# How is Stephen Hawking still alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221 "2004-07-21T18:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/1 "2004-07-21T18:26:44Z")
I saw an article today about how Stephen Hawking now thinks that black holes can release mass. This made me curious about the man, and in particular, what disease he had that was physically dehabilitating but did not effect him mentally. I found the following information: > [@](#): > > The British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-) has devoted much of his life to probing the space-time described by general relativity and the singularities where it breaks down. And he’s done most of this work while confined to a wheelchair, brought on by the progressive neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. and so I looked up amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and found this: > [@](#): > > There is no cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In general, weakness progresses steadily without periods of improvement or stability. Eventually ALS leads to death, usually within 3 to 6 years. So my question is, with all due respect, how has he stayed alive? If he has done most of his life’s work in a wheelchair, that sounds like 30+ years (he is 62 now) but the article about ALS says it normally takes 3 to 6 years from the onset of symptoms to death. Does he have a special kind of ALS or something? Maybe just access to the best of the best doctors and medicines? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/2 "2004-07-21T18:33:13Z")
I always thought he was simply a rare case. The literature only says they “usually” die after 3 to 6 years, not always. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/3 "2004-07-21T18:47:52Z")
It’s a combination of having good doctors and him being a rare case. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/4 "2004-07-21T19:01:12Z")
[Stephen Hawking in his own words, “my experience with ALS.”](http://www.hawking.org.uk/disable/disable.html) ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/5 "2004-07-21T19:48:15Z")
from the link "This synthesiser is by far the best I have heard, because it varies the intonation, and doesn’t speak like a Dalek. The only trouble is that it gives me an American accent. " 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/6 "2004-07-21T19:49:50Z")
> [@FlippyFly](#): > > I saw an article today about how Stephen Hawking now thinks that black holes can release mass. [highjack] Actually, he came up with this theory a long time ago. I believe it was in the early 1970’s. Google on “Hawking radiation” for more information. [/highjack] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/7 "2004-07-21T19:57:38Z")
Part of it may also be psychological, in that he has a reason to live. When Lou Gherig contracted the disease, it definitively ended his career which he had worked so hard at (you can’t play baseball in a wheelchair). But when Stephen Hawking contracted it, he was still quite capable of doing the thing to which he devoted his life, namely thinking. So he still has a reason and will to live. And on the hijack, the new development isn’t that black holes can release mass, but that they might be able to release information, as well. ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/8 "2004-07-21T20:05:47Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > [highjack] > Actually, he came up with this theory a long time ago. I believe it was in the early 1970’s. Google on “Hawking radiation” for more information. > [/highjack] According to the article, the ratiation was considered energy, and at the time he thought that there was no way mass could be released (I wonder what happened to e=mc^2… doesn’t that say that mass and energy are the same thing?). Either way, here is the link to the article. I guess I should just read the paper rather than let MSNBC interpret it for me. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5473323/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5473323/) ---
**Author:** ![Thaumaturge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Thaumaturge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thaumaturge)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/9 "2004-07-21T21:03:25Z")
No, what he was saying was that there was no way that _information_ would make it back out of the black hole, that the hole would destroy all record of went into it. Now he’s saying that information is not destroyed when the mass comes back out. It is only frozen into the structure. From our reference frame, a black hole never really gets to contract all the way. What actually happens is that it gets frozen in time ( or nearly so) the more it warps space-time around it. It evaporates long before it ever completes its contraction ( even if it is a trillion trillion years), so no singularity ever is formed. All the worries over trying to figure out what goes on in a singularity forgot that a singularity never gets a change to form because of time dialation. The reference frame of the hypothetical person falling into the black is invalid because it forgets this. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/10 "2004-07-21T21:42:57Z")
As I’ve mentioned in the past, **DesertWife** died of ALS. When she was diagnosed, the neurologist mentioned in passing that Hawking had been diagnosed with ALS but was so far outside the typical survival time, some researchers were wondering if the diagnosis was correct. Now it’s fifteen years later and he’s still chugging right along. It might take a post-mortem examination to tell for sure. It’s hard to tell one [motor neuron disease](http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/motor_neuron_diseases.htm) from another. Despite getting ALS at a relatively young age, **DW** lasted only nine months after diagnosis. **Chronos** ’ “something to live for” supposition was at least partially correct in her case. Her diaphragm was struck early on, and she would have had to gone on a ventilator for the rest of her life. She opted not to, and her first pulmonary crisis was her last. DD ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/11 "2004-07-21T21:47:34Z")
I’m sorry for your loss **DesertDog**. ---
**Author:** ![Mya\_Symons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mya\_Symons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mya_Symons)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/12 "2012-04-06T01:31:19Z")
Stem Cell Therapy. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/13 "2012-04-06T02:05:28Z")
He’s a Zombie. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/14 "2012-04-06T02:28:05Z")
Can stem cells be used to create/treat zombies??? ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/15 "2012-04-06T02:33:39Z")
For zombies you need brainstem cells. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/16 "2012-04-06T03:05:26Z")
Not only is he a zombie, but he is a zombie that is tougher than Chuck Norris. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/17 "2012-04-06T03:12:15Z")
> [@Balduran](#): > > from the link "This synthesiser is by far the best I have heard, because it varies the intonation, and doesn’t speak like a Dalek. The only trouble is that it gives me an American accent. " 😃 When I read the OP I was going to comment that I honestly never knew he was British (and then make a joke about him losing his accent in the translation). I’m a bit surprised they never gave him a British accent. I wonder how many other people never knew he wasn’t American. I have a (very) basic understanding of Stephen Hawking, but his nationality isn’t something I ever gave any thought to. You’d think the Brits would have wanted to make sure we’d know he was theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/18 "2012-04-06T03:28:38Z")
Anyone who hasn’t should read the Wikipedia entry on Hawking: > **[Stephen Hawking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking)** > > Stephen William Hawking (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who, at the time of his death, was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between 1979 and 2009, he was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world. > Hawking was born in Oxford into a family of physicians. In October 1959, at... It talks about what disease he has and why his voice synthesizer is still the same. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/19 "2012-04-06T04:51:39Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > …I’m a bit surprised they never gave him a British accent. I wonder how many other people never knew he wasn’t American. .. One such person who didn’t know he was a Brit was the author of an editorial in Investor’s Business Daily who said: > [@](#): > > People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless. > **[Stephen Hawking Enters U.S. Health Care Debate](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stephen-hawking-enters-us_n_257343)** > > Stephen Hawking Enters U.S. Health Care Debate ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221/20 "2012-04-06T12:41:02Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You’d think the Brits would have wanted to make sure we’d know he was theirs. As a Brit, the thought never occured to me. The accent of his speech synthesiser is very artificial anyway - if I ever thought about it, I thought of it as the accent of a typical speech synth, not any kind of American one. Speech synthesis that attempts to reproduce an accent closer to home seems to fall into uncanny valley - the [UK variant of Siri](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlB2yHwksE0), for example, leaves me feeling like I’m listening to a severely autistic person. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-stephen-hawking-still-alive/256221.md?page=2)