Gizmodo: stephen hawking

Carl Sagan Auto-Tuned

Jason Chen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EDT

Auto-Tuning the news, as well as ourselves, has provided us with many hours of entertainment. But what happens when you Auto-Tune one of the great science-minds of the last few decades? This. Plus, Stephen Hawking drops by. [Nerdist]

Stephen Hawking Expected to Make Recovery

Jason Chen — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:29:16 EDT

Super genius and physicist Stephen Hawking is supposed to make a full recovery from his chest infection, but is being kept for observation in the mean time. [MSNBC]

Stephen Hawking Rushed to Hospital, is "Very Ill"

Adam Frucci — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:18:34 EDT

Renowned physicist and generally accepted smartest guy in the world Stephen Hawking has been rushed to the hospital in Cambridge in poor condition. Hawking, who is 67, is almost completely paralyzed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We're all hoping that he recovers quickly and can get back to his research and work. Our thoughts are with you, Stephen. [Reuters]

Corpus Clock: "The Strangest Clock in the World" Unveiled By Stephen Hawking

Sean Fallon — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:58:00 EDT

Stephen Hawking has made his way back to Cambridge after participating in the launch of the LHC to unveil an unbelievable new clock at Corpus Christi College. Designer John Taylor intended the clock to be "terrifying," saying that he views time as "as not on your side." In his words, time will "eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next." Dubbed as the "strangest clock in the word," the Corpus clock features a time-devouring grasshopper at its top that moves around the face one second at a time. As it moves, the 60 slits cut into its face light up to show the time.

It took a team of eight engineers and craftsman five years to mold the clock, and it is expected to last another 25 years on its current electric motor. "Conventional clocks with hands are boring," Taylor admits. "I wanted to make timekeeping interesting." Mission accomplished, my friend. It's hard to imagine that something so sinister looking could have come out of the mind of that harmless looking older gentleman in the video. I mean, he made his fortune developing the kettle thermostat, for crying out loud. [Guardian and BBC News]

Stephen Hawking Bets Against Large Hadron Collider's Success

Kit Eaton — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:15:00 EDT

We know the LHC won't end the world, but in an amusing note before its big switch-on tomorrow Stephen Hawking (he of the physics brain the size of a planet) has admitted he's got a $100 bet that the machine won't succeed in one of its big goals: finding the very mysterious Higgs boson.

In a BBC radio interview he joked "I think it will be much more exciting if we don't find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again" before admitting to his bet. If found, the Higgs particle, also dubbed the "God particle" would be crucial evidence supporting the standard model of particle physics, but it's managed to remain elusive to date.

Hawking does think the LHC might find superpartner particles though ("supersymmetric partners" to particles we already know about) and that might be a key to string theory. Will he lose his cash? Only time will tell. Just remember, time is relative. [Physorg]

LEGO Stephen Hawking Takes Flight

Mark Wilson — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:30:07 EDT

In tribute to Hawking's recent trip: "Space, here I come."

[brickshelf via boingboing]