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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Can We Tell Black Holes Apart from Wormholes?

Black holes are some of the most extreme objects in the universe. We cannot see them directly, but we can study the hot gas swirling around them. This gas forms a spinning disk called an accretion disk, and it gives off strong X-rays.

One of the most important features in these X-rays is called the iron Kα emission line. Scientists study this line carefully because it acts like a “fingerprint” of what is happening very close to a black hole.

A recent study by Liu and his team explores something very interesting: what if some objects we think are black holes are actually not black holes at all, but strange objects called wormholes?

Why the Iron Line Is So Important

When iron atoms in the hot disk give off X-rays, they create a sharp signal at a specific energy. But near a black hole, this signal gets strongly changed.

This happens because:

  • Gravity is extremely strong near the black hole

  • Matter in the disk moves very fast

  • Light is stretched and bent by space-time

Because of these effects, the iron line becomes:

  • Broad (spread out)

  • Skewed (uneven shape)

  • Distorted (not a simple peak anymore)

By studying this shape, scientists can learn:

  • How fast the black hole is spinning

  • How matter behaves in strong gravity

  • Whether Einstein’s theory still works in extreme conditions

Black Holes vs Wormholes: The Big Question

Most scientists use a model called the Kerr black hole model. This model describes rotating black holes and is widely used to interpret X-ray data.

But some theories suggest something different.

They say that instead of black holes, nature might have wormholes—hypothetical objects that could connect two different parts of space-time. These are called Kerr-like wormholes.

The key difference is:

  • Black holes have an event horizon, a point where nothing can escape

  • Wormholes do not have a horizon; instead, they have a “throat” connecting regions of space

The big question is simple but very important:

👉 Can we tell a black hole and a wormhole apart using X-ray observations?

What Liu and Team Did

To answer this question, the researchers built a new computer-based model.

They created tools that simulate how light behaves near wormholes. This includes:

  • A method called ray-tracing, which follows how light moves in curved space-time

  • A software tool for simple iron line shapes

  • Another tool for full X-ray reflection spectra

These tools were added to a scientific software system used by astronomers to analyze real space data.

Simulating Wormholes in Space

The team then created many simulations of wormholes with different properties, such as:

  • How fast they rotate

  • How big the wormhole “throat” is

  • How the space-time is shaped around them

They used these simulations to generate fake X-ray data similar to what a real space telescope would see. For this, they used conditions similar to the NuSTAR X-ray telescope, including noise and background signals.

This allowed them to test how wormholes would actually look in real observations.

What They Found About Wormhole Signals

The results showed clear differences between black holes and wormholes.

Wormholes tend to produce iron lines that are:

  • Narrower than black hole lines

  • Missing part of the strong low-energy tail (called the “red wing”)

  • Sensitive to viewing angle (how we look at them)

As the wormhole’s throat becomes larger, these differences become more noticeable.

In simple words:

👉 Wormholes change X-ray light in a slightly different way than black holes.

Can We Be Fooled by Black Hole Models?

The next step was very important. The researchers tried to see if standard black hole models could still explain wormhole data.

They used a common model called kerrconv, which is normally used to interpret black hole signals.

Surprisingly, the result was:

  • The black hole model could still fit the wormhole data quite well

  • The difference between the two was not obvious in simple analysis

This means something important:

👉 Wormholes could “look like” black holes if we use simple models.

So, even if an object is a wormhole, we might mistakenly think it is a black hole.

But Better Models Reveal Problems

The researchers then used a more advanced model called relxillCp. This model is more physically accurate because it includes detailed effects of how X-rays reflect off the disk.

When they used this better model, they found something different:

  • The fit became poor

  • The model could not match the wormhole data properly

  • The errors in the results showed clear patterns

  • Some parameters reached unrealistic extreme values

For example, one parameter controlling how radiation is spread across the disk reached its maximum allowed value, which is not physically reasonable.

This tells us:

👉 More realistic models can reveal differences that simpler models hide.

What This Means for Science

This study shows an important lesson.

At first glance:

  • Black holes and wormholes can look very similar in X-ray data

  • Simple models may not be enough to tell them apart

But when using better physics:

  • Differences become clearer

  • Wormholes produce mismatches in the data

  • Advanced models can detect inconsistencies

So the conclusion is:

👉 We may already be observing objects that look like black holes—but we need better tools to be sure.

Why This Research Matters

This work is important because it challenges how we interpret some of the most powerful objects in the universe.

It tells us:

  • Our understanding of black holes depends on the models we use

  • Some objects might be misclassified if models are too simple

  • Future telescopes and better analysis methods could reveal new physics

It also opens a very exciting possibility:

👉 If wormholes exist, they might already be hidden in current data.

What Comes Next

Future research will focus on:

  • Improving X-ray reflection models

  • Using better and more sensitive telescopes

  • Testing many alternative space-time theories

  • Searching for subtle differences in iron line shapes

Upcoming space missions may help answer one of the biggest questions in physics:

  • Are black holes truly black holes?

  • Or could some of them be something even more exotic?

Conclusion

The iron Kα emission line may look like a small detail in X-ray light, but it carries deep information about the nature of space and time.

Liu and his team’s study shows that while black holes are still the best explanation for most observations, there is still room for surprises. Wormholes, if they exist, could hide behind similar signals.

The key takeaway is simple:

👉 To understand the universe correctly, we must not only look at data—but also improve the models we use to interpret it.

And as our tools get better, we may discover whether black holes are truly what we think they are—or just one part of a much stranger universe.

Reference: Cheng Liu, Hoongwah Siew, Hong-Xuan Jiang, Yosuke Mizuno, Tao Zhu, "Signature of iron line profile from a Kerr-like wormhole", A&A, 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.22268

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