Stephen Hawking, "Equal to Anything!" [Excerpt]

Features | Space

A new biography of Stephen Hawking by long-time acquaintance Kitty Ferguson explores the famous physicist's life and theories in honor of his 70th birthday


stephen hawkingA new not-so-brief history of Hawking: Kitty Ferguson's new biography of Stephen Hawking explores his life and ideas in depth. Image: Palgrave Macmillan/Gemma Levine

Editor's note: The following is an excerpt from the chapter "Equal to Anything!" from the new book Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), by Kitty Ferguson.
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When Stephen Hawking was twelve years old, two of his schoolmates made a bet about his future. John McClenahan bet that Stephen "would never come to anything"; Basil King, that he would "turn out to be unusually capable." The stake was a bag of candy. Young S. W. Hawking was no prodigy. Some reports claim he was brilliant in a haphazard way, but Hawking remembers that he was just another ordinary English schoolboy, slow learning to read, his handwriting the despair of his teachers. He ranked no more than halfway up in his school class, though he now says, in his defense, "It was a very bright class." Maybe someone might have predicted a career in science or engineering from the fact that Stephen was intensely interested in learning the secrets of how things such as clocks and radios work. He took them apart to find out, but he could seldom reassemble them. Stephen was never well-coordinated physically, not keen on sports or other physical activities, and almost always the last to be chosen for any sports team. John McClenahan had good reason to think he would win the wager.

Basil King probably was just being a loyal friend or liked betting on long shots. Maybe he did see things about Stephen that teachers, parents and Stephen himself couldn't see. He hasn't claimed his bag of sweets, but it's time he does. Because Stephen Hawking, after such an unexceptional beginning, is now one of the intellectual giants of our modern world?and among its most heroic figures. How such transformations happen is a mystery that biographical details alone cannot explain. Hawking would have it that he is still "just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these how and why questions. Occasionally I find an answer."

1942?1959
Stephen William Hawking was born during the Second World War, on January 8, 1942, in Oxford. It was a winter of discouragement and fear, not a happy time to be born. Hawking likes to recall that his birth was exactly three hundred years after the death of Galileo, who is called the father of modern science. But few people in January 1942 were thinking about Galileo.

Stephen's parents, Frank and Isobel Hawking, were not wealthy. Frank's very prosperous Yorkshire grandfather had over-extended himself buying farm land and then gone bankrupt in the great agricultural depression of the early twentieth century. His resilient wife, Frank's grandmother and Stephen's great-grandmother, saved the family from complete ruin by opening a school in their home. Her ability and willingness to take this unusual step are evidence that reading and education must already have been a high priority in the family.

Isobel, Stephen's mother, was the second oldest of seven children. Her father was a family doctor in Glasgow. When Isobel was twelve, they moved to Devon.

It wasn't easy for either family to scrape together money to send a child to Oxford, but in both cases they did. Taking on a financial burden of this magnitude was especially unusual in the case of Isobel's parents, for few women went to university in the 1930s. Though Oxford had been admitting female students since 1878, it was only in 1920 that the university had begun granting degrees to women. Isobel's studies ranged over an unusually wide curriculum in a university where students tended to be much more specialized than in an American liberal arts college or university. She studied economics, politics and philosophy.

Stephen's father Frank was a meticulous, determined young man who kept a journal every day from the age of fourteen and would continue it all his life. He was at Oxford earlier than Isobel, studying medical science with a specialty in tropical medicine. When the Second World War broke out he was in East Africa doing field research, and he intrepidly found his way overland to take ship for England and volunteer for military service. He was assigned instead to medical research.

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New Banking Malware Spends Your Money, Hides the Evidence [VIDEO] (Mashable)

[brightcove video="1365526134001" /] New malware hitting bank accounts will spend victims' money, but won't be obvious by looking at an online statement. Computer security firm Trusteer reported a new malware virus attacked some customers' online bank accounts during the holiday season.

[More from Mashable: Facebook Timeline Customization: 5 Tools for Killer Cover Photos]

The virus uses your debit card information and then covers its tracks in your online statement with "post transaction attacks."

"These are designed to conceal illegitimate activity for as long as possible to either allow money to transfer to its final destination ? uninterrupted, or continue to control the account and perform further transactions," Trusteer says.

[More from Mashable: Roku Streaming Stick Aims to Make Dumb TVs ?Smart?]

Check out the video above to learn more.

Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, edfuentesg

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Will Taylor Swift Hit The Big Screen In 'Les Miserables'?

Country star has reportedly been offered the role of Eponine.
By Jocelyn Vena


Taylor Swift imagined in the role of Eponine in the Broadway version of "Les Miserables"
Photo: Broadway/ MTV News

The cast of "Les Miserables" is really shaping up to be quite the A-list ensemble. With folks like Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter and Hugh Jackman already onboard for the big-screen adaptation of the stage show, word comes that both Taylor Swift and Amanda Seyfried are deep in talks for roles in the film.

Universal has offered Swift the role of Eponine and Seyfried the part of Cosette, Broadwayworld.com has confirmed. Lea Michele, Scarlett Johansson and Evan Rachel Wood had all reportedly been in the running for the coveted roles.

The website says rehearsals start later this month, so official casting news should come down the pipeline soon. The flick is slated to start shooting in May with Tom Hooper directing. It's expected to be released on December 7, 2012.

When Swift spoke to MTV News at the launch of her Wonderstruck perfume, she teased she was working on "some surprise projects that may or may not happen, and possibly some acting."

"I've just been so excited about what's gonna happen in the next year," she said. "I'm also really excited about [the next album]. I've been writing all the time. I've been writing so much for the new record. I can't believe I'm saying that already. It comes out in a year, but I'm already excited about it."

Seyfried displayed her singing chops in another Broadway-to-screen adaptation when she landed the lead in "Mamma Mia!" back in 2008. She is currently filming the Linda Lovelace biopic, "Lovelace," in L.A.

Would Taylor Swift do well in the role of Eponine? Sound off below!

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676711/taylor-swift-les-miserables.jhtml

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Moon Mineral Found in Ancient Australian Rock (SPACE.com)

A mineral once found only on the moon has now been discovered in billion-year-old rocks in Australia.

Tranquillityite is a mineral consisting of iron, zirconium, yttrium, titanium, silicon and oxygen. It is named after the moon's Sea of Tranquility, where it was first discovered on the Apollo 11 mission. Until now, it was only seen in samples returned from the moon, as well as in lunar meteorites ? that is, rocks blasted off the moon's surface by cosmic impacts that crash-landed here.

Now scientists have identified what appear to be terrestrial versions of tranquillityite in Western Australia.

The mineral commonly occurs as clusters of thin, narrow, fox-red strips in dikes or sills ? bodies of rock that likely originally intruded as magma into surrounding layers of stone. Its composition is largely the same as lunar tranquillityite.

"What I find the most surprising is that it took more than 40 years to find tranquillityite in rocks on Earth," said researcher Birger Rasmussen, a geologist at Curtin University in Bentley, Australia.

"Tranquillityite was probably not found until now because it is relatively rare and small," Rasmussen told OurAmazingPlanet. "Tranquillityite is also prone to alteration during later heating and fluid flow."

The usual techniques used by geologists to examine the dolerite rocks that terrestrial tranquillityite was ultimately found in also might have missed the mineral. Scientists usually analyze dolerite by crushing it, while Rasmussen and his colleagues investigated polished slices of it under a scanning electron microscope, he said.

Their research of rocks from Western Australia suggests tranquillityite is a relatively widespread, albeit minor, mineral there.

"I think we will find that it is much more widespread on Earth ? there is no reason that it should be restricted to Western Australia," Rasmussen said.

Tranquillityite could help scientists better understand the history and geology of the Earth and the moon, because it has a set of properties that make it excellent for the uranium-lead method of estimating the age of very old rocks. Rasmussen and his colleagues used tranquillityite they found to establish that volcanic rocks in northwestern Australia were about 1 billion years old, showing the sedimentary rocks they intruded upon "were much older than previously supposed," Rasmussen said.

The scientists detailed their findings in the January issue of the journal Geology.

This article was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site of SPACE.com.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120105/sc_space/moonmineralfoundinancientaustralianrock

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ABCNews4: A predominately black church now owns a store that sells KKK merchandise: http://t.co/PlR37KpI

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Furor after NJ hometown removes Landon plaque (AP)

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. ? There's a bonanza of controversy and a big mess in a little New Jersey town over a decision to move a plaque honoring hometown celebrity Michael Landon.

A bronze plaque was dedicated to the actor, writer and producer and star of TV's "Bonanza" and "Little House on the Prairie", who died of cancer in 1991 at 54. That plaque has been moved from a park, an act that has enraged fans who frequent a website dedicated to "Little House," and the New Jersey woman who raised the money for the memorial 15 years ago.

Collingswood Mayor Jim Maley says it was a temporary move meant to make a park safe. Maley said it wasn't a show of disrespect for Landon, who had a famously rough childhood in the town and became best known for the characters he played on TV: Little Joe Cartwright on "Bonanza," Charles Ingalls in "Little House" and Jonathan Smith in "Highway to Heaven."

"It was always intended to get put back in there," he said. "It was not at the top of our list where it had to be done in the next 12 hours."

Abbe Effron, who got the plaque put up in 1997, said the memorial became part of pilgrimages for traveling fans of the actor who spent a career playing sensible, loving, no-nonsense men.

A revived Collingswood is now known as perhaps Philadelphia's hippest suburb, full of art galleries, yoga studios, acclaimed restaurants and a hopping farmer's market.

But when Landon ? then known by his birth name, Eugene Orowitz ? grew up there in the 1940s and 50s, it was a blue-collar, overwhelmingly protestant small town where a boy with a Jewish father and Roman Catholic mother had trouble fitting in.

In interviews and biographies, Landon's childhood was always described as lonely and difficult. He was subjected to anti-Semitic taunts and teasing over his studious ways. His mother was suicidal. He was a bed-wetter into his teens and his mother would hang his wet sheets out the window of the home to embarrass him. By high school, as the story goes, Landon made a conscious effort to be a bad student but became a champion javelin thrower.

Effron, who now lives in nearby Cherry Hill, said that locals weren't enthusiastic about contributing to her drive in the mid-1990s to honor the native son. Her peers had been told by their parents about bad things he'd said about Collingswood on "The Tonight Show."

But she did raise enough for the $1,400 plaque. And Landon's widow, Cindy, contributed more than $6,000 to build a playground dubbed "The Little Treehouse on the Prairie" near the plaque in one corner of sprawling Knight Park.

Since then, the playground, save a lone slide, has been replaced by a new one in a different part of the park. For years, the plaque, mounted on a knee-high cement slab, has been an isolated marker.

Mayor Maley said that during a community cleanup day in November, he decided to move it.

"We decided it was a hazard," he said. "People run through the park at all hours. You can't see it."

The plan was always to find a new home for it, he said. And in the meantime, it was at the town's public works facility.

Effron was unhappy that the plaque ended up at the public works facility.

"To have it end up in a dump, that was a disrespectable thing to Michael's family, his fans, and to me," Effron said.

The plot thickened last week when the memorial, bearing a likeness of Landon with his lion-like 1970s hairdo, was delivered to the office of The Retrospect, a weekly newspaper.

In the paper, Maley was quoted as saying he had no plans for the plaque and that it could remain as part of a collection of local memorabilia in the paper's office.

Maley said that's not accurate. The paper's publisher, Brett Ainsworth, said Wednesday that the mayor has changed his story since he interviewed Maley last week. "I think it's political embarrassment for him," said the publisher.

Ainsworth said a municipal employee picked up the plaque from the newspaper office on Wednesday. The publisher said he implored the borough worker to take good care of it.

Now, Maley said, police are investigating how the plaque got from the town's possession to the newspaper's. A resident ? and frequent critic of the mayor ? says he found it on his porch and took it to Ainsworth.

And he's been fielding dozens of emails from distraught Landon fans in distant places like Sweden and Wisconsin. "That's the fun," he said. "And by fun, I mean that sarcastically."

Effron said she was concerned back in 1997 about the way that the plaque was being displayed, when she watched her son, then a preschooler. "I said, `He could trip and split his head open,'" she recalled.

She said that when she was first told that the plaque was moved, it was deeply upsetting because she didn't know if it would be replaced.

But now she believes the mayor when he says it will return.

"He will definitely do something," she said, "because he has all this pressure."

___

Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120104/ap_en_tv/us_landon_plaque_battle

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skewl: RT @tweetmeme Ford Motors, Ford Fusion, Ford Car News, Updates, Reviews http://t.co/c6G0mQQ8

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Iran navy tests surface-to-air missile in drill

Iranian navy speed boats attend a drill in the sea of Oman, on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. Iran's navy chief has reiterated for a second time in less than a week that his country can easily close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the passageway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows. (AP Photo/IIPA, Ali Mohammadi)

Iranian navy speed boats attend a drill in the sea of Oman, on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. Iran's navy chief has reiterated for a second time in less than a week that his country can easily close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the passageway through which a sixth of the world's oil flows. (AP Photo/IIPA, Ali Mohammadi)

(AP) ? Iran's navy said Sunday it test-fired an advanced surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.

Iran's state TV said the missile, named Mehrab, or Altar, is designed to evade radar and was developed by Iranian scientists. The report said the missile was tested Sunday but provided no further details.

A leading Iranian lawmaker said the sea maneuvers serve as practice for closing the Strait of Hormuz if the West blocks Iran's oil sales. After top Iranian officials made the same threat a week ago, military commanders emphasized that Iran has no intention of blocking the waterway now.

The exercise covers a 1,250-mile (2,000-kilometer) stretch of water beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including parts of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

The drill, which could bring Iranian ships into proximity with U.S. Navy vessels that operate in the same area, is Iran's latest show of strength in the face of mounting international criticism over its nuclear program. The West fears Iran's program aims to develop atomic weapons ? a charge Tehran denies, insisting it's for peaceful purposes only.

The 10-day exercise drew significant attention after the Iranian warnings about closing the strait. Iranian military officials later appeared to back away from that threat.

A spokesman for the exercise, Rear Adm. Mahmoud Mousavi, made a similar conciliatory comment on Sunday.

"We won't disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. We are not after this," the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Prominent lawmaker Ismail Kowsari offered a different view. He said the war games are part of Iran's preparations to close the vital waterway if sanctions are imposed.

"Iran's armed forces have practiced operations to close the Strait of Hormuz several times," the semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Kowsari as saying Sunday.

"If we feel that the enemies want to prevent our oil exports, definitely we will close the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

Mousavi said the missile that was tested Sunday is one of the newest in the navy's arsenal.

"It's equipped with state-of-the-art technology and a built-in system that enables it to thwart jammers," Mousavi told state TV. One way to deflect surface-to-air missiles is to confuse their guidance systems.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-01-ML-Iran-Navy-Drill/id-ba35a43ac21a4fafb160295292fd3b50

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Florida women lose 59-56 to No. 6 Kentucky

? Florida coach Amanda Butler isn't looking forward to watching the tape from Sunday's 59-56 loss to No. 6 Kentucky. Especially the end of the first half.

"We didn't do a good job of maintaining our composure and being aware of what we were trying to do," Butler said. "There were just too many moments."

Deana Allen had 14 points and Ndidi Madu finished with 11 for Florida (10-4, 0-1 Southeastern Conference), which shot 32.8 percent and committed 23 turnovers. Jennifer George added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaterra Bonds also scored 10.

George's jumper gave Florida a 29-27 lead late in the first half, but A'dia Mathies made two 3-pointers in a 15-second span to send Kentucky into the break with a 33-29 lead.

"It seemed like when we go to zone, she suddenly becomes the best shooter in the gym," Butler said. "We gave up a 3 to the player we were really trying to key on. The way we finished out the first half is going to be hard to watch."

Mathies scored 14 points for Kentucky, and Bria Goss added 11.

The Wildcats (12-2, 1-0) were coming off a rough stretch, losing two of their last three games, included a setback at unranked Middle Tennessee State. The Wildcats' other loss was against third-ranked Notre Dame.

"I couldn't be prouder of our players bouncing back for what has been a tough week for us," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said. "I think our players might've been doubting themselves."

Azania Stewart made a free throw with 8:19 left to help Florida close to 42-41, but the Wildcats responded with a 13-6 surge. Amber Smith capped the run with a 3-pointer that just beat the shot clock and made it 55-47.

"We didn't play well and you have to give Kentucky a lot of credit for that," Butler said. "They're definitely the best defensive team we've played all year."

The Wildcats also recorded a narrow victory in Gainesville last season when Victoria Dunlap made two free throws with 10 seconds to send Kentucky to a 59-58 win.

Kentucky opens the home portion of its SEC schedule Thursday against Arkansas while Florida, which had won its three previous games, visits Ole Miss on Thursday.

The Associated Press

Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/01/florida-women-lose-59-56-to-no-6-kentucky/

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