Stephen Hawking
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Black hole 'quantum hair' might solve a decades-old scientific paradox
Scientists claim to have solved a scientific paradox by determining that black holes have 'quantum hair.'
Google Doodle pays tribute to Stephen Hawking
To pay tribute to Stephen Hawking for what would've been his 80th birthday, Google worked with his family to create a Doodle using his famous voice.
After Math: Are you kidding me?
It's been a brutal week for American democracy but there's still plenty of face-palmingly bad news from the tech sector to go around. Apple's trying to bilk its customers out of $300 for a coffee table book, Stephen Hawking figures we've got less than a millennium before we completely destroy the Earth and neo-nazis are building an army of "fake black people" with which to harass Twitter users. On the plus side, you'll be able to take some free online courses from Oxford next year -- at least until the Trump brand internment camps open.
Stephen Hawking believes he knows how information escapes black holes
Stephen Hawking announced during a lecture at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden on Tuesday that he has potentially solved the Information Paradox. The paradox a conflict between the quantum mechanics and general relativity models that has vexed physicists for more than four decades. The Information Paradox arises from black holes -- specifically what happens to information about the physical state of objects that fall into one. The quantum mechanical model posits that the information remains intact while general relativity argues that it is indeed obliterated under the black holes immense gravitation. But Hawking has developed a third opinion: the information never actually makes it into the black hole. "I propose that the information is stored not in the interior of the black hole as one might expect, but on its boundary, the event horizon," he said.
Stephen Hawking is still terrified of the AI revolution
When renowned physicist Stephen Hawking repeatedly warns us about the impending robot apocalypse, we should probably pay attention. "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," Hawking told the BBC yesterday. While he admits early forms of AI have been useful (it's clearly been a huge help for his speech systems), he worries that we won't be able to keep up with super-intelligent versions that outwit humans. Hawking made similar comments back in May when he called the development of full AI "potentially our greatest mistake in history." (Or maybe he just really hated Transcendence.) And he's not the only genius singing this tune; Tesla's Elon Musk is also afraid of a Terminator scenario. While plenty of scientists have far more measured expectations for AI, Hawking's comments are worth noting. We really don't know what's ahead for intelligent machines, so perhaps we should proceed with caution.
Stephen Hawking asks devs to help Intel build a connected wheelchair
Why should developers be interested in developing on Intel's Galileo and Edison development boards? Because one of the smartest men on the planet thinks you should. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich paused the Intel Developer Forum 2014 keynote for a brief, encouraging message from renowned theoretical astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who introduced himself as "the guy who made black holes cool." His topic of choice wasn't space oddities, however -- but about how technology can be a life-changing force for the disabled. "Medicine can't cure me," Hawking said, "so I rely on technology. It lets me interface with the world. It propels me. It's how I'm speaking to you now."
Allods Online shows off Isle of Revelation prior to European launch
While Allods Online's European players may be surfing behind their North American comrades in terms of updates, their long wait is almost over. On Wednesday, Allods Online will launch in Europe, bringing with it the mega-patch that gPotato's excited to show off. The delay for the European launch was due to a number of factors, including market adjustments, localization, and an additional pass for polish. The launch patch not only comes with two new zones but also includes a welcome revamp to the rune system, which allows players to utilize and swap them much more efficiently than before. While we can't make Wednesday come any sooner (trust me, we tried, but Stephen Hawking sent us a cease-and-desist for tampering with the space-time continuum), we are able to bring to you seven intriguing screenshots from Allods Online's Isle of Revelation. You can check out these pictures in the gallery below! %Gallery-91331%
The Virtual Whirl: User interfacing
The user interfaces for general-purpose virtual environments get a pretty bad rap. It's not surprising, actually. They've generally been pretty awful. Not that they are actually hard to learn, but they've been far from comfortable to use. That's not really very surprising. Those virtual environments don't really fit any of the accreted body of knowledge of user-interaction models, and building comfortable user-interfaces is no easy task.
Stephen Hawking unveils the most morbid, amazing $1.8m clock you'll ever see
We'll warn you in advance, this is only for those who dig the weird, all things Stephen Hawking or clock-making in general. This £1 million ($1.83 million) timepiece took seven years to completely construct, and the initiative was led by inventor John Taylor who designed it in tribute to John Harrison (only the world's greatest clockmaker, it's said). The bizarre Corpus Clock visually explains that it relies on grasshopper escapement to function, and to let you know that time can never be regained once lost, that beast on top actually gobbles down time every 60th second. Oh, and every hour, on the hour, the sound of a "chain dropping into a wooden coffin" is played to really pound home the "time is a destroyer" concept. Thanks for the reminder, Dr. Grim.[Via Switched]
Stephen Hawking holds it together in zero-g vomit comet
We tip our hats to you, Sir Hawking. You said you were gonna do it, and you surely did, hopping in a tricked out 727 to experience the weightlessness of space. During his eight successive 30 second stints of zero gravity, Hawking did a coupla spins and was even photographed with an apple of Newtonian symbolism. Not surprisingly, Stephen was totally stoked about his trip, saying afterward, "space, here I come." before totally popping a rocking wheelie in his robo wheelchair. Ok, maybe we made up that last bit, but we'd just like to say to Stephen: way to go, broham. We're looking forward to all the rad theoretical physics you'll come up with after this inspiring trip to pseudo-space.
Stephen Hawking's going Zero-G on April 16th
It's not quite a ride on Branson's Virgin Galactic but Stephen Hawking is finally getting his chance to leave terra firma. The world famous theoretical physicist has hitched a ride with Zero-G on April 16th. The specially modified 727-200 will take off from the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The craft will perform a number of parabolic maneuvers in flight to create a Mars-like, moon-like, and zero-g gravity experience -- a flight lasting 90 minutes in total. A brief history of time, indeed. [Warning: PDF link][Via The Inquirer]
Stephen Hawking in space (space... space...)
Well-known theoretical physicist and all-around geek hero Stephen Hawking has told the press he plans to undertake a zero-gravity flight this year in preparation for a hopeful berth on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourist service when it launches in 2009. Hawking, who has the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, communicates via a blink-controlled computer and uses a high-tech wheelchair for mobility, making space flight somewhat challenging -- but Virgin Galactic spokesperson Stephen Attenborough said in a statement Monday that Branson is committed to working through the issues that need to be addressed in order to accomodate people with disabilities on his company's trips into suborbit. Cost of a two-hour suborbital spaceflight? $200,000. The look on the most famous cosmologist's face upon actually making it into space? Priceless.
