Black holes went hicking.

Several weeks of conferences and workshops are over and the coolest excursions including black hole physics discussions on the top of the Pyrenees (see picture) and copious meals of legendary lamb also came to an end.

String Theory Workshop 2013:
near Benasque, Spain at 2.400 meters in the Pyrenees.

There are currently many subjects in the spotlight, but judging from the number of talks at the most recent meetings the stress is on black holes -- or perhaps black hole alternatives? These include not only the so called fuzzball proposals, but also the recently proposed firewalls. On the latter subject there were at least three talks at Strings 2013! (click here to watch online) 

More discussions on these enlarged circle of ideas on the black hole information problem will go on at KITP mini workshop in a couple of weeks "Black Holes: Complementarity, Fuzz or Fire?" and programm.