I saw Stephen Hawking last night at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, California.
It was my birthday, and I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be — hanging out with one of my heroes thinking about the birth of the Universe.
His talk was really cool. He postulated upon the question of “when the universe began,” and likened it to trying to go “further south than the south pole.” He also joked about being imprisoned by the Inquisition for daring to ponder the question — an act one pope or another likened to questioning God.
The Q and A portion of the lecture was particularly neat. Here are some of the questions and answers that I could remember. (I wrote down some notes right after the show while they were fresh in my mind — so two of these are not exactly word for word – but damn close – and the other two quoted answers are exact.)

Q: What do you think of President Bush’s plan to send a man to the moon?
S.H.: “Stupid. Robots are cheaper to send, and you don’t have to bring them back.”
Q: What do you think of the United States’ position on Stem Cell Research?
S.H.: England and most of the developed world has the view that there are many opportunities in Stem Cell Research. The U.S. will fall behind.
Q: If you had a chance to meet Issac Newton or Marilyn Monroe, which would you pick?
S.H.: Marilyn. I heard Issac was a disagreeable sort.
Q: What’s your IQ?
S.H.: “I have no idea.” People that care about IQ’s are losers.
Updated 11-12 – I almost forgot my favorite question:
Q: You were depicted on the Simpsons. How did you like that?
S.H.: “I think the Simpsons is the best thing on American Television.”

He’s got a new book out I can’t wait to read, A Briefer History of Time.

Dalai Lama visit provides a subject for scientists
By Gareth Cook for the Boston Globe.
(Thanks, Jon!)

For more than 15 years, the Dalai Lama has been inviting small groups of top Western scientists to his Himalayan home for private discussions about science and its potential links to Buddhist thought. At an MIT auditorium tomorrow, the Tibetan leader will begin presiding over two days of intense discussions — the first ones open to the public — aimed at understanding what happens inside the meditating brain, and what it can reveal about the broader workings of the human mind…
Prominent Western scientists have already begun to find that meditation can have a profound effect on the brain and the body. This month, University of Wisconsin professor Richard J. Davidson published a paper showing that people who meditated were able to mount a stronger fight against the flu — suggesting that teaching the technique could help boost their immune systems.
Meditation, his study showed, appeared to moderate the activity of a part of the brain, the right prefrontal cortex, associated with negative emotions like anger and fear. The meditators who experienced the greatest reduction of activity in this area, the study showed, created the most antibodies to fight the flu…
Such a project could hold the potential to expand the field of neuroscience, suggesting whole new areas of study. Davidson, for example, has embarked on a research program to study compassion, an emotion that is a central concept in Buddhist psychology, but which Western science has largely ignored. If the Buddhists are correct, then Western researchers have missed an important part of the brain’s emotional machinery, one whose cultivation could have profound effects on society.
“We want to place compassion center stage as a focus of legitimate scientific inquiry,” said Davidson. “These guys can turn it on at will.”

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This is a scene from an old mid-1970’s episode of “The Rockford Files” (feel free to help me with any details on this episode. I’m happy to update this posting.)
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the show. Jim Rockford is a private investigator (James Garner) that will often drive around and question people for his different clients. He often poses as an Insurance Agent or Gov Official or something (usually with a fake business card and everything) in order to keep his cover.
In this scene, his “client” is actually his own father, because Jim has learned that his dad owned some old claims to some oil wells (er something) that were thought to be worthless before and now, what do ya know, might not be. (This is actually a common thread of western movies/tv shows as far back as I can remember.)
So Jim goes out, in good faith (he’s an ex-cop and an ex-con, but he’s still a relatively honest guy), to find out who else has a claim on the land (along with his dad) and to verify if his dad’s claim is even any good, so he can decide what to do from there.
I’m just guessing (I didn’t see the whole episode), but from what I know about the Rockford Files (I grew up watching them because my mom was a big fan), sometime soon after this scene, someone starts threatening or making attempts on his dad’s life, forcing Jim to actually get to the bottom of whatever’s going on, rather than just find out what him and his dad need to know.
With that, I’ll just let the clip speak for itself. I imagine it will mean different things to different people, and that’s kind of the point.
Enjoy!
Rockford Files On Wars Over Oil (Small – 7 MB)
Rockford Files On Wars Over Oil (Hi-res- 95 MB)
Jim Rockford (James Garner)


Don’t know this guy’s name…

Bomb Shelter

Bulletin Of Atomic Scientists

Chicago, February 27, 2002: Today, the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the minute hand of the