No, you got it backwards. The other scientist wanted the subscription to Penthouse. Hawking wanted a subscription to a detective magazine.
Here is the text of the bet:
Actually, Private Eye is not a detective magazine; it’s a satire, like the Onion or National Lampoon.
The segment on Conan was hilarious. Hawking told Carrey not to waste his time talking to the public about the ekpyrotic Universe theory; the public has “brains the size of peas”. They actually ran through the skit twice, because Carrey thought it was so cool to have phoned up Hawking to participate in a comic skit, and have Hawking agree to do it.
Dr. Hawking lost that bet, by the way, and Dr. Thorne received his subscription to Penthouse. Mrs. Thorne was annoyed.
G-string theory?
He was studying g-string theory…
ba-dum-bum!
nice simulpun pesch!