Category Archives: Science

Stephen Hawking has passed away

NPR The Two-Way: Stephen Hawking, Who Awed Both Scientists And The Public, Dies.

“There aren’t very many scientists who achieved rock-star status. Stephen Hawking, who has died at the age of 76, family members told British media early Wednesday, was definitely a contender.

“He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years,” the family statement said, according to The Guardian. “His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world. He once said, ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him for ever.””

Link via Garret.

Many more links and stories about Hawking in this MetaFilter thread: A brief history of a man.

I read his most famous book “A Brief History of Time” (Eine kurze Geschichte der Zeit) years ago, but think I’ll re-read it now.

Think of the heart muscle as a rubber band […] put it in a drawer for 20 years and it will emerge dry and brittle.

NPR shots: Hearts Get ‘Younger,’ Even At Middle Age, With Exercise.

“Eventually it happens to everyone. As we age, even if we’re healthy, the heart becomes less flexible, more stiff and just isn’t as efficient in processing oxygen as it used to be. In most people the first signs show up in the 50s or early 60s. And among people who don’t exercise, the underlying changes can start even sooner.

“The heart gets smaller — stiffer,” says Dr. Ben Levine, a sports cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, in Dallas.
[…]
Fortunately for those in midlife, Levine is finding that even if you haven’t been an avid exerciser, getting in shape now may head off that decline and help restore your aging heart. He and his colleagues published their recent findings in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation.”