Good news everyone! A 16-year study by German astronomers has confirmed the most powerful vortex in creation lies at the heart of our galaxy! Quickly! To the evacuation ships!

Or not. The study, tracking 28 stars circling the centre of the Milky Way and using two telescopes in Chile, may have confirmed the presence of the hole but there's no need to run to the hills (of, presumably, a different galaxy) just yet. For a start, the hole is 27,000 light years from Earth so it's not exactly knocking on our door. That being said, it is apparently four million times bigger than the sun so it's not exactly a little gaping maw in the universe.

The study has, however, led to a hypothesis that's as elegant as it is plausible. Dr Robert Massey, of the Royal Astronomical Society has theorised galaxies could form around black holes in the same way a pearl forms around a piece of grit. The gravitational pull is so incredible that the hole naturally accrues a disk of material around itself which, in some cases, could become dense enough for stars to form and in turn, solar systems. It's a lovely concept and feels as aesthetically right as it is scientifically plausible. Plus, it puts a new, kinder spin on one of SF's traditional big cosmic villains.

The black hole, villain or stellar nurse? Either way, best not get too near one, just to be sure. Unless of course, you have V.I.N.CENT or B.O.B. on board...

This article contributed by Alasdair Stuart, of Hub magazine. Source: BBC.