The most famous bets in the history of science

The history of science has witnessed many famous bets, thereby helping to reinforce some important theories.

The existence of black holes

Kip Thorne and Stephen Hawking, 1975

Black holes are one of the most daring predictions of general relativity, built by Albert Einstein. A black hole is such a mass concentration that its gravity is strong enough that nothing can escape. Stephen Hawking devoted almost all of his research to black hole theory. In 1975, he was surprised by the fact that the black hole did not exist in reality.

Specifically, Hawking bet with astronomer Kip Thorne that the Cygnus X-1 X-ray source is not the black hole that people think. Thorne disagreed and asked Hawking to donate a porn magazine if he won.

Finally, Thorne received the magazine in 1990, after clearly demonstrating the existence of black holes. Hawking happily admits to losing because it was his research that proved the traces of black holes.

The Earth is round

Alfred Russel Wallace and John Hampden in 1870

Most people believe that the Earth has a circle. John Hampden bet a sum of money that he could prove otherwise. Alfred Russel Wallace, famous for his pioneering contributions to evolutionary theory, accepted to bet with Hampden.

Alfred Russel Wallace won a bet when he thought the Earth had a circle.(Photo: New Scientist).

The two agreed to conduct experiments including measuring the height of Old Bedford River in Norfolk, England, about 10km long. An independent observer confirmed the measurements showed a decrease in distance, proving the curvature of the Earth's surface. Hampden refused to accept the results and never paid.

Black holes cannot destroy information

John Preskill - Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne, 1997

In 1997, Hawking and Thorne bet, this time with Thorne's colleague John Preskill. Again the theme is black hole. This time is the conundrum of whether black holes can destroy information.

Hawking and Thorne assumed that was possible. This hypothesis contradicts quantum mechanics when determining that information cannot be created or destroyed. Preskill argued that black holes could not destroy information. He believes that they can break down the information they swallow but destroy the information that general relativity does not allow.

The reward for the winner is an encyclopedia dictionary. Hawking accepted a bet in 2004 when he said that the arguments were theoretically strong enough to convince the information to really escape the black hole. Thorne still didn't believe it, and so Hawking bought Preskill himself a set of encyclopedias without Thorne's contributions.

The sun does not cause climate change

Galina Mashnich - Vladimir Bashkirtsev and James Annan, 2005

Human greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of global warming. This view is acknowledged by the majority of scientists on climate change. In 2005, physicists Galina Mashnich and Vladimir Bashkirtsev of the Institute of Solar Physics in Irkutsk, Russia bet $ 10,000 with climate researcher Brother James Annan.

Mashnic and Bashkirtsev argue that global warming is related to the Sun's activity. The winner is determined after comparing the average global surface temperature when the Sun is less active (between 2012 and 2017), when the Sun is more active (1998 to 2003). If the temperature is higher, Annan wins. In contrast, Mashnich and Bashkirtsev married. Although not yet finished in 2017, aggregate data up to this point indicates the victory is leaning towards Annan.

Super symmetry does not exist

Garrett Lisi and Frank Wilczek, 2009

Supersymmetry brings hope to particle physicists as a versatile tool of theory that helps solve many problems with current "standard models" . Many of the new particles that it predicts to complement what we already know can provide identification for matter, a mass of matter that has far surpassed ordinary matter in the universe.

Large particle accelerator (LHC) at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland has recently obtained evidence of the existence of this physical world. However, this will be unhappy news for physicist Garrett Lisi, who in 2009 bet 1,000 USD with MIT's Frank Wilczek that the LHC could not find evidence for the supersymmetry hypothesis in its first 6 years. dynamic. Meanwhile, Wilczek accepted defeat last year, though he still believed dark matter would soon appear.