Hawking Radiation

In 1974, Stephen Hawking made a stunning prediction. Quantum mechanics says that empty space is not truly empty — pairs of virtual particles constantly pop into existence and annihilate each other. Near the event horizon, one particle can fall in while the other escapes. The escaping particle carries energy away from the black hole as Hawking radiation.

This radiation means black holes are not permanent. They slowly evaporate. But the process is extraordinarily slow. A stellar-mass black hole would take roughly 10^67 years to evaporate — vastly longer than the current age of the universe.