# Stephen Hawking becomes a virtual particle at 76 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531 "2018-03-14T03:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/21 "2018-03-14T04:52:36Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Sad. > > But we had the benefit of his mind for about 50 years more than there were reasonable expectations on his health. > > If nothing else Brian Cox will be relieved he’s much less likely to be killed by a [hit & run](https://www.polygon.com/2015/4/14/8410063/stephen-hawking-runs-down-physicist-while-singing-monty-pythons)around campus. _… And pray that there’s intelligent life Somewhere out in space Because there bugger-all down here on earth_ minus one ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/22 "2018-03-14T04:53:08Z")
Good night, Stephen. I hope you’ve found what you were seeking. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/23 "2018-03-14T04:56:13Z")
I’ve seen it noted on twitter that he passed on Pi day. Seems appropriate. Rest well, and safe travels, Professor. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/24 "2018-03-14T04:57:10Z")
He was told he had less than two years to live when he was 21. He made it quite a few more years but still it’s sad to see him go. We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain. -SH ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/25 "2018-03-14T04:58:44Z")
Sorry to see him go but glad he was here at all. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/26 "2018-03-14T04:58:47Z")
He had a good one. I don’t normally go for that sort of thing but I thought A Brief History of Time was a decent film. He also said a lot of things like this, using his platform for the common good: > [@](#): > > “When politicians and private healthcare industry lobbyists claim that we cannot afford the NHS, this is the exact inversion of the truth. We cannot afford not to have the NHS” ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/27 "2018-03-14T05:06:02Z")
His doctors said he’d be dead by his 20s. So he still came out ahead. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/28 "2018-03-14T05:07:28Z")
Listening to the new _Hitchiker’s Guide_ featuring Professor Hawking as the voice of the _Guide Mark II_ is going to be bittersweet. Todd Rundgren had what seems to be an appropriate memorial with his song _Hawking_. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jk7uZO1iED8/hqdefault.jpg "Hawking - Todd Rundgren") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk7uZO1iED8) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/29 "2018-03-14T05:16:30Z")
The world was definitely a better place because he was here. RIP, Dr. Hawking. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/30 "2018-03-14T05:24:44Z")
This is like the death of Einstien or Newton. Yes. That significant. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/31 "2018-03-14T05:47:33Z")
And in my opinion it was a shame that he didn’t get to win a Nobel prize. I thought that after the first direct detection of gravitational waves a few years ago he was a shoo-in for the Physics prize. I understand that Kip Thorne would be first, but even so… I will always feel that the Nobel committee dropped the ball there. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/32 "2018-03-14T05:56:01Z")
Just wanted to note it is 14 March in the UK. Or alternately written as 3.14. Stephen Hawking has died on Pi Day. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/33 "2018-03-14T06:08:06Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Just wanted to note it is 14 March in the UK. Or alternately written as 3.14. Stephen Hawking has died on Pi Day. Also known as the birthday of Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/34 "2018-03-14T06:11:49Z")
[Talkin’ Hawkin’](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=beo_V3BnOfo) - song by Pink Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/35 "2018-03-14T09:08:28Z")
The guy lived this long with a disease that should have killed him decades ago. That alone is extremely impressive. A true fighter. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/36 "2018-03-14T09:27:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Just wanted to note it is 14 March in the UK. Or alternately written as 3.14. Stephen Hawking has died on Pi Day. No pie for him. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/37 "2018-03-14T10:07:24Z")
RIP Hawking. Maybe he’d still be alive if no one checked in on him today. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/38 "2018-03-14T10:33:52Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > RIP Hawking. > > Maybe he’d still be alive if no one checked in on him today. Yes, Dr. Schrodinger. With his loss, he leaves a black hole in the cosmology field. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/39 "2018-03-14T10:45:40Z")
He is the voice of the book mark 2 in the sixth Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio drama (I just listened to episode 1 Friday) > **[BBC Radio 4 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hexagonal Phase, 1. Part...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09th4hf)** > > Following the publication of his diaries, Arthur Dent’s hopes for a seclusion evaporate. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2018, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531/40 "2018-03-14T11:06:28Z")
Sad. But it doesn’t make it all right to click on those links that say “Stephen Hawking’s prediction will spin your head!”. Yeah, I know he had nothing to do with those. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-becomes-a-virtual-particle-at-76/810531.md?page=3)