Large Hardon Collider

[Vendog]

Stephen Hawking is just a shark jumping sci-fi fear monger nowadays. He should just finish deteriorating and leave the world asap.

[Pirian]

Stephen Hawking is just a physics theorist nowadays.

You're right, but it still makes for a fun show

[Eliseos]

I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be awesome if sharks could jump.

[Pirian]

I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be awesome if sharks could jump.

With laser beams attached to their heads!

[Eliseos]

Woah woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Jumping sharks first, and then if everyone behaves we can have laser beams.

[Woozie]

Are you two trying to destroy the world before I get a chance to do it myself?

[Eliseos]

Since you'd destroy engineers first before anyone else, yes.

[BerenTebogo]

Anyone been keeping up with "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking"?

The concepts shown aren't new to any of us (in this thread anyways,) but some of the depictions of events that I've only ever pictured in my head are just amazing. It's really worth a shot even if you aren't a huge Hawking fan.

[Pirian]

Didn't read this page, huh? lol

[BerenTebogo]

I scrolled up to laser sharks

Edit: I see it now, fffff. And yes, it's common knowledge that Hawking is more popular among the non-scientific community than in the scientific community, however I can forgive some of the illogical leaps he makes due to the fact that his popularity is single-handedly helping to educate the unwashed masses of this country in one form or another (and pissing off rednecks, fuck yes.)

Also, the graphical depictions of some of these events are just light years beyond the usual $10 History / Science channel graphics. I really enjoy the show for what it is, a chance for me to put my brain on relax and look at shit that I've only imagined in my head.

Edit2: I scrolled back to conversation about the EP from last week and all the fuss. Larry King actually had Hawking, Kaku, David Brown, the director of SETI, and Dan Akryod (fucking ugh) on this past Friday to discuss the public outcry / reactions to Hawking's statements and Kaku actually brought up the same point a few of you are trying to make about uninhabited planets with resources.

Dan Akroyd is the most annoying son of a bitch on the planet though, wanted to punch him in the face. He was on representing MUFON as a popular celebrity (Mutual UFO Network or whatever, the people who believe they've been abducted by aliens.)

[Kuya]

Any chance you know a place where i can stream the video?

[Mizango]

Stephen Hawking is just a shark jumping sci-fi fear monger nowadays. He should just finish deteriorating and leave the world asap.

You're an idiot.

[Woozie]

I scrolled up to laser sharks

Edit: I see it now, fffff. And yes, it's common knowledge that Hawking is more popular among the non-scientific community than in the scientific community, however I can forgive some of the illogical leaps he makes due to the fact that his popularity is single-handedly helping to educate the unwashed masses of this country in one form or another (and pissing off rednecks, fuck yes.)

This is the main reason scientists love Hawking. I mean, he's a very great scientist and all, no one can deny that. But the public seems to think he's one of the best of all time whereas the scientific community thinks he's just a really smart guy but wouldn't quite place him in the top 10 of all time or anything. (There was actually a survey about this. Most people in the general public think he's in the top 10 or top 5 [can't remember which] whereas exactly zero scientists placed him there). So yeah, he's awesome, but the public puts him much higher scientists do.

The main we love him is because of what he's done for us in more of a public relations role. So many of the people going into physics today are doing so because of Hawking (I'm willing to bet that most, if not all of us got into physics partially because of him. He's definitely one of the main reasons I got so into it).

Not only is he helping recruit physicists (not an easy major to attract people to. We really can't compete with engineering or applied math or some of the other STEM careers mathematical people may be attracted to), but he's also helping to educate the general public about physics and sciences in general and make it more popular overall.

[Neosutra]

All it took was a picture of a galactic cluster for me to get into physics.

Fuck inspirational books, just knowing how infinitesimally insignificant we are in the awesomeness that is our universe is enough to devote my life to figuring it all out.

[Woozie]

I guess I originally got interested in sciences for a similar reason (I used to read astronomy books with a lot of pictures and explanations and stuff). But Brian Greene and Stephen Hawkings books is what really got me into it (even though I don't even agree with string theory anymore, string theory was probably the biggest reason I chose theoretical physics over any other major relating to math).

Edit: Well I guess I didn't choose it over the other majors since I'm also majoring in math. Originally, I only majored in math because of how it would help me in theoretical physics. But now that I realize I wont have a job if I major in theoretical physics, I'm considering solid state physics or just sticking with math. But originally my plan was particle or theoretical physics, mainly because of hawking and green (is his name greene or green?)

[Max™]

Here ya go Woozie.

http://www.eso.org/public/archives/i...n/eso0927b.jpg

http://www.eso.org/public/archives/i...n/eso0927d.jpg


Incidentally, I got interested in science at first because of these two:

http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~idh...tein_clerk.gif

http://onionesquereality.files.wordp...feynman-do.png

As for Hawking, I think Feynman said it best:

Several conversations that Feynman and I had involved the remarkable abilities of other physicists. In one of these conversations, I remarked to Feynman that I was impressed by Steven Hawking's ability to do path integration in his head. "Ahh, that's not so great", Feynman replied. "It's much more interesting to come up with the technique like I did, rather than to be able to do the mechanics in your head." Feynman wasn't being immodest, he was quite right. The true secret to genius is in creativity, not in technical mechanics.

[Quicklet]

Feynman is a pimp for many reasons, each of which make him a god among men, but the one which makes him king is the fact that he did physics in a topless cafe he frequented.

[Woozie]

Being able to do path integrals in your head is impressive lol. I can hardly do those on paper D:

Though I do agree that coming up with them was obviously much more impressive.

Edit: Also, Feynman is too awesome for these forums to handle, and the mere mention of his name could cause this thread to collapse into a singularity. So let's be careful here. Us mere mortals shouldn't be making such attempts to comprehend his awesomeness.

[Eliseos]

I should go as Feynman for Halloween.

[Woozie]

To a strip club?