Stephen Hawking Unwell

[Shark Bait]

I have just heard a report that Stephen Hawking was too ill to attend his 70th Birthday Celebrations. Details were vague but I hope he gets on top of the cause and can bounce back quickly.

His books were partly responsible for opening my eyes to the beauty of the Universe we live in. We are so lucky to be alive when so much is being discovered.

[vanwonky]

That is a shame. He has done amazingly well considering his illness. Let's hope he gets better and goes on for many more years. He is certainly an inspiration.

[supernova1965]

Unfortunately we should prepare for the worst as he is a medical miracle as people with his illness just don't live to 70yo it is unheard of until him.:sadeyes:

[astroron]

Yes, for a man with the illness he has it is amazing he has lived this long :question:
He sure has kept the field of theoretical physics to the forefront in his life time:)
I hope he gets well soon.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[Murat]

It is worth saying a few things about his illness, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, as it is not one that is often in the public eye.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a part of the group of neurodegenerative disorders known as motor neuron disease, where the nerve cells which control movement in the spinal cord and related central nervous anatomy die off, replaced by scar like tissue.

Based on the Fourth edition of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation page 1041 by Chan et. al.

"Onset of ALS is insidious and commonly presents with painless asymmetric limb weakness. ALS most often afflicts people between 40 and 60 years of age with a mean age of onset of 58 years. Five percent of cases have onset before age 30. Men are affected more commonly than women with a ratio of 1.5:1.0. The worldwide prevalence is 5 to 7/100,000, making ALS one of the most common neuromuscular diseases in the world."

Based on the 17th Edition of the Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine page 2573 by Fauci et. al., the section on "Epidemiology":

"The illness is relatively progressive, leading to death from respiratory paralysis: the median survival is from 3 - 5 years. There are very rare reports of stabilization or even regression of ALS. In most societies there is an incidence of 1 - 3 per 100,000 and a prevalence of 3 - 5 per 100,000" and

"Epidemiologic studies have incriminated risk factors for this disease including exposure to pesticides and insecticides, smoking and, in one report, service in the military. While ALS is overwhelmingly a sporadic disorder, some 5- 10% of cases are inherited as an autosomal dominant trait."

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking), Hawkings was diagnosed at the age of 21. He did indeed outlive the usual prognosis given to people with this diagnosis. Fortunately for us he was able to contribute to theoretical physics and cosmology for a further nearly half century, 40 more years than what would have been expected.

His brilliance is of course is as uncommon as the prognosis of his ALS.

I wish him well in his recovery.

Murat

[rainwatcher]

Yes a remarkable man in nearly every way.

[Shano592]

His voice does sound a little froggy though ...

Seriously, the guy is a marvel in so many ways.

Working out such over-complex calculations in his head, and here I am, forgeting what I went to the shops for.

I have always thought that it would be great if there was a machine that could project his thoughts holographically. I would pitch in a few bucks to make that happen.

[Murat]

The froggy voice is the result of a robotic "text to speech" voice synthesiser.

Apple has a downloadable app on its iPad called "Speak It" which costs about a couple of bucks which does the same thing. you type in the text, it speaks it. Good for laryngitis phone conversations for instance! Also good for people who have a permanent condition where they cannot speak but can type their thoughts.

I don't really care, but for those people who have an aversion to Apple, there are alternatives for non-Apple platforms. text-to-speech is definitely not rocket science and is not monopolised by any OS platform.

Cheers
Murat

[bartman]

Thanks Murat for the info on Stephens illness.
Hope he recovers soon.
Bartman

[Darth Wader]

Sad news indeed. Here's hoping he is well again soon.

[Jen]

:( with his disease it is a miracle that he has made it to 70 i hope he gets better soon

[Stardrifter_WA]

I agree Jen. He is a good example of the power of the mind, to have survived such a deadly disease for so long.

An amazing man, in many ways. I wish him well.

[ballaratdragons]

It could be that he has kept his brain incredibly active throughout his life.

With a horrid illness like ALS I can imagine people would give up and just feel miserable.
Stephen Hawking had dreams and he wasn't going to let an illness stop him :thumbsup:

[Stardrifter_WA]

An article I was reading said exactly that " he has an incredibly active mind"

[Baddad]

Many insecticides are cholinesterase inhibitors, nerve functions in insects.
Supposedly mammals are not affected. Nicotine has an affect on nerves as well.
A few years ago I was shocked to hear directly from the farmer. I met him near Kilcoy. I assumed he was a local. He sprayed his vegetable crops with chlorpyrofos. That is illegal. His justification was it was very effective against insect pests.
The substance was/is registered for termites. It is moderately toxic and over exposure may cause neurological disorders.
With such irresponsible attitudes and behaviour I often ponder just how safe it is to eat .

It leads me to relate the poisoning concepts are responsible for the suffering that a brilliant minded person such as Steve Hawking has had to endure.:mad2:
Steve Hawking deserved a better life. I hope he can recover.

[Richard Gamble]

He certainly is one.

[Stardrifter_WA]

I find your comment that Hawking deserved a better life to be a little bewildering, although I realise you are probably talking from a physical sense, as sad as his physical affliction is.

I would have thought that he has had an incredible life, has made incredible achievements, has made indisputable contribution to science and is publicly hailed as the greatest living physicist, and, indeed, the greatest scientific mind since Einstein.

Despite his illness, I would think he has had an incredible life, particularly for a man who is so cerebral! He is an inspiration, a humble man who wanted nothing more to inspire others to "look to the stars and be inspired". He has achieved this and much more, so I think he has had an incredible life. Hard though it certainly was physically.

[Baddad]

Yes you are correct Peter. He deserved a better life physically. His achievments were great even though he had those physical hurdles to overcome.
I expect some people may have just thrown in the towel if they had to endure the same.

Would he have achieved more if he was not combatting the illness? I wonder. He certainly is a battler.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Interesting point Marty, he may not have achieved as much, after all, he has had a lot of time to think and admits this very thing himself. But, it is what it is and I have always found him to be an inspiration. A truly remarkable man!

[overlord]

Ok I have to weigh in here.

No one deserves that disease. I too hope he can recover, so he can:

* Continue brainwashing the media, who hang on his every word, as if he were the pope.
* Artrophysics is a JOKE among physicists but not among the mainstream sheeple it seems.
* Continue thinking that God `breathes fire into the equations'... that he is actually accomplishing something with what can only be described as his `Ptolemaic convolutions' which exist on paper and paper alone.
* Continue pushing an incorrect model of the universe with NO laboratory verification.
* Oh God you guys are not gonna like this, but it would be my guess that it would be only for emotional rather than intellectual reasons, so I'm not fussed. `Man's emotion is quicker than his intelligence' - Oscar Wilde.

[GrahamL]

Hope he gets well soon , I had no idea he was anywhere near 70 years of age .

Marty I think you may have your wires crossed regarding chlorpyrifos
Its been in use as a registered crop protectant for many years.

http://www.accensi.com.au/leaflet/ch500lt.pdf

[Baddad]

Hi Nightstalker,
Appears I'm wrong.
I assumed that it was illegal for a few reasons.
There's talk of banning it.
There have been limitations imposed on its use recently.
It is an accumulative toxin.
Over exposure causes neurological problems.(can be from accumulation)
It remains active in the soil for 5 years.

I did not check if it was registered for use as a crop protectant.
I broke one of my own personal rules by opening my mouth without being fully informed. i apologise.

The use of organochlorides was widespread before it was banned. Now we have the organophosphates such as chlorpyrofos. I believe many people may have been affected by the earlier use of the more insidious insecticides.
Steve Hawking was growing up in that era, and unfortunately may have fallen victim to one cause of the disease.

I used to own a weatherboard house. I know it was treated with an organochloride termiticide. Built in the 60's. Any cockroaches that found their way into the house through boxes etc carried in simply died within a day or two. Under the house there were many dead insects.

Organochlorides remain active for 60 or more years. I soon got out and sold the house once I learned about the toxic properties.

[Poita]

When I draw a picture of a cluster am I dabbling in Artrophysics?

He made a great contribution to my family, his book he wrote with his daughter got my own daughter interested in science, which then developed into a love of mathematics, which she previously loathed.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1416954627/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

[astro_nutt]

I wish him a speedy recovery. A brilliant person which inspires many.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Fair comments :)

Isn't it always the way, the masses are just attracted to certain types of people and listen to every word, right or wrong. I would think it was better to hang on "his" every word (I don't) than a certain someone in the 1930's where the masses hung on his every word, which lead to disaster of epic proportions. Hawking has made a lot of people think about our place in the universe and has inspired more people to wonder than any scientist in living memory, so in that respect, he is brilliant.

Whether Hawking is right or wrong, history will eventually decide anyway, after all, Einstein still hasn't been proven totally wrong...yet!

But, what is indisputable, at least in my mind, is that he is a very inspiring human being. A man through sheer willpower lasted far longer than most others with this terrible disease, a man who achieved much, whilst totally crippled, should be admired for that reason alone. An incredible feat to reach 70; hard to believe really. But, he never gave up and that is something we "masses" can all learn from. :)