Black holes and lasers could let us cheat at interstellar travel
A BLACK hole’s gravitational pull is so strong that it bends light around it like a strange cosmic mirror. Interstellar spacecraft could make use of this effect to steal energy from a black hole and get a speed boost without needing extra fuel.
We already use a version of this energy-stealing. Spacecraft heading from Earth to the outer solar system slingshot around Jupiter for a gravity assist, speeding up by ever so slightly slowing the planet’s rotation.
Spacecraft could theoretically perform the same …