Remember that bet Stephen Hawking made with Kip Thorne in the 90s about whether information could escape a black hole? (No, not the infamous one wagered between the two physicists in the 70s involving a subscription to Penthouse.) The stakes for this bet were much tamer: an encyclopedia collection of the winner’s choosing. The debate was over the behavior of Hawking radiation, the black hole information paradox, and whether the conservation of energy can be violated at the event horizon of a black hole. But before you can even begin to wrap you head around all of that, you must first understand what Hawking radiation is. Here, Kip Thorne—in front of Stephen Hawking himself, 2010 Festival honoree—provides expert analysis of the strange phenomenon.

Recorded June 2010; Posted October 2010