The term black hole was coined in 1969 by the American scientist John Wheeler as a graphic description of an idea that goes back at least two hundred years, to a time where there were two theories about light.
The black holes in our universe may seem like bizarre, voracious beasts – but stranger ones are possible. Simulations of black holes have revealed the first superfluid specimen.
Superfluids are a form of matter that take mere melting one step further. When a solid turns to a liquid, what was once sturdy and inflexible begins to flow. Superfluids have zero stickiness or viscosity: they can even flow uphill. They also have completely uniform temperature.
