Scientists are exploring new models — including ones without event horizons — that challenge classical physics. With next-gen observations, we might finally glimpse what lies beyond.

Einstein, Schwarzschild, and the Birth of Black Holes “Hic sunt leones,” remarks Stefano Liberati, director of the Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe (IFPU) and one of authors of a new paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. The Latin phrase, meaning “here be lions,” was once used on ancient maps to mark unknown or dangerous territories. In this case, it refers to the singularity predicted to exist at the center of traditional black holes, those described by Einstein’s general relativity.