Stephen Hawking's voice is being sent into space toward a black hole

midian182

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The big picture: Earlier this year, the world was saddened by the news that the most famous scientist of our time, Stephen Hawking, had passed away at the age of 76. As the British physicist spent much of his life researching black holes, he is receiving a fitting tribute to recognize that fact: his voice is being beamed into space, directed toward the nearest known black hole.

After Hawking’s ashes are interred between the graves of Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton at a memorial service at Westminster Abbey today, his “message of peace and hope” will be sent to the stars.

The speech will be set in the middle of an original six-and-a-half-minute score by Vangelis, the Greek composer responsible for the rousing themes from Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner.

The European Space Agency will beam the piece from a satellite dish in Cebreros, Spain to 1A 0620-00—a black hole 3500 light years from Earth.

Exactly what Hawking says in the speech isn’t clear. Speaking to the BBC, his daughter Lucy said, "It is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet."

Those in attendance will get to hear the music played at the reception, and each person will receive a CD featuring the track. It will be released to the public at a later date.

In addition to his family and friends, 1000 members of the public who applied for places in a ballot will attend today’s service—over 25,000 people tried to secure tickets. Among those giving readings and addresses are actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Hawking in a BBC drama, and astronaut Tim Peake.

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"his voice is being beamed into space"

His real voice before he lost speech, or his fake electronic voice? I guess I did not pick this up in the article.
 
I hope people realize that black holes are still just theory and we still have no evidence they exist.
 
THEY SAY that "anything" that approaches the gravity field of a black hole gets attached to it and it can't be freed from. Therefore, the signal of his voice will be destroyed and his post-morten recognition will be worthless.
 
THEY SAY that "anything" that approaches the gravity field of a black hole gets attached to it and it can't be freed from. Therefore, the signal of his voice will be destroyed and his post-morten recognition will be worthless.

Some scientists suggest that anything that gets into a black hole alters the pattern of its Hawking radiation - that way the voice would get encoded into the event horizon :)
 
I hope people realize that black holes are still just theory and we still have no evidence they exist.
An idea without evidence is a hypothesis. In the scientific vernacular a theory is a sound scientific model backed up by solid evidence. This misunderstanding stems from the incorrect use in the common vernacular. When we say we have a theory about something, what we really have is a hypothesis because it's just an idea.
 
An idea without evidence is a hypothesis. In the scientific vernacular a theory is a sound scientific model backed up by solid evidence. This misunderstanding stems from the incorrect use in the common vernacular. When we say we have a theory about something, what we really have is a hypothesis because it's just an idea.
And here kidz, are the dire and proven semantic consequences of Bogarting a joint.

BTW, are you aware that finally, after about two millenniums, what was taught as the "Pythagorean Theorem", is now often referred to as the, "Pythagorean Rule"?
 
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