The Hawkman Speaketh at TED:
No alien quiz shows? Certainly Professor Hawking did not see Alex Trebek last week, when, for half the show, Alex Trebek had a really alien looking mustache.
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I saw Stephen Hawking yesterday (8 Apr 08). I was on campus at Caltech. I'd conversed with him when he was a Resident Associate at Caltech in 1973, and various times since.
He's on campus (as I know from snailmail and campus website) because of "Out of a Black Hole", Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 8:00 PM, Beckman Auditorium, FREE; no tickets or reservations required
SHORT URL FOR THIS PAGE: www.events.caltech.edu/hawking
PLEASE NOTE: Admission is free, and no tickets are required. There will be at least 500 seats available to guests without tickets in Beckman Auditorium, and 370 overflow seats in Ramo Auditorium, on a first-come, first-served basis. In addition, the audio portion of Dr. Hawking's presentation will be broadcast outside Beckman Auditorium.
Dr. Hawking will explain that black holes aren't as black as they are painted. Things can get out of a black hole to the outside and, possibly, on to another universe.
This talk by Professor Hawking is intended for a general audience.
This time, I saw Kip Thorne leading Stephen Hawking (in his motorized wheelchair), who was accompanied by one woman (wife/nurse) and trailed by 8 or 9 young ladies.
I waved. Kip Thorne waved back. What's the deal? Hawking didn't wave at all. Oh, right.
Watch out Jonathan: I've had many a friend nearly get run over by the zooming Hawkmiester's wheelchair :)
Unlike other TEDs, no-one was laughing, which was a surprise to me - Prof. Hawking has a wicked, wry, mischievous sense of humour (well, I always thought so). And he was cracking a few funnies here, as usual.