Our super-massive black hole

So it’s been confirmed that there’s a gigantic black hole in the center of the Milky Way.

This has been speculated for years, so it’s not really a surprise, but scientists have confirmed it now.

Radio 4 (sort of an NPR equivalent in Britain) was broadcasting this bit of news as I was driving in to work, and I thought it pretty funny that the reporter felt the need to stress that we weren’t under any danger from the black hole, and our solar system is a bajillion miles away from the center of the galaxy…

I mean, this is Radio 4. Stupid people don’t listen to Radio 4. In general, smart, worldly people listen to Radio 4. Politicians and newsmakers do appearances on Radio 4, not vapid, worthless celebrities and morons. You don’t have to pretend that Radio 4 listeners think that people actually ride in drilling machines into the center of the Earth, or that aliens will be imminently invading from Mars, or that black holes roam the galaxy searching for intelligent life to suck up and deposit who knows where.

I just just thought it was an extraordinarily patronizing and stupid thing to say, that’s all.