Exotic cosmic objects in string theory may look like leaky black holes

A strange cosmic object described by string theory could be mistaken for an ordinary black hole from far away. If these objects do exist, they could solve a long-standing paradox about black holes.

The object is known as a topological soliton – a region where space-time itself warps and forms a hole that light can fall into, like sliding down a space-time hill. In a two-dimensional space-time, this object would resemble a donut that traps light in its hole. However, string theory …