from the life-would-be-tragic-if-it-weren't-funny dept.
Stephen Hawking, a widely known physicist, sometimes mistaken as cosmetician, died Wednesday after complications due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. He was 76.
Coverage at BBC (obituary), The Guardian, Reuters, NPR, and The Huffington Post.
janrinok writes:
It is with sadness that we hear the news this morning in the UK that Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. Diagnosed with a type of motor neuron disease disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in 1964, he was told that he would have only a few years to live. But he confounded many experts and led life to the fullest within his personal limitations.
While he undoubtedly suffered as a result of his physical disabilities, it was his mental powers that set him apart from most of the human race. His book - A Brief History of Time - sold over 16 million copies, but it is said that it was probably read by a much smaller number of people, and understood by even fewer.
I hope that others here will contribute their own memories of the man and his achievements as the following days progress.
Rest in Peace - Stephen Hawking.
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Stephen Hawking's Last Paper (Probably) Doesn't Prove We Live in a Multiverse
A few months before physicist Stephen Hawking died, he published a paper that several media outlets touted as a way to finally prove (or disprove) the existence of parallel worlds. But that claim may be a bit of cosmic inflation, said several physicists who were not involved in Hawking's research.
"The paper makes no statements about observational tests. It's not entirely uninteresting, but it's one of literally several thousand ideas for what might possibly have happened in the early universe" many of which include parallel worlds, said Sabine Hossenfelder, a physicist at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, who blogs at backreaction.blogspot.com.
Sabine Hossenfelder's blog post: Hawking's "Final Theory" is not groundbreaking
A Smooth Exit from Eternal Inflation? (arXiv:1707.07702 [hep-th])
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:29AM (11 children)
Stephen Hawking died on Pi day, March 14 (or, as Americans write it, 3/14/2018).
It should be noted that this is also Albert Einstein's birthday.
It should be noted that Albert Einstein also died at age 76.
Coincidence? I think so.
(Score: 3, Touché) by bob_super on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:38AM (2 children)
The event of his death, long on the horizon, leaves a big black hole in the heart of the astrophysics community, theoretically.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:10AM
Or a very small one that just evaporated?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:02PM
He made it 50 years past the doctors' predicted event horizon...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1) by slater86 on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:54AM (3 children)
After reading that, I'm starting to contemplate whether god does play dice with the universe?
http://www.hawking.org.uk/does-god-play-dice.html [hawking.org.uk]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:39AM (1 child)
Only you can answer the question whether you are starting to contemplate that.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:08PM
But observing Slater's contemplation may affect its state.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:31PM
According to MIB there's apparently at least a couple aliens playing marbles with worlds.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:22PM (3 children)
He died on the 13th.
I got to see him speak at the University of Minnesota when I was a teenager, over twenty years ago.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:26PM (2 children)
14 March. So says Wikipedia. So says the Universe.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:52PM (1 child)
Ah, time zones. It was the 13th here when I heard about it.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday March 15 2018, @07:18PM
That was just your time dilation at work.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:43AM (1 child)
:(
(Score: 4, Interesting) by kazzie on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:17PM
My reaction was one of disbelief. Not one of "oh, what a shame to have lost him", but one of "nah, he can't die: he's been fooling doctors and cheating death since the '60s".
The fact that it happened less than a week after I heard him play The Guide Mk II in H2G2 [bbc.co.uk] (where he dies due to a drained battery) makes it all the more surreal.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:00AM
He lived far longer than expected and accomplished so much more than even he could have imagined. Science and knowledge is richer for it as a result.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:11AM (3 children)
Once his brain has been uploaded to the 'net, he will be with us forever.
I sure hope they remember to degauss the brain after upload, we wouldn't want more than one Hawking at a time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:12AM (2 children)
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610456/a-startup-is-pitching-a-mind-uploading-service-that-is-100-percent-fatal/ [technologyreview.com]
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:21PM (1 child)
100% fatal?
Last I heard, life is 100% fatal.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:31PM
The Surgeon General says that half of all smokers will die
The rest will live forever
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:22AM (1 child)
I bet when you huff that combination of precious high IQ urine and feces you'll become so high you'd never need another hit of anything else.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:33AM
No shit? Just reading this makes my panties wet.
(Score: 3, Funny) by tonyPick on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:36AM (2 children)
While he's known as a great scientist, I always found his sense of humour after everything he'd gone through to be inspiring as well
Oblig clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8y5EXFMD4s&feature=youtu.be&t=246 [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:26AM
His humor was a little dark at times... [youtube.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by canopic jug on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:57PM
Too bad he missed a chance at even greater notoriety.
From : He may be the most brilliant mind ever, but Stephen Hawking was also quite the character [news.com.au]
He lasted as long as he did in part because of the high quality of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) before the repeated Tory cuts into the budget and staffing to intentionally weaken it and soften the public up fo privatiation [theguardian.com]. Thatcher and the people following in her footsteps were basically out to kill him.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by krishnoid on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:40AM (4 children)
(From TV Tropes [tvtropes.org]). The idea of a nearly completely immobilized genius in a wheelchair, which would have seemed a little unusual prior to his fame, became a wholly valid and relatable character option through comparison with him. I like to think that his genius and work was so powerful that he adventitiously [sic] engendered widespread social acceptance of severely disabled people, just by the fact of his existence.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:07PM (2 children)
- Hawking's appearance at UC Santa Cruz.
I moved Heaven and Earth to attend that talk but when I got there it was already standing room only on the inside, with a large crowd on the outside.
A crew was setting up loudspeakers so the people outside could hear, but I was so very disappointed that I went home then cried myself to sleep.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:20PM (1 child)
Did you change your tampon before bed MDC?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:34PM
Like a fine wine or cheese
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 15 2018, @01:11PM
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday March 14 2018, @08:59AM
And so many people saying, "oh, Russia, Russia, Russia!" Maybe it was Russia, they don't know. I don't know. Nobody knows. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused -- life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process? This is not the time to talk about Russia. Let's wait for the investigation.
Our entire world, with one heavy heart, is praying for the survivors and the families. To every physics person, teacher, and student who is hurting so badly, we are here for you -- whatever you need, whatever we can do, to ease your pain. We are all joined together as one family, and your suffering is our burden also.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by stormwyrm on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:17AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 14 2018, @09:33AM
Damn fine cosmologist, as good as any of the ancient Greeks. Will be missed.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by turgid on Wednesday March 14 2018, @10:42AM (3 children)
As he so memorably said, we're just a species of monkey that happens to be able to understand the universe. We were very lucky monkeys indeed to have Hawking to discover and to explain to us many amazing things about our universe. He never got to fly in space, but he did live to see black holes and gravity waves confirmed. We'll miss him, a true inspiration.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:13AM (1 child)
I'm not sure he was right about that. Not about the monkey part (although ape would have been more correct), but about understanding the universe. Sure, we're understanding an amazing amount of it. But an amazing amount of the universe is not the universe, it's just an amazing amount of it. And there's no way to tell how much of the universe we don't even know about.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by turgid on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:30AM
I think that was a rhetorical device to illustrate the fact that we're not so different from the "dumb" animals.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Informative) by Booga1 on Wednesday March 14 2018, @06:56PM
I can't seem to find his actual flight date(if that was ever set), but he did at least get to fly on at least one "zero-g" test flight:
http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/10777/20170322/stephen-hawking-books-ticket-space-board-richard-bransons-virgin-galactic.htm [sciencetimes.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Entropy on Wednesday March 14 2018, @11:39AM
He was truly one of the best minds in the world.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DutchUncle on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:29PM
Though he certainly did put a different face on the universe.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday March 14 2018, @12:52PM (2 children)
I hope his death was without pain and the best possible situation.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:04PM (1 child)
His life was almost the definition of pain and suffering, both physical and psychological - and he overcame that beautifully.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:12PM
-ife.
That really got me down, but I did my best to be stoic.
It was Cervical Radiculopathy - a pinched nerve in my neck that led me to feel excruciating pain in my left arm and shoulder.
A friend of mine convinced me to look into surgery. The first spinal surgeon's website that I looked at said "See A Chiropractor First".
I've always been skeptical of Chiropractors but I gave it a try. Chiropractic is the only thing that eases my other friend's lower back pain.
Cost me about a grand. Three adjustments a week for eight weeks.
I've been pain-free for months.
Chiropractic adjustments work just like cracking your knuckles but they do it to your spine. That can be disconcerting at times.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 5, Funny) by mobydisk on Wednesday March 14 2018, @01:32PM (1 child)
In the year 2135, two scientists turned astronauts travel to a black hole to capture radiation. Their mission is a success, and they return to earth with expectations of fame and profit. They begin selling their radiation to various scientists around the world, but they are eventually arrested. What were they accused of?
They were charged with hawking [oxforddictionaries.com] radiation [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:42PM
/facepalm
I think he would have liked that one :)
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Drake_Edgewater on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:16PM (6 children)
My PhD supervisor graduated in theoretical physics in Cambridge. He likes to tell that he used to hold the door open for Stephen to enter the building. He is so proud of that.
My Postdoc advisor said that he attended Stephen's last lecture in Cambridge. What an honour!
And I, well... I was a freshman when several years ago he went to Antartica and he had to stay one night in the town where I lived. I stayed two hours in a cold night just to see him enter the hotel. Does that count? ;)
Farewell Professor Hawking! Thank you for all your contributions to the world.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday March 14 2018, @03:18PM (5 children)
Hey, I met Paul Erdos once. Visited the university where and when I was a grad student.
Also briefly talked with Bjarne Stroustrup during his visit to the uni, after he gave a presentation about C++. He was pleased and proud C++ was still popular despite competition from far better funded languages, specifically Java. He didn't think the issues I attempted to raise were important. Oh well. I still think they're all too dismissive, shouldn't accept that ASCII and UTF-8 are the ultimate in representation, or at least good enough that there's no reason to bother thinking about them any more. One example of what I'm getting at, is why, except for visual programming, is all programming done in monospace fonts? Trying to use a proportional font to read and write code is ridiculous, crazy, stupid, but should it be?
I don't know how close I ever got to Stephen Hawking. A mile or so at best, if he ever visited the universities close to me. Depends how often he visited the US and where he went. If he skipped flyover country, then very possibly the closest I ever got to him was when I visited London and was a teenager with no thought of that. Might well have been closer to the Queen. If there were any public appearances by anyone of note, I paid that no mind and missed them.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:44PM
Mehh - don't feel bad. I visited the UK multiple times, but have no idea whether Hawking was even on the island(s) at the time. I mean, I didn't send him a card, or call him - I couldn't expect him to be there waiting for my visit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @05:00PM (3 children)
Because that way it is easier to lay out your code (especially concerning vertical alignment).
Note that with WEB (Donald Knuth's literate programming system, not to be confused with the World Wide Web), programs were not printed in monospace fonts. But then, you had to run your code through a typesetting compiler.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday March 14 2018, @07:10PM (2 children)
Yes, of course, vertical alignment is the point of monospace. But should code readability depend so heavily on that property? Is it really necessary?
Took a quick look at Knuth's WEB, and yeah, that's the general direction I'd like to see programming go. But he, like everyone else, wants to fly higher with the crappy wings we have now, by using more powerful engines, rather than spend time on the "boring" task of maybe seeing that the wings could be better and trying to improve them. I think WEB would be easier to realize if the ASCII/UTF-8 foundation was improved.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday March 15 2018, @08:10AM (1 child)
You are aware that WEB was first published 1981? That's long before anyone even thought of Unicode or UTF8.
Other than that, I have no idea what you mean with "the ASCII/UTF-8 foundation" that should be improved.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 15 2018, @10:26AM
I mean that the ASCII control characters are terrible. To control horizontal positioning, there is only the tab and the blank space, Those depend upon the font being monospace to work at all, and even then, they do a bad job. Tab is horrible. The only positioning ASCII got right was starting a new line, and it even muffs that with the whole CR or LF or both usage. Extended control characters and ANSI escape sequences repeat the mistake of depending upon the use of a monospace font. So, out of the 33 control characters, today only 1 function, the new line, is really used. Tab is still used occasionally, but whenever it is, it causes problems. The ASCII control characters were a huge fail. Wasn't until HTML that positioning finally got away from dependence upon monospace. Unicode was a chance to reboot the control characters, but instead they were copied and hackishly amended.
One thing that should be in the control characters is "increase indentation" and "decrease indentation", with the exact positioning left to the display device and user, and in no way tied to the width of the characters. A common edit to source code is having to change the indentation of a bunch of lines because they've all been wrapped inside a newly added block of some sort. Our text editors do a lot of work to hack around that lack, and do a pretty good job of it, but a whole lot of leading spaces would all be unnecessary if only ASCII had such control characters. Also, it would make the use of proportional fonts practical. Another good use of the control characters would be analogs to HTML's table tags, TR and TD. That's one thing tab was meant for, and it sucks at it.
Instead we're stuck with such horrors as ctrl-g, which is supposed to play an audible beep, and ctrl-q and ctrl-s as a crude method to pause output so it can be read before being scrolled off the top of the text screen. Ctrl-s only sort of works if the terminal is slow enough and you don't need to pause the output at a precise location and can afford to be off by plus or minus several lines. Ever run a program over and over, fingers poised to hit ctrl-s immediately, until you manage to pause the output where you want it? I used to do that on 1980s computers such as the Apple II. But now we have pagers such as "less", and sufficient system memory to hold thousands of lines of output. Ctrl-c is another that's been superseded. Ctrl-h is yet another character based positioning abomination, to provide a typographic means to print text in bold and to compose additional characters, such as the Spanish n with a tilde. Now with UTF-8, composition is not only unnecessary, it's discouraged.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 14 2018, @02:36PM (1 child)
Mistaken as a cosmetician? Really?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday March 14 2018, @04:37PM
The first time I watched the Jerk by Steve Martin I was most intrigued by the term "cosmetologist." I thought the lady was going to university. Next thing she's applying makeup to customers in a department store. American English really does have some fun novelties.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 15 2018, @04:54AM
Who will speak publically now as a renowned scientist? RIP, Stephen Hawking.