At the end of a nondescript corridor at the University of Nottingham is a door labelled simply: Black Hole Laboratory. Within, an experiment is under way in a large, hi-tech bathtub that could offer a unique glimpse of the laws of physics that govern the real thing.

The lab is run by Prof Silke Weinfurtner, a pioneer in the field of analogue gravity, whose work has demonstrated uncanny parallels between the mathematics describing fluid systems on Earth and some of the most extreme and inaccessible environments in the universe.

“It is easy to get intimidated when thinking about black holes. All the effects predicted to occur around black holes seem so bizarre, so weird, so different,” she says. “Then it helps to remind yourself, ‘Wait a second, it happens in my bathtub. Maybe it’s not so strange after all.’”

Previously, Weinfurtner’s team has used the bathtub setup to investigate Hawking radiation, a process by which black holes are predicted to “evaporate” and eventually disappear. She and colleagues are now working on a more advanced simulator, which they believe will provide even more sophisticated insights into the behaviour of black holes.