:( Stephen Hawking has died. :(

[DELTAprime]

Some really bad news for anyone that loves science. Stephen Hawking has passed away. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/obituaries/stephen-hawking-dead.html

[UltraMarginal]

It's sad that this won't get anywhere near the press that a 'celebrity' passing away would have. He is arguably one of the greatest minds in modern time.

The world science community has some big boots to fill.

[1AZRAEL1]

It is truly sad. A great mind may be gone but his works will always be around

[GoktimusPrime]

Hawking was born on 8/1, the anniversary of Galileo's death.
He passed away on 14/3, the anniversary of Einstein's birth.
What are the odds of that? 2/365. ;)

[kup]

Sad that he is gone. The world is fortunate to have him as long as we did and despite his disability he lived more than anyone could have imagined.

[Galvatran]

Hawking was born on 8/1, the anniversary of Galileo's death.
He passed away on 14/3, the anniversary of Einstein's birth.
What are the odds of that? 2/365. ;)
What does Ultra Mackness have to say about the odds? (taking them as independent events)

[Seraphim Prime]

It's sad that this won't get anywhere near the press that a 'celebrity' passing away would have. He is arguably one of the greatest minds in modern time.

The world science community has some big boots to fill.

I think amazingly he has received a lot of coverage in the papers and on the TV. I wonder how much of it though was because of his very public persona, engagement with things like The Simpsons and Futurama, and his biopic four years ago, rather than his scientific breakthrough.



Hawking was born on 8/1, the anniversary of Galileo's death.
He passed away on 14/3, the anniversary of Einstein's birth.
What are the odds of that? 2/365. ;)


What does Ultra Mackness have to say about the odds? (taking them as independent events)

I'm not Ultra Mackness, but if we're taking the odds for both of those events to happen to one person it would be 1/365 multiplied by 1/365, which would be 1/133225

[Sam]

Despite his illness he achieved a lot - most impressive!

[bowspearer]

I don't think we should be sad at all. Here's the thing, at age 21, he was one of the unlucky 1 in 25,000 to be diagnosed with Lou Gerig's Disease (yes the same disease people wish on others in nasty flamewars). He had a 95% chance of being dead by age 26 and only a 5% chance of living 20 years or longer (https://www.webmd.com/brain/understanding-als-treatment#1). Not longer than 20 years - 20 years or longer. As this article notes, medical minds are baffled (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/03/14/how-did-stephen-hawking-live-so-long-als/423313002/) at how he managed to live with ALS for 55 years!

The guy managed to not only live more than half a century than the betting odds on him at age 21 would have expected, he lived for only two years less than the average life expectancy for an average man.

Meanwhile while his body wasted away, he become a symbol for why ableism is the domain of short-sighted morons; he showed the world what happens when you stop seeing the disabled as "r******" and "s*******", and instead see the potential they offer in the same way people would someone able-bodied and able-minded. For while his body was crippled by a cruel degenerative disease, his mind was a gift and a treasure to the planet.

The last thing we should do is grieve his loss. This world had him for more than half a century longer than it should have by rights and he left a mark and a lesson that limitations are things human beings place on others - that greatness is possible anywhere.

We should celebrate his life and his achievements and not say "he was robbed from us far too soon", but "way to beat the odds with a sledgehammer, you magnificent bastard"!

Long live the legacy of Stephen Hawking and those it inspires for generations to come!

[shockNwave]

If I remember correctly there's an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation where Data is playing poker in the holodeck with what he considers the three greatest scientific minds to see how they interact. One of those is Isaac Newton, the other is Albert Einstein and the third one is (you guessed it) Stephen Hawking.

The episode might have been called Q Who?

[DELTAprime]

The episode might have been called Q Who?

No it was "Decent". It was the final episode of season 6 where Lore has taken command of a bunch of Borg.

"Q Who" was a season 2 episode where we were first introduced to the Borg.