# Stephen Hawking hospitalized **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739 "2009-04-20T16:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/1 "2009-04-20T16:34:52Z")
> **[Scientist Hawking 'very ill' - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/20/hawking.health/index.html)** > > Scientist and author Stephen Hawking is "very ill" and has been hospitalized, according to Cambridge University, where he is a professor. I certainly hope he’ll be alright. Of course death is always something not unexpected for someone with ALS…but you still wish the day never has to come. Get well soon, Dr. Hawking! ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/2 "2009-04-20T17:13:31Z")
Man, that sucks. A few years back, I bought a few tickets for a scheduled presentation here in Seattle. Two days beforehand, when he was checked on in the morning, he was not breathing. So, they revived him, and he ended up giving his presentation remotely. It was a shame I didn’t get to see him in person, but they did offer a refund. Anyway, Stephen Hawking is probably the only guy who can wake up dead (-ish) on Tuesday and teach an audience about astrophysics on Thursday. It’s nothing short of amazing that he has made it this far, and he’s certainly still receiving the best care available. Hope he recovers quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/3 "2009-04-20T17:33:58Z")
I just contacted my representative for some sort of Congressional resolution to say, basically “You’re awesome, get well soon.” It’s not much, and it probably won’t go anywhere, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/4 "2009-04-20T17:37:15Z")
I hope he is able to recover, but even if it turns out that this is the end, nobody can say he didn’t live a full and amazing life. While not everyone can have his kind of intellect, his ability to make the best out of living with such a devastating illness is an inspiring lesson to everyone. The world would have missed out on so much if he had just given up on life and felt sorry for himself after first receiving the news of his grim prognosis decades ago. It’s amazing how he has adapted to his condition and accomplished things that put many physically well people to shame. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/5 "2009-04-20T17:37:27Z")
> [@Algorithm](#): > > Anyway, Stephen Hawking is probably the only guy who can wake up dead (-ish) on Tuesday and teach an audience about astrophysics on Thursday. He was only mostly dead. I hope he recovers. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/6 "2009-04-20T18:18:11Z")
Is there any indication why he’s managed to survive so long? The linked article says that a diagnosis of ALS is normally terminal in about three years, but he’s survived for over forty. Is it the standard of care he’s received? something about the particular type he’s got? a quirk of his own physique? ---
**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:** [April 20, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/7 "2009-04-20T19:34:26Z")
My best guess is that he’s just got a reason to live. When, say, a ballplayer gets Stephen Hawking’s disease, his career is over, and he can’t do any of the things he loves or lives for any more, so he doesn’t really fight it. Hawking, though, loves and lives for physics, and he can continue his life’s work with nothing but his brain working (which, frankly, is about how much is working now). Has anyone else here ever met him? I saw him at a party once at Kip Thorne’s house. Unfortunately, he’s not much of a conversationalist. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/8 "2009-04-20T19:41:31Z")
I thought it was determined a while back that he what he has is not actually ALS. No cite, and I may be totally wrong, but I thought I remember reading that. ALS was the original diagnosis, in the '60s, but the way it’s progressed since then is not consistent with ALS, so they just don’t know what it is. (Then again, the longest-lived ALS case would hardly be textbook.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/9 "2009-04-20T21:35:34Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Is there any indication why he’s managed to survive so long? The linked article says that a diagnosis of ALS is normally terminal in about three years, but he’s survived for over forty. Is it the standard of care he’s received? something about the particular type he’s got? a quirk of his own physique? [It’s because he’s a badass.](http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=279) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/10 "2009-04-20T21:38:45Z")
Fark headline: “May never walk again.” :rolleyes: Hope he doesn’t have to deal with the being-temporarily-dead thing this time. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/11 "2009-04-20T22:55:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …Hawking, though, loves and lives for physics, and he can continue his life’s work with nothing but his brain working (which, frankly, is about how much is working now)… Indeed, he’s one of the greatest physicists in history. I’m a little surprised he isn’t a Sir or Lord by now. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/12 "2009-04-20T23:08:22Z")
Scene: Upper cloud formation. **God:** Mr. Hawking, welcome to heaven. **SH:** God … is that you? **God:** Yes, Stephen. Are you surprised? **SH:** No, not really. But… **God:** What? **SH:** Those particles you’re made out of. Is that an anti-matter shell? And I think I can identify the spin properties. **God:** Uh … yes … well … **SH:** As a matter of fact, I think I can replicate that with the Large Hadron Colider. **God:** Peter! Michael! Lock this guy up! We need to make sure he doesn’t get back! Offered with respect. Get well soon Steve. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/13 "2009-04-21T00:53:58Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Indeed, he’s one of the greatest physicists in history. I’m a little surprised he isn’t a Sir or Lord by now. This is a very good point. There are people who deserve the title far less - Elton John comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/14 "2009-04-21T02:37:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Is there any indication why he’s managed to survive so long? The linked article says that a diagnosis of ALS is normally terminal in about three years, but he’s survived for over forty. Is it the standard of care he’s received? something about the particular type he’s got? a quirk of his own physique? I’ve heard speculation that he may have a different disease that looks similar to ALS. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but even with ALS, there are some fortunate people in which the disease “burns out” after a certain point and either slows down or stops getting worse. Hopefully someday understanding why that happens sometimes will help science figure out a way to stop its progression for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/15 "2009-04-21T03:46:37Z")
Damn. I mean, he’s been living on borrowed time for about forty years now, but I sure don’t want to see him go. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/16 "2009-04-21T03:52:45Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Indeed, he’s one of the greatest physicists in history. I’m a little surprised he isn’t a Sir or Lord by now. Well, he’s [a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and also a Companion of Honour](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking#Awards_and_honours). In some ways, the [Companion of Honour](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Companions_of_Honour) is more pretigious than a knighthood or a peerage, because there are a limited number of them: no more than 65 at any one time, whereas there can be an unlimited number of knights and peers. As well, the CH is specifically designed to recognise outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry, or religion. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/17 "2009-04-21T04:07:54Z")
Professor Hawking is one of the few famous people I would love to meet in real life, He was an inspiration to me in my childhood (and still is to this day), a young boy with a thirst for science, he’s the closest thing I have to a “hero” I hope he pulls through and graces us with his mind for many years to come [Hawking on the Holodeck](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O31qRH3O6c&NR=1) (“Not the apple story, again!”) It was wonderful seeing Stephen’s grin in that clip, it lit up the whole Holodeck set Apparently some time later Stephen rolled past the Main Engineering set, looked at the Warp Core and stated simply… “I’m working on that”… [Steven Hawking’s Zero-G flight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXQeQD0CJzY) ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/18 "2009-04-21T04:21:52Z")
I hope he gets well too. Amazing, amazing person. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/19 "2009-04-21T08:53:01Z")
Anyone see the **Brief History of Time** documentary? It’s much more about Hawking himself than about his theory, and right now I’ve got this anecdote stuck in my head. When he was at Oxford, undergraduate, he was part of a four-man clique, all physics majors or whatever he majored in. Anyway, at the start of one term, they were all given twelve extra-credit questions and had until the day before exams to turn in whatever they’d done. Two of the guys, working together, managed to do two, and the third did one and half of a two-parter. Paraphrased from memory: \*On the last day of term, Steve came down to breakfast, which was unusual in itself. He told us he hadn’t started the extra-credit, and after breakfast, he went up to his rooms…At noon, he came downstairs, and we asked, jokingly, if he’d finished all twelve. “Oh,” he said, “I’ve only had time to do the first ten.” We all sort of fell about laughing, but then we saw Steve wasn’t laughing. That was just what he’d done: the first ten. I think it was then that I realized, not only were he and I not in the same street, we weren’t on the same planet.\* ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739/20 "2009-04-21T16:16:51Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Indeed, he’s one of the greatest physicists in history. I’m a little surprised he isn’t a Sir or Lord by now. He does have Isaac Newton’s old job. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stephen-hawking-hospitalized/493739.md?page=2)