a black hole — a dark central region

silhouetted against the luminous plasma.

Key Sentences21. Although taken from the staggering distance of 55 million light-years, the image revealed a

ring-like structure with a dark central region. For the first time in history: the shadow of a black

hole!

22. There’s extraordinary confluence between theory and experiment and it promises

tremendous breakthroughs on the horizon.

23. This historic achievement is a major milestone in our evolving understanding of the

Universe, and also sets a new precedent for global collaboration in scientific research.

24. As the EHT is expanded it will allow us to probe the deep questions that attract researchers

to black holes: how well do our laws of physics hold up under the most extreme conditions we

know of? How do the mechanics of gas, radiation, and particles around a black hole work?

Which theories are correct, and which will break down with more precise observations?

Only time will tell which mysteries the EHT will unravel next.

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Black is a Japanese performance artist. Today he is a successful entertainer,1

but as a teenager, his life was very different. In school, he was quiet and shy, and

other boys bullied2 him. People said to him, “Play a sport!” but Black wasn’t good

at sports. Then one day, Black bought a yo-yo and his life changed. At first, he

couldn’t do any tricks, but he didn’t give up. He watched videos and practiced. In

time, he became very good, and he decided to prepare for the World Yo-Yo

Contest.3 For four years, Black worked hard and practiced. Then, at age 18, he

entered the contest, and he won. On that day, he was no longer a shy high

school student. He was a world champion.3

Lindsey Stirling is an American musician. She mixes classical violin with dance

music and hip-hop. As a child, Lindsey learned to play the violin. Her parents

didn’t have a lot of money, so she could only take lessons part time. Despite this,

Lindsey practiced a lot, and she became very good. In high school, she started

writing her own songs. Then at age 23, Lindsey was on a popular TV talent show.

She did well, but in the end, she lost. The judges said she wasn’t interesting

enough. Lindsey was very sad, but she didn’t give up. She kept trying. In time,

she made a music video and her first album. Later, she won an important music

award. Today, she has one of the most popular channels on YouTube.

1 An entertainer is someone like an actor, musician, dancer, or singer.2 If someone bullies you, they try to hurt you or make you afraid.3 A contest is a game that people try to win. The winner is the champion.

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A. Understand the main idea. Look at the words in the Word Bank.

Then read the title and text below it. What is the main idea?

3 READING

Word Bank

Oppositesfail (v.) ↔ succeed (v.)failure (n.) ↔ success (n.)

successful (adj.)give up (quit) ↔ keep trying

a. Sometimes it’s best to give up.

b. When you fail, don’t give up.

c. Careful people don’t fail.

d. Some successful people give up.

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B. Read for details. Work with a partner. Read about your person

only. Then answer the questions below about him or her.

3 READING

STUDENT A: Read about Black.

STUDENT B: Read about Lindsey Stirling.

1. What is the person’s job?

2. What difficult things happened to the person?

3. What finally happened to the person? Was he or she successful?

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B. Read for details. Work with a partner. Read about your person

only. Then answer the questions below about him or her.

3 READING

Black

1. He’s a performance artist; he uses a yo-yo.

2. In school, other boys bullied him. He wasn’t good at sports.

3. He bought a yo-yo, and he learned to use it. He entered the World Yo-Yo Contest, and he won.

Lindsey Stirling

1. She’s a musician. She plays the violin.

2. Her parents didn’t have a lot of money, so she could only take music lessons part time. Also, she was on a TV talent show, and she lost.

3. She kept practicing. She made a music video and her first album. Later, she won an important music award. Today, she has one of the most popular channels on YouTube.

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C. Summarize. Ask your partner the questions in B about his or her

person.

3 READING

Listen and take notes. Then read about the other person. Check your

partner’s answers.

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D. Synthesize information. Work with a partner. Answer the

questions.

3 READING

1. Look at the reading title. It is part of the expression If at first you

don’t succeed, try, try again. What does this expression mean?

How are Black’s and Lindsey Stirling’s experiences an example

of this expression?

2. Talk about a time you failed at something. When it happened, did

you give up or keep trying? Did you learn anything?

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A. Turn to page 194. Complete the exercises. Then do B–D below.

4 GRAMMAR

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B. Complete the profile with the simple past tense

form of the verbs in parentheses. Then take

turns reading the profile aloud with a partner.

4 GRAMMAR

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs (1. not graduate) _____________

from college. Jobs (2. be) _____________ a smart guy, but his

school (3. be) _____________ expensive, and he (4. not have)

_____________ enough money to go. So he (5. leave)

_____________ college, and he (6. take) _____________ a

calligraphy class instead.

When his parents (7. hear) _____________ this, they (8. be)

_____________ worried. “Why calligraphy?” his parents (9. ask)

_____________. “What can you do with that?” Jobs (10. not be)

_____________ sure. The class (11. not help) _____________ him

get a job, but years later, it (12. help) _____________ him in another

way. Jobs (13. use) _____________ ideas from his calligraphy class

to create Apple’s famous computer fonts.

calligraphy

didn’t graduatewas

wasdidn’t have

left took

heardwereaskedwasn’t didn’t help

helpedused

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C. Work with a partner. Follow the steps below.

4 GRAMMAR

1. On your own, write three Yes / No and three Wh- simple past

tense questions about Jobs on a piece of paper.

2. Cover the profile in B.

3. Take turns asking and answering the questions with a partner.

Steve Jobs

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D. Think of a famous person from the past. Your partner asks

you five past tense questions and tries to guess the person.

Then switch roles and repeat.

4 GRAMMAR

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5 WRITINGWhen I was fourteen, I couldn’t swim. As a child, I was afraid of

the water, so I never learned. Usually, this wasn’t a problem, but in

the summer, things were different. All of my friends went to the

public pool on hot days. I went, too, but I had to watch them have

fun. Finally, I decided to take swimming lessons at a place near

my house. The class met every day. At first, I was very nervous,

but I didn’t give up. I practiced and, by the end, I was a good

swimmer.

I couldn’t… well, but I learned to.

dancedriveplay a sportplay an instrumentride a bikespeak a languagespeak in publicmy idea: __________________________

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A. Read the paragraph. Then answer the questions with a

partner.

5 WRITING

1. What couldn’t the person do?

2. Why was this a problem?

3. How did the person learn?

4. Was the person successful?

swim

his/her friends went to the pool to swim in the summer

swimming lessons

yes

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B. Think about something you couldn’t do, but learned to do.

Answer the questions in A about yourself. Then use your

ideas and the example above to help you write your own

paragraph. Remember to use the correct simple past tense

verbs.

C. Exchange papers with a partner. Circle any mistakes in your

partner’s paper.

5 WRITING

Answer the questions in A about your partner. Are your

experiences similar or different?

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6 COMMUNICATION

A. Work in a small group. Read the questions below. Then add one

simple past tense Yes / No question and one simple past tense

Wh- question.

B. Think about your answers to the questions in A. Make some

notes.

In high school…

1. were you a good or bad student?

2. did you play any sports?

3. what was your favorite subject?

4. what did you do for fun?

5. ______________________________

6. ______________________________

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6 COMMUNICATION

C. Get into a group of four people. Follow the steps below.

1. One person begins. Choose a question in A.

Speaker: Answer the question. Talk for one minute without

stopping.

Listeners: Listen to the speaker. Then answer the questions

below. If the group answers yes to both questions, the speaker

gets a point.

• Did the speaker keep talking for one minute without stopping

a lot?

• Could you understand the person clearly?

2. Repeat step 1 with a different speaker. Continue taking turns for

25 minutes.

The winner: the person with the most points.