We review some recent advances in black hole thermodynamics, including
statistical mechanical origins of black hole entropy and its leading order
corrections, from the viewpoints of various quantum gravity theories. We then
examine the information loss problem and some possible approaches to its
resolution. Finally, we study some proposed experiments which may be able to
provide experimental signatures of black holes.Comment: Plenary talk given at the Fifth International Conference on
Gravitation and Cosmology, Cochin, 7 January 2004. 13 pages, Revte