Why can't light escape beyond the event horizon? A It slows down until it stops completely B There is no direction leading outward C The horizon acts like an impenetrable wall Answer: B. Beyond the horizon, every available path leads inward, even though light still travels at its usual speed.
Why might you not notice crossing the event horizon? A There is no matter or local sign at the boundary B Light inside gets brighter and hides the boundary C The horizon completely disables the spacecraft's instruments Answer: A. The horizon is not a surface but a boundary of causality, so instruments on a falling spacecraft would not register it.
How do stellar-mass black holes form? A When a massive star's core collapses after it runs out of fuel B When gas clouds compress without stars C When galaxies collide Answer: A. While reactions continue, outward pressure balances gravity; when the fuel runs out, the balance disappears.
What is known about what happens inside a black hole? A Nothing happens there B The equations stop producing a meaningful result: there is no answer C The equations describe everything Answer: B. We need a theory that combines gravity and quantum mechanics, and we still don't have one.
How did they get an image of a black hole's shadow? A With one very large telescope B By photographing it from a spacecraft C By combining observatories on different continents into one virtual antenna Answer: C. They later combined recordings with atomic timestamps as if they were pieces of one mirror.
What does Hawking radiation predict? A That black holes glow faintly and lose mass B That black holes grow forever C That light can escape from below the horizon Answer: A. The energy for the escaping particle comes from the black hole itself.
Play the “Black Holes” quiz Where do astronauts' flashes of light come from? A Fatigue of the optic nerve B Glare from instruments C Charged particles from cosmic radiation pass through the eye Answer: C. The brain interprets any excitation of the visual pathway as light.
Why does a person get taller in weightlessness? A Bones start growing faster B Muscles pull the spine upward more strongly C Discs absorb water and the spine straightens Answer: C. Without body weight, the discs absorb water and the spine's curves partially straighten.
What makes it hard to walk right after returning from space? A Only weak muscles B Changes in balance, blood pressure, and support all at once C Differences in gravity at different latitudes Answer: B. Your brain starts receiving a signal about which way is down again but has forgotten how to use it, while your blood vessels have stopped keeping blood in the upper half of your body.
Why can your vision go dark after returning to Earth? A The inner ear stops sending signals B Bones suddenly pull fluid back into the legs C There is less blood, and leg vessels forgot to constrict Answer: C. In weightlessness, your body gets rid of some plasma, and the vessels in your legs forget to help blood rise to your head.
Why do people sleep strapped in on the station? A It keeps them warmer B The schedule requires it C Otherwise, ventilation carries them away Answer: C. The bag is fastened to the wall, while weightlessness lets the body settle into a relaxed position without pressure.
Why does weightlessness make you feel sick? A Because vision and the vestibular system disagree B Because of acceleration during launch C Because of the air composition Answer: A. The crystals in the inner ear stop shifting, while your eyes keep showing you the floor and ceiling.
Play the “Body in Space” quiz Why is a day on Mercury longer than a year? A The planet does not rotate at all B The Sun moves backward across its sky C The planet rotates slowly on its axis but moves quickly in orbit Answer: C. About 176 Earth days pass from sunrise to sunrise there, which is two local years.
What changed in 2006? A Pluto was rediscovered B Pluto left its orbit C The definition of a planet changed Answer: C. Similar bodies were found beyond Neptune's orbit, and the choice was between a new rule and a growing list of planets.
Why is Venus hotter than Mercury, even though it's farther from the Sun? A It receives more sunlight B Volcanoes heat its surface more C Its dense atmosphere traps heat Answer: C. Venus has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere: light gets down, but infrared heat struggles to escape.
Why don't chunks near Saturn come together to form a moon? A The ice is too cold to stick together B The rings rotate too slowly C The planet's gravity pulls them apart more strongly Answer: C. Near the planet, differences in its gravity tear the debris cluster apart, preventing it from becoming a moon.
Why are the seasons at Uranus's poles so long? A Its atmosphere cools down slowly B It is too far from the Sun C Its axis lies almost in the plane of its orbit Answer: C. Because the axis lies almost flat, the poles take turns facing the Sun or remaining in darkness for a long time.
Why does Jupiter's Red Spot resist breaking apart for so long? A Countercurrents and small storms keep feeding it B A solid surface holds it in place beneath the clouds C It is constantly heated by the nearby Sun Answer: A. Countercurrents spin up the vortex, while small storms give it their energy.
What lies beneath a gas giant's clouds? A A rocky surface B A gradual transition from gas to denser states C An ocean of water Answer: B. There is no sharp boundary: one state of matter gradually changes into another.
Play the “Our Planetary Neighbors” quiz What would the sky be like in an infinite, eternal universe? A Glowing in every direction B Dark, as it is now C Different in different places Answer: A. Every line of sight would eventually end at a star, just as a look into an infinite forest would end at a tree trunk.
Why does the expanding Universe have no center? A The center is hidden beyond the observable horizon B Galaxies are flying from one starting point C Space is stretching everywhere at once Answer: C. Space itself is expanding between galaxies, so from any one of them, the others appear to be moving away.
What is the mystery of antimatter? A It should have formed equally with matter, but matter remained and it did not B It decays faster than ordinary matter C It has only been found in theory and never observed Answer: A. If the amounts had been equal, everything would have annihilated, leaving only radiation in the universe.
Why do scientists trust the estimate of the Universe's age? A One highly precise instrument confirmed it B Three independent methods give a similar result C It follows from equations without observations Answer: B. An error in one method would not be reproduced by the other two, which work in completely different ways.
Why might the question "what came before" make no sense? A Time may have begun with expansion B Scientists have already measured the moment before expansion C The universe was once fully transparent Answer: A. If time began with expansion, there is simply nothing for the word "before" to refer to.
What grows after the hot, dense phase? A Fragments fly from the center B Distances between things C Matter flies out into empty space Answer: B. Space itself grows, so distances between things increase rather than fragments flying apart.
Play the “The Beginning of the Universe” quiz