Professor Stephen Hawking , the mega-genius
physicist behind A Brief History of Time,
has become an unlikely pop culture icon.
But while you may know some of his life story
from watching the Oscar-winning film The Theory
of Everything, there's still plenty of things
you probably don't know about the world's
smartest man.
Here's a look at what most people don't know
about Stephen Hawking.
Three years to live...over 50 years ago
Before Hawking even started discovering mind-bending
science stuff, he was already defying it.
See, when Hawking was only 21, he was diagnosed
with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known
as Lou Gehrig's Disease, and doctors told
him he only had three years to live.
That was more than half a century ago, proving
that for all our knowledge, there's still
a lot we don't know yet.
Family turmoil
While the popular image of Hawking is "loner
genius," he's actually been married twice
and has three children.
But as it was shown in The Theory of Everything,
neither of those marriages had a happy ending.
After leaving his first wife, Jane, for one
of his nurses, he later divorced her as well.
No matter how smart you are, the one equation
nobody has ever quite solved is... love.
Role model
Given that he's probably the most famous person
in a wheelchair this side of Professor X,
Hawking has made it part of his life mission
to be a role model for disabled children.
Not only has he become involved in numerous
charities as well as the Paralympics, he frequently
visits disabled children in hospitals in order
to show them that no matter how tough things
seem, you can still succeed in life.
His role as a real life superhero makes even
more sense considering Hawking has said that
he idolizes Superman.
Well, Hawking may not be able to fly or shoot
lasers from his eyes, but he already has Superman's
most important power: the ability to inspire
hope.
Then again, despite his heroic idol, Hawking
wants to explore his bad side in an interesting
way...
He wants to be a Bond Villain
Everyone has to have some kind of goal in
life, right?
Hawking's is pretty simple: he wants to be
a Bond villain.
He told Wired, "My ideal role would be a baddie
in a James Bond film.
I think the wheelchair and the computer voice
would fit the part."
How cool would that be?
He talks using his cheek muscle
So you might be wondering how Stephen Hawking
can communicate given that he can't, you know,
move.
Well you're wrong about that!
He can move…his cheek muscle.
Basically, there's a laser on his glasses
scanning an alphabet of letters.
When it points at the letter he wants, he
twitches his cheek, and it selects the correct
letter.
It's then fed through the computerized voice-box,
which was originally given an American accent,
even though Hawking is actually British.
He said that he considered having it fixed,
but decided the American robot voice was now
kind of his trademark.
He played with Pink Floyd
Hawking has participated in all sorts of creative
projects over the years, from Star Trek to
Monty Python to The Simpsons.
But perhaps his oddest crossover work was
appearing as a vocalist on not one, but two
Pink Floyd albums.
Now we know where T-Pain got his schtick from...
"Never thought I’d be on a boat / It’s
a big blue watery road / Poseidon, look at
me!”
He made an anti-obesity video
Of the many issues Hawking has taken a public
stand on, one of the closest to his heart
may be obesity.
In 2016, Hawking made a heartfelt video imploring
individuals and communities to work to stop
obesity, saying "the solution is simple: More
physical activity and change in diet.
It's not rocket science."
“And for what it’s worth, how being sedentary
has become a major health problem is beyond
my understanding.”
He believes in aliens
Hawking's a genius scientist, so it makes
sense that he believes in life beyond our
planet.
You may be surprised to discover, though,
that Hawking thinks humanity should be very
afraid if we ever do encounter another intelligent
species.
After all, our own history of exploration
shows the dangers of two technologically unequal
societies meeting.
"I think the outcome
would be much as when Christopher Columbus
first landed in America, which didn’t turn
out very well for the Native Americans.”
And it's not just aliens we have to worry
about.
Robots are a real danger too.
"Artificial intelligence could be a real danger
in the not-too-distant future.
It could design improvements to itself and
outsmart us all.”
Well, thanks for the nightmares, Professor
Hawking.
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