10 ms·

Stephen Hawking to turn 70, defying disease

164 points by edw519 15y ago

harold 15y ago
I've often wondered if his sense of purpose, and ability to continue working are what have contributed to his longevity. Certainly inspiring to see what he has accomplished in his lifetime so far.
- dorianj 15y ago
  Conversely, I wonder if his extraordinary luck of being the only known long-term survivor of ALS has pushed him to accomplish more.
- astrodust 15y ago
  His mind is travelling at relativistic speeds, so he's actually only forty years old.
- robin_reala 15y ago
  My dad died of MND in 2003 after a fairly short length of time, somewhere in the region of 3.5 years after diagnosis. I put Dr Hawking’s longevity at least partially to being happy to work completely in his brain. Conversely, my dad was a very phsyical person and always had some project to build on the go. When that was taken away from him he seemed diminished. Incidentally, he did try to carry on coding using Dragon Dictate, but it was painful to watch. I wonder if speech recognition has come on any since then? Apple’s Siri seems fairly remarkable although I haven’t had a chance to use it yet. Is anyone on HN coding by speech?
  - lutorm 15y ago
    I completed a large fraction of my thesis by speech, including coding and LaTeX. While there are tools to help with coding (there used to be many knowledgeable people at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/VoiceCoder/ http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/VoiceCoder/, but I'm not up to date since my condition has improved) I wouldn't want to wish it on my worst enemy. I'm amazed that Hawking has te patience to function like that, he must be an extremely driven individual.
sun123 15y ago
It raises the age old question again. I sometimes think how people achieve so much. May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  > May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes. So that's what the couch guy in college was doing with his time.
- blasterford 15y ago
  I know it's going to be a very unpopular opinion here, but I find it hard to see the worth in thinking about black holes and other physics/astronomy questions. Is the large hadron collider really worth the money? Can someone highlight some real world advances that this sort of thing provides? eg will it make holographic TVs possible or hoverboards?
  - srl 15y ago
    Scientific research has a very high turnaround time. If you want to find out what you're profiting from now, look back nearly a century, when Einstein theorized about simulated emission of photons (laser). Or (more parallel to the LHC), the early particle accelerators, which taught us about the insides of heavy elements and let us construct nuclear power plants etc. Generally speaking, by the time you can easily see the practical benefit of some piece of research, it's no longer science; it's engineering. Science necessarily does not bring practical benefits for long periods of time. Edit to clarify wording and add: a pity up-vote for you - that was a good and fair question.
  - ori_b 15y ago
    The solid state laser was initially described by it's inventor as "oh, it's probably useless, but it's a cool toy". Now it underlies the foundation of our modern communications infrastructure. Research into the structure of the nucleus of atoms was initially done "just to see how it works". The unexpected results that came from 'pointless experiments' led to the theory of relativity, and from there, nuclear power, GPS, and dozens of other advances. Point to almost any bit of modern technology, and you'll see advances that came because of earlier fundamental research that was conducted "just to see" without a specific goal. So, yes, being able to understand the world around us is indisputably a requirement to be able to mould it around us.
giberson 15y ago
Hate to raise a cynical tone, but in all likelihood his his longevity is mostly due to him having money. I expect, that in most cases patients with similar motor neurone diseases, their money simply runs out--unable to afford ongoing medications, care and new treatments, they die from the disease they simply can't afford to treat.
- rokhayakebe 15y ago
  his longevity is mostly due to him having money You are mostly wrong. It is due to his will to live. Even if I could afford it, I know I do not have the mental strength to go through a life in such situation.
- gldalmaso 15y ago
  His longevity might also stem from psychological factors, after all he still has the (afforded) means of remaining a productive person, whereas a patient that can't talk or move, much less do productive work, might fall into an increasing depressive mood and that has biological repercussions.
- gerggerg 15y ago
  If you hate to do it than whats the point? The dude may have the care and the luck to keep him alive but he's also continued to produce jaw dropping work without being able to move much more than his eye balls. He can't eat or defecate or walk or wave or even make facial expressions but has contributed relentlessly to cosmology, theoretical physics, and the education thereof. Regardless of the reasons why he is surviving, he deserves to survive like everyone else. And in the face of the most possible adversity has made the universe a different place to humans and turned countless individuals into skyward dreamers.
  - giberson 15y ago
    I was in no way indicating he doesn't deserve to survive or that he hasn't made invaluable contributions to science. >If you hate to do it than whats the point? Mainly my post is counter weighting others that mostly attribute Hawking's longevity as a testimony to will power. It's also subtly defamatory to the relationship of money and health--in that (perhaps unavoidably so) having money greatly enhances one's life expectancy in the face of mortal diseases. That's not to say wealth is a golden ticket that affords you a reprieve from any illness but it certainly helps to prevent you from being lumped in with all the "average" cases, to be one of the uncommon cases that "defies" the usual outcomes.
gerggerg 15y ago
If you haven't seen it yet, his most recent show on the Discovery channel is incredible. It includes a lot from his previous writings but some new stuff too and it's all set to pretty stunning effects and a great soundtrack reminiscent of scifi movies from the 70s and 80s. You can check it out here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/ http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/ and the whole series is on netflix. It's truly amazing. Don't miss it.
- mitchellhislop 15y ago
  His discussions and examples for why we wont be able to travel back in time are perfect for explaining the concept for people. He manages to communicate such high level stuff in such a great way on that show (well, always, but the show is much more approachable to the masses).
Splines 15y ago
I wonder what his life would have been like had he not have ALS?
ckayatek 15y ago
I did ALS research in grad school and his case seems to be an outlier. Generally ALS is late onset (55+) and rapidly lethal (<3 years expected survival). That being said, early onset cases are often slower to progress and if I remember correctly his onset was in his late 20s, which is very early. There are really no medications or treatments that are effective for ALS, no matter how much money you have.
helmut_hed 15y ago
As a native South Carolinian, I encourage everyone to read the comments on the original article, and compare them in tone, content, and relevance to those posted on HN.
- sukuriant 15y ago
  Expound upon that.
- veidr 15y ago
  OK. Top-voted comments from the site: 1. "...making a killing on hypothetical theories... pie in the sky science. I'm sick and tired of these theories... Lying to keep the global warming cash cow rolling..." 2. "When Hawking stands at The Great White Throne Judgement and asks why he (Hawking) is being cast into the Lake of Fire, Jesus will tell him... blah blah blah" 4. "I think that Mr Hawking is going to be in for a big surprise when he is standing before the throne of God..." Etc. etc. etc. Comparing tone, content, and relevance, I'd say three to nil HN. Was that your point?
bitwize 15y ago
True, I think the Hawkman is awesome, but his longevity in the face of disease probably has a lot to do with him being a groundbreaking physicist whom society deems valuable enough to keep alive at great cost.
- whome 15y ago
  You may wish to google "National Health Service"
- nobody314 15y ago
  test
TWSS 15y ago
What this points out to me is how little we know about ALS/MND. The majority of those diagnosed die within three years, but a handful can survive for decades. Do bulbar onset ALS patients live longer than limb onset? What about those with familial ALS? Were patients who die sooner exposed to an environmental trigger? ALS is significantly more common among military veterans than the general public - why, and is their survival rate better or worse than civilians? I love that Dr. Hawking has survived so long. He contributes to awareness of ALS and gives patients hope. But I sometimes wonder if it's a sadistic, unrealistic hope and if his longevity decreases the urgency of the need for research into causes and treatment of a disease that is a death sentence for the majority of those diagnosed with it.
- ckayatek 15y ago
  I can answer some of your questions. The longevity and age of onset of patients with familial ALS is partially dependent on the mutation they harbor. That being said, genetic background is an important contributor. Fortunately or unfortunately, familial ALS isn't common enough to have significant statistics on the matter. To my knowledge there is no solid proof that environmental factors play a role in ALS. I'm fairly certain some will be discovered, but to date specific factors that enhance or prevent ALS are not known. On the issue of veterans, it is thought that the enhanced physical activity may be the cause for the increased risk of ALS, though the increase is merely 2 fold and once again the statistics are poor. If I remember correctly, this increased risk was present for both combat veterans and those that didn't see any combat. Once again outcomes are identical with the civilian population. I don't believe that his longevity decreases the urgency for research into the matter. However, compared with disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and heart disease, which combined will affect some large percentage of the population, the 1:1000 lifetime risk for ALS makes it somewhat insignificant.
  - TWSS 15y ago
    Thanks for answering my questions. While the lifetime risk of ALS is (relatively) low, I feel that its high mortality rate should increase the importance of funding research.
JacobIrwin 15y ago
Such a remarkable human being - I hope someone can help speed up his ability to communicate. If this does not happen, we may miss out on a lot of great wisdom Hawking has to share (during the [what is sure to seem like a] short remaining he has left).
JacobIrwin 15y ago
Such a remarkable human being - I hope someone can help speed up his ability to communicate. If this does not happen, we may miss out on a lot of great wisdom Hawking has to share with the world (during the remainder of his time with us).
teju 15y ago
I think it's a combination of top notch care and an engaged mind. Even the medical establishment is acknowledging the connection between state of the mind and health (placebo effect research). On a lighter note, here is something the great physicist cannot fathom: http://news.yahoo.com/women-mystery-british-physicist-hawking-135814776.html http://news.yahoo.com/women-mystery-british-physicist-hawkin...
mathattack 15y ago
As a society we are lucky to have both his intelligence and patience for all these years.
shingen 15y ago
Is there a good reason why he isn't the intense focus of technology dedicated to reading brain signals to action results through a computer + display? There are already functional systems that paralyzed people have used to communicate through on-screen selections in that manner. Surely Stephen Hawking can acquire the technology and afford the upkeep. Hell, surely MIT or someone out there would build a custom rig for him and focus on constantly improving it to get more productivity out of his marvelous brain while he's still here.
WhatsHisName 15y ago
Has anyone proven that he has ALS? That is, are there proven genetic or other markers that can correctly diagnose the disease? For example does he have a defective super oxide dismutate or heme oxygenase one?
Mordor 15y ago
He'll outlive us all lol
michaelcampbell 15y ago
He's the intellectual version of Chuck Norris.

164 points by edw519 15y ago

I've often wondered if his sense of purpose, and ability to continue working are what have contributed to his longevity. Certainly inspiring to see what he has accomplished in his lifetime so far.

dorianj 15y ago
Conversely, I wonder if his extraordinary luck of being the only known long-term survivor of ALS has pushed him to accomplish more.
astrodust 15y ago
His mind is travelling at relativistic speeds, so he's actually only forty years old.
robin_reala 15y ago
My dad died of MND in 2003 after a fairly short length of time, somewhere in the region of 3.5 years after diagnosis. I put Dr Hawking’s longevity at least partially to being happy to work completely in his brain. Conversely, my dad was a very phsyical person and always had some project to build on the go. When that was taken away from him he seemed diminished. Incidentally, he did try to carry on coding using Dragon Dictate, but it was painful to watch. I wonder if speech recognition has come on any since then? Apple’s Siri seems fairly remarkable although I haven’t had a chance to use it yet. Is anyone on HN coding by speech?
- lutorm 15y ago
  I completed a large fraction of my thesis by speech, including coding and LaTeX. While there are tools to help with coding (there used to be many knowledgeable people at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/VoiceCoder/ http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/VoiceCoder/, but I'm not up to date since my condition has improved) I wouldn't want to wish it on my worst enemy. I'm amazed that Hawking has te patience to function like that, he must be an extremely driven individual.

sun123 15y ago

It raises the age old question again. I sometimes think how people achieve so much. May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes.

pavel_lishin 15y ago
> May be being immobile saves his energy from distraction and helps leaves time to think about black holes. So that's what the couch guy in college was doing with his time.
blasterford 15y ago
I know it's going to be a very unpopular opinion here, but I find it hard to see the worth in thinking about black holes and other physics/astronomy questions. Is the large hadron collider really worth the money? Can someone highlight some real world advances that this sort of thing provides? eg will it make holographic TVs possible or hoverboards?
- srl 15y ago
  Scientific research has a very high turnaround time. If you want to find out what you're profiting from now, look back nearly a century, when Einstein theorized about simulated emission of photons (laser). Or (more parallel to the LHC), the early particle accelerators, which taught us about the insides of heavy elements and let us construct nuclear power plants etc. Generally speaking, by the time you can easily see the practical benefit of some piece of research, it's no longer science; it's engineering. Science necessarily does not bring practical benefits for long periods of time. Edit to clarify wording and add: a pity up-vote for you - that was a good and fair question.
- ori_b 15y ago
  The solid state laser was initially described by it's inventor as "oh, it's probably useless, but it's a cool toy". Now it underlies the foundation of our modern communications infrastructure. Research into the structure of the nucleus of atoms was initially done "just to see how it works". The unexpected results that came from 'pointless experiments' led to the theory of relativity, and from there, nuclear power, GPS, and dozens of other advances. Point to almost any bit of modern technology, and you'll see advances that came because of earlier fundamental research that was conducted "just to see" without a specific goal. So, yes, being able to understand the world around us is indisputably a requirement to be able to mould it around us.

giberson 15y ago

Hate to raise a cynical tone, but in all likelihood his his longevity is mostly due to him having money. I expect, that in most cases patients with similar motor neurone diseases, their money simply runs out--unable to afford ongoing medications, care and new treatments, they die from the disease they simply can't afford to treat.

rokhayakebe 15y ago
his longevity is mostly due to him having money You are mostly wrong. It is due to his will to live. Even if I could afford it, I know I do not have the mental strength to go through a life in such situation.
gldalmaso 15y ago
His longevity might also stem from psychological factors, after all he still has the (afforded) means of remaining a productive person, whereas a patient that can't talk or move, much less do productive work, might fall into an increasing depressive mood and that has biological repercussions.
gerggerg 15y ago
If you hate to do it than whats the point? The dude may have the care and the luck to keep him alive but he's also continued to produce jaw dropping work without being able to move much more than his eye balls. He can't eat or defecate or walk or wave or even make facial expressions but has contributed relentlessly to cosmology, theoretical physics, and the education thereof. Regardless of the reasons why he is surviving, he deserves to survive like everyone else. And in the face of the most possible adversity has made the universe a different place to humans and turned countless individuals into skyward dreamers.
- giberson 15y ago
  I was in no way indicating he doesn't deserve to survive or that he hasn't made invaluable contributions to science. >If you hate to do it than whats the point? Mainly my post is counter weighting others that mostly attribute Hawking's longevity as a testimony to will power. It's also subtly defamatory to the relationship of money and health--in that (perhaps unavoidably so) having money greatly enhances one's life expectancy in the face of mortal diseases. That's not to say wealth is a golden ticket that affords you a reprieve from any illness but it certainly helps to prevent you from being lumped in with all the "average" cases, to be one of the uncommon cases that "defies" the usual outcomes.

gerggerg 15y ago

If you haven't seen it yet, his most recent show on the Discovery channel is incredible. It includes a lot from his previous writings but some new stuff too and it's all set to pretty stunning effects and a great soundtrack reminiscent of scifi movies from the 70s and 80s. You can check it out here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/ http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/stephen-hawking/ and the whole series is on netflix. It's truly amazing. Don't miss it.

mitchellhislop 15y ago
His discussions and examples for why we wont be able to travel back in time are perfect for explaining the concept for people. He manages to communicate such high level stuff in such a great way on that show (well, always, but the show is much more approachable to the masses).

Splines 15y ago

I wonder what his life would have been like had he not have ALS?

ckayatek 15y ago

I did ALS research in grad school and his case seems to be an outlier. Generally ALS is late onset (55+) and rapidly lethal (<3 years expected survival). That being said, early onset cases are often slower to progress and if I remember correctly his onset was in his late 20s, which is very early. There are really no medications or treatments that are effective for ALS, no matter how much money you have.

helmut_hed 15y ago

As a native South Carolinian, I encourage everyone to read the comments on the original article, and compare them in tone, content, and relevance to those posted on HN.

sukuriant 15y ago
Expound upon that.
veidr 15y ago
OK. Top-voted comments from the site: 1. "...making a killing on hypothetical theories... pie in the sky science. I'm sick and tired of these theories... Lying to keep the global warming cash cow rolling..." 2. "When Hawking stands at The Great White Throne Judgement and asks why he (Hawking) is being cast into the Lake of Fire, Jesus will tell him... blah blah blah" 4. "I think that Mr Hawking is going to be in for a big surprise when he is standing before the throne of God..." Etc. etc. etc. Comparing tone, content, and relevance, I'd say three to nil HN. Was that your point?

bitwize 15y ago

True, I think the Hawkman is awesome, but his longevity in the face of disease probably has a lot to do with him being a groundbreaking physicist whom society deems valuable enough to keep alive at great cost.

whome 15y ago
You may wish to google "National Health Service"
nobody314 15y ago
test

TWSS 15y ago

What this points out to me is how little we know about ALS/MND. The majority of those diagnosed die within three years, but a handful can survive for decades. Do bulbar onset ALS patients live longer than limb onset? What about those with familial ALS? Were patients who die sooner exposed to an environmental trigger? ALS is significantly more common among military veterans than the general public - why, and is their survival rate better or worse than civilians? I love that Dr. Hawking has survived so long. He contributes to awareness of ALS and gives patients hope. But I sometimes wonder if it's a sadistic, unrealistic hope and if his longevity decreases the urgency of the need for research into causes and treatment of a disease that is a death sentence for the majority of those diagnosed with it.

ckayatek 15y ago
I can answer some of your questions. The longevity and age of onset of patients with familial ALS is partially dependent on the mutation they harbor. That being said, genetic background is an important contributor. Fortunately or unfortunately, familial ALS isn't common enough to have significant statistics on the matter. To my knowledge there is no solid proof that environmental factors play a role in ALS. I'm fairly certain some will be discovered, but to date specific factors that enhance or prevent ALS are not known. On the issue of veterans, it is thought that the enhanced physical activity may be the cause for the increased risk of ALS, though the increase is merely 2 fold and once again the statistics are poor. If I remember correctly, this increased risk was present for both combat veterans and those that didn't see any combat. Once again outcomes are identical with the civilian population. I don't believe that his longevity decreases the urgency for research into the matter. However, compared with disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and heart disease, which combined will affect some large percentage of the population, the 1:1000 lifetime risk for ALS makes it somewhat insignificant.
- TWSS 15y ago
  Thanks for answering my questions. While the lifetime risk of ALS is (relatively) low, I feel that its high mortality rate should increase the importance of funding research.

JacobIrwin 15y ago

Such a remarkable human being - I hope someone can help speed up his ability to communicate. If this does not happen, we may miss out on a lot of great wisdom Hawking has to share (during the [what is sure to seem like a] short remaining he has left).

JacobIrwin 15y ago

Such a remarkable human being - I hope someone can help speed up his ability to communicate. If this does not happen, we may miss out on a lot of great wisdom Hawking has to share with the world (during the remainder of his time with us).

teju 15y ago

I think it's a combination of top notch care and an engaged mind. Even the medical establishment is acknowledging the connection between state of the mind and health (placebo effect research). On a lighter note, here is something the great physicist cannot fathom: http://news.yahoo.com/women-mystery-british-physicist-hawking-135814776.html http://news.yahoo.com/women-mystery-british-physicist-hawkin...

mathattack 15y ago

As a society we are lucky to have both his intelligence and patience for all these years.

shingen 15y ago

Is there a good reason why he isn't the intense focus of technology dedicated to reading brain signals to action results through a computer + display? There are already functional systems that paralyzed people have used to communicate through on-screen selections in that manner. Surely Stephen Hawking can acquire the technology and afford the upkeep. Hell, surely MIT or someone out there would build a custom rig for him and focus on constantly improving it to get more productivity out of his marvelous brain while he's still here.

WhatsHisName 15y ago

Has anyone proven that he has ALS? That is, are there proven genetic or other markers that can correctly diagnose the disease? For example does he have a defective super oxide dismutate or heme oxygenase one?

Mordor 15y ago

He'll outlive us all lol

michaelcampbell 15y ago

He's the intellectual version of Chuck Norris.