Is the Wormhole

in Interstellar
Possible?
Brief Overview of
Interstellar
• Some years into the future, Earth has
become uninhabitable due to crop
shortages and dust storms.

• NASA scientists have discovered a

wormhole near Saturn leading to a
separate solar system, which may or
may not contain a habitable planet.

• Former pilot Joseph Cooper is recruited

to fly a spacecraft through the
wormhole in the hopes of sustaining
the human race.
What is a Wormhole?

• Two interconnected black holes forming

a tunnel that shortens the distance
between two points (requires
acceptance of the “folded” model of
space-time).
• Theoretically possible according to
Einstein’s relativity theory.
• No wormhole has been discovered –
ONLY A THEORY.
• Furthermore, wormholes are probably
not traversable…
The Issue of Size

• Wormholes are predicted to exist only on

microscopic levels – roughly 10-30 centimeters.
• Because wormholes are essentially black holes,
any attempt to traverse a wormhole this small
would probably result in spaghettification.
The Issue of
Instability
• Wormholes are so energetic that its
walls would likely collapse in on
themselves before any object could
pass through.
• In order to traverse, something
would be required to hold the
openings of the wormhole apart
(i.e., negative energy).
The Issue of Radiation

• Wormholes share most of the

properties of black holes, including the
vacuum effect.
• Such wormholes would surely contain
amounts of radiation significantly
harmful to humans.
Kip Thorne
• 2017 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics;
hired by director Christopher Nolan as
scientific consultant to Interstellar.
• Stated that “there are very strong
indications that wormholes that a
human could travel through are
forbidden by the laws of physics”.
• Aforementioned issues with traversable
wormholes are all based on his
research.
So Is it Possible?

•PROBABLY NOT.