The last message Stephen Hawking posted to a public internet forum was an answer to a question in a Reddit AMA, querying how humanity will weather an age of technological unemployment.
Professor Hawking’s answer said that there was no problem with robots
taking jobs – only with the dividends from that robotic efficiency
accruing solely to the capital classes thanks to market dynamics, rather
than being broadly shared through redistributive state intervention.
Highly trained with firearms, Police reservist Dennis Alexander was
teaching his high school class about gun safety when the handgun
accidentally went off. Splintered fragments of the bullet ricocheted off
of the ceiling and hit three students.
Today at 10AM local time, students across America walked out of their
classes for 17 minutes, in memoriam of the 17 students murdered in the
Parkland massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,
Florida, exactly one month ago.
The walkout was led by student activists in a movement that started within hours of the Parkland shootings,
as survivors of the shooting decided that they would not allow
“thoughts and prayers” be all that their friends’ blood would buy from
lawmakers.
Students at some 3,000 schools across the USA walked out. The ACLU provided legal advice
to students at public schools who feared administration reprisals;
school administrators largely cooperated, though some tried to reframe
the protests as “public safety events.”
Here are the names of the dead: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14. Scott Beigel, 35.
Martin Duque, 14. Nicholas Dworet, 17. Aaron Feis, 37. Jaime Guttenberg,
14. Chris Hixon, 49. Luke Hoyer, 15. Cara Loughran, 14. Gina Montalto,
14. Joaquin Oliver, 17. Alaina Petty, 14. Meadow Pollack, 18. Helena
Ramsay, 17. Alex Schachter, 14. Carmen Schentrup, 16. Peter Wang, 15.
For months, the European Parliament has been negotiating over a new
copyright rule, with rightsholder organizations demanding that some
online services implement censoring filters that prevent anyone from
uploading text, sounds or images if they have been claimed by a
copyright holder.
These filters – branded #censorshipmachines by activists – were hugely
controversial: even when used as intended, they make no allowances for
fair dealing and other limitations to copyright. Beyond that, they are
ripe for abuse, incentivizing trolls and censors to register materials
as a means of keeping them off the internet, regardless of whether they
hold any relevant copyrights.
Thankfully, the filters had been largely erased from the negotiating
drafts, thanks to vigorous debate and activism. But last week, German
MEP Axel Voss, rapporteur for the Copyright Directive, introduced a new draft
that brought the filters back, and imposed them on virtually every kind
of online platform, vastly expanding their scope beyond the worst
drafts of the earlier proposals.
What’s worse, Voss apparently didn’t author this draft: according to the
Word metadata in the document, it was authored by an unelected European
Commission bureaucrat who has previously advocated for the filters.
“It just seemed that cosmology was more exciting, because it
really did seem to involve the big question: Where did the universe come
from?” — Stephen Hawking, 8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018
British physicist Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. He
was known for his groundbreaking work with black holes and relativity.
He died at his home in Cambridge, England. A family spokesman announced the death in a statement to news media.
Hawking awed the world with an unmatched ability to make science understandable and fascinating to broad audiences.
Just popping on briefly: if you’re protesting in school walkouts today…
I’m proud as fuck of you.
Thank you for excercising your right to protest and stand up for a better future.
If you can’t protest for whatever reason – home schooled, sick, afraid of punishment.. know that that’s ok. Do what you can and support those who are protesting.
My mother also talked about periods to my brothers.
When I first got mine I had terrible cramps. Crippling cramps. I once was camping with my family and a few of my big brother’s friends when my period came. My cramps were so bad that my mom gave me a full pain killer ( I was 13 and before that she only gave me pills cut in half).
I literally laid down on my parents’ air mattress and cried in pain for an hour before the pill kicked in.
My brothers friend came in to the big tent and I was just curled up and sobbing. Now, I was quite the tomboy and was known to rough house with my brothers and their friends and made sure I wasnt seen as just “a little girl.” So my brother’s friend was confused to see me openly weeping in the fetal position (seriously, these were the worst cramps I have had in my life. My vision went white). He asked what was wrong with me.
My big brother stood up immediately and suggested a nice long hike. During this hike I am sure he had a pretty awkward conversation with his friend explaining menstrual cramps, because when they got back the pain pill had (mostly) kicked in and I was sitting up at a table when my brother’s friend sheepishly asked me if I was feeling better. I said I was better, and he said good.
When we made s’mores that night my brother and his friend kept me well supplied with chocolate.
Making sure sons know as much about periods and menstruation as daughters makes them better brothers, better sons better fathers, and better men. A man that understands a period will not lightly accuse a woman of “being on her period” if the woman is in an argument.
Raise better sons Teach them about normal bodily functions.
With Stephen Hawking’s passing, today is a sad day for science. But amongst all his praise and achievements in the fields of physics, for me personally his biggest achievement was making a grand, full life despite the terrible misfortune of being diagnosed with ALS. It would have been easy to become a recluse, embittered with the hand he’d been dealt, a brilliant misanthrope. But this was a man who maintained his sense of humor and refused to be mentally beaten. Three years ago, he told One Direction fans that the theory of alternate universes could provide a reality where Zayn Malik was still in the band. He conducted an interview with John Oliver where his factual, deadpan delivery was funnier than his interviewer, managing the cheekiest grins as he did so. And let us not forget that Stephen Hawking is the only person to have ever portrayed themselves in a Star Trek episode (Next Generation, “Descent, Part 1″), where he appeared alongside actors portraying Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton, whom he proceeded to defeat in poker.
Hawking’s observations on black hole radiation, string theory, alternate universes and artificial intelligence are things that will probably forever remain beyond most of us. But we could all learn a thing or two from his humanity.
The passing of Stephen Hawking is a devastating loss for humankind. He’s shaped the way so many of us think about space, about life, and about the universe. If you’re grieving today, we understand. May we suggest you click on the links in the post above? Reflecting on his mammoth wit, charm, and intelligence might make you feel a little bit better.
