Black hole collision confirms Hawking's theory with 99.999% certainty

In January 2025, a collision between two black holes about 1.3 billion light-years away provided precise evidence for Stephen Hawking's 1971 prediction of the black hole area law. The gravitational wave signal GW250114, captured by LIGO detectors in Washington and Louisiana, showed that after merging, the new black hole’s surface area increased from approximately 240,000 to 400,000 square kilometres, confirming Hawking's theory with a confidence level of 99.999%. Published on September 10, 2025, in Physical Review Letters, the results involved scientists from LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations.