[AGarvin]

I disagree, when a scientific publication puts to press an article written by noted astronomical scientist(s), which they do in every months offerings, that makes comments like "Giant black hole is consuming" and "gravitational forces are so powerful they must come from a black hole" and my favourite one, "This Galaxy has at its centre a massive black hole", then the scientific community IS stating this as fact and consider that they do indeed exist.

I think when dealing with any theory one must understand what is really being said and not take it beyond the theories limits.

A black hole is a product of general relativity, and the singularity at the centre is not a physical thing, it’s a mathematical singularity; a point where the mathematics of the theory fail and the theory ceases. The theory predicts its existence, observation indicates its existence, but the theory says nothing about what it actually is in a real physical sense. Black holes are a prime example as we simply don’t yet have a theory to describe matter at these densities, hence the ongoing search for a theory of quantum gravity.

So when the “scientific community” says “it’s a black hole”, one must understand what is meant by the term “black hole”?

Andrew.