Capital Summertime Ball 2024

[Jono]

Leading scientist Stephen Hawking is "very ill" in hospital, his employer Cambridge University has said.

A spokesman said Professor Hawking was undergoing tests at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

The spokesman said the 67-year-old, who has motor neurone disease, had "been unwell for a couple of weeks".

Prof Hawking has worked at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge University for more than 30 years.

Prof Hawking, who speaks with the aid of a voice synthesiser, has three children and one grandchild.

He became a CBE in 1982 and a Companion of Honour in 1989.

Prof Peter Haynes, head of the University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, said: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague.

"We all hope he will be amongst us again soon."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8008767.stm

[Emma]

Poor Stephen. Wishing him all the best.

[DC]

one of the smartest people of all time, it's such a shame he's had to live his life the way he has. in one sense you hope he can pull through because there probably still is a lot of things he has to tell. but in another if he is very ill, it might be good if his suffering comes to an end.

[DarkAngelMJH]

Yeah well said DC, he is an amazing person who had never let his illness get him down.

[John]

I wish him the very best, and hope he battles this well. A very intelligent guy

[Jono]

I think he'll pull through. He's had a lot of luck through his time

[E*F*4L]

hope so he does, top bloke.

Brief History Of Time good read to.

[Nik B.]

I hope he gets better. It'd be a shame to see one of the greatest minds on the planet die =[

[E*F*4L]

fromm BBC news

Leading scientist Stephen Hawking's condition has "improved" after being admitted to hospital with chest problems, Cambridge University says.

hope he pulls through, but his body has lasted much much longer than anyone expected it to & he can only communicate via the movement of his eye to control his computer voice, such a shame

i really wish they would find the evidence to back up his quantum gravity theory so he can win the Nobel prize while he is still alive.

this sums up his life in six minutes, & the etherial music has a futuristic edge & this is one of the very few tracks that just gets me.

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yes it really is Stephen Hawking's voice.

[John]

I'll tell you what amazes me about this guy. The form of MND he has is a fairly common one, and sufferers usually die within 2 to 5 years of been diagnosed. He was diagnosed in his 20's and he is still here today. What a extraordinary man

[kitty]

It's tragic to have such a brilliant mind trapped within a wasting body. I saw a documentary about MND a few years ago, it was heartbreaking to see the deterioration of sufferers. Stephen has been lucky to survive so long, but I wish him many more weeks yet.

I don't know if anyone read The Metro this morning, but they had a very tasteless cartoon on the front about this story-I may have to write in to complain.

[DarkAngelMJH]

Yeah I've saw it too, extremely tasteless and they obviously cannot think of anything better to put

[Guest]

Ah, I'm devastated by this news . A Brief History of Time is a good introduction to his work for the lay person in particular. I do believe, however, it is the most owned book that has never been fully read...

[Tom.]

My science teacher (dr F) says that some of the stuff he has come up with is utter boll*cks... and other bits are sheer genious.

[E*F*4L]

My science teacher (dr F) says that some of the stuff he has come up with is utter boll*cks... and other bits are sheer genious.

some of his stuff has yet to be proved either way & obviously as it's theoretical errors are bound to happen.

Steven has somewhat passed the baton on to 加來 道雄 Michio Kaku & 'Parallel Worlds; A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos' is a excellent read & the perfect companion to A Brief History Of Time.

[KingTutsWWH]

My science teacher (dr F) says that some of the stuff he has come up with is utter boll*cks... and other bits are sheer genious.

Genius Tom.

Well, we all have our 'ups' and 'downs' I suppose. Unfortunately someone who has had some pretty outstanding genius 'ups' is very ill.

Whilst I realise he has had a pretty good innings already considering his condition, I hope he manages to stick around a bit longer. I have a great deal of respect for his work. He is a very important man.

[Andy B]

HAS he come up with a quantum theory of gravity then? That would be pretty monumental if he had.

Also I've read a biography of him in which he says that because of his disease it has given him time to think about things without having to worry about other distractions. The biography is very good as half of each chapter is about him and the other half about his work.

[Jono]

The family of physicist Stephen Hawking said today they were looking forward to him making a full recovery after he fell ill and was admitted to hospital yesterday.

Hawking, 67, was taken by ambulance to Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge, for tests after he fell "very ill", but his condition appears to have improved and he was said to be in a "comfortable" condition today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/apr/21/hawking-stephen-hospital

[JonathanEx]

Turns out he just needed the latest version of Norton.

[DarkAngelMJH]

That's terrible Jon!

[JonathanEx]

I've been waiting to hear if he's getting better before saying that, I'd feel bad making the joke if he died.

[E*F*4L]

HAS he come up with a quantum theory of gravity then? That would be pretty monumental if he had.

well sort of he just needs proof, that is one reason why CERN was built.

Hawking also described how he discovered that particles could slowly leak out of black holes and release energy. A miniature black hole of the mass of a mountain could generate enough power to supply the world’s energy needs. However, the energy would be difficult to harness as the power could not be maintained in a power station. It would drop through the floor and end up at the center of the Earth.

Scientists have searched for miniature black holes but to no avail. Hawking said this is a pity as he would have garnered a Nobel Prize. However, if a black hole is found through the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator), he interjected humorously, he will get a Nobel Prize after all.

http://www.physorg.com/news156450506.html

i hope they get it fixed & find evidence, it would be one of the biggest discoveries to have happened to the human race, & fundamental to our survival as a species, unlimited power, anti matter & anti gravity everything it could be the key to unlock the secrets of the universe & nature, however it could be wrong but CERN is the only real chance because it doesn't matter if you build a larger particle accelerator either CERN will find it or it doesn't exist.

i just hope i'm around to see it discovered, a new dawn of awaits us.

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[Andy B]

Um you do get that's a joke. People have been worries that CERN will create a mini black hole and while the chance is bordering on the impossible, were it to happen it would ultimately destroy the earth. So the Nobel Prize would be a short lived award.

Also your logic is flawed. If Cern don't find it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Also I'm not sure that Hawking Radiation is a theory of Quantum Gravity.

Then there's the small problem of containment to harness power and some way of blocking the enormous Gamma Ray burst from an evaporating black hole. And given that a black hole that lasted a second would release half a million megatons of TNT's worth of energy when it went I'd say we have quite a long way to go before we can start building Romulan Warbirds.

[E*F*4L]

whats a joke, a black hole being created ?

the ones they will be creating are tiny & are of no threat (there is more danger of the anti-matter that they create for experiments reacting as it has to be held in a magnetic field) so we are not going to get sucked into a black hole.

in Michio Kaku's last book im sure he mentions it, but i have heard it elsewhere that a more powerful particle accelerator isn't needed because this one is powerful enough to do the experiment.

in regards to Hawking Radiation & Quantum Gravity, the discovery of Hawking Radiation will be a very big step into a theory of quantum gravity because it will show that they don't just suck stuff into them but that they also throw stuff out (thats it in it's basic terms).

Because Hawking radiation allows black holes to lose mass, black holes that lose more matter than they gain through other means are expected to dissipate, shrink, and ultimately vanish. Smaller micro black holes (MBHs) are predicted to be larger net emitters of radiation than larger black holes, and to shrink and dissipate faster.

Hawking's analysis became the first convincing insight into a possible theory of quantum gravity. However, the existence of Hawking radiation has never been observed. In June 2008, NASA launched the GLAST satellite, which will search for the terminal gamma-ray flashes expected from evaporating primordial black holes. In speculative large extra dimension theories, CERN's Large Hadron Collider may be able to create micro black holes and observe their evaporation.

as for power, you wouldn't use a mini back hole you would use anti-matter, however antimatter is said to be the most costly substance in existence, with an estimated cost of $62.5 trillion per milligram :eek:

[Andy B]

The problem being that they can't dial up the size of Black Hole they want. If they create one that absorbs matter quicker than it evaporates then we are in trouble.

However I've got a load of anti-matter you can have. I keep it in the shed next to the compost and customary 3 empty paint tins.