At the University of Cambridge it’s out with black holes, in with tiny vibrating strings of energy. The prestigious professorship that was most recently held by Stephen Hawking, the physicist whose great contributions to the field include new models of black holes, has been given to the string theory luminary Michael Green.
The Lucasian Professorship was established in 1663 and previous holders have included Isaac Newton [BBC News]; it’s considered one of the most prestigious academic posts in the world. Hawking held the job for 30 years, but stepped down in September following his 67th birthday, in accordance with a university rule.
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Stephen Hawking, the world’s leading theoretical physicist, was among a group of 16 to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award. The medal honors those who have significantly contributed to world peace, U.S. security or other endeavors.
Pres. Barack Obama presented the award, lauding Hawking’s immense contributions in spite of his physical disability due to a neurological disorder. “From his wheelchair, he has led us on a journey to the farthest and strangest reaches of the cosmos. In so doing, he has stirred our imagination and showed us the power of the human spirit,” [Sky News], Obama said of Hawking as he placed the medal around his neck. Besides his contributions to the field of physics through his research on topics like black holes and cosmology, Hawking, 67, is also the author of the best-selling science book A Brief History of Time.
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In several labs around the world, sound waves are doing things they’ve never done before. Teams working in England and the Ukraine have made a sonic laser, or “saser,” which operates in the terahertz range, with sound waves oscillating more than a trillion times per second. Meanwhile, in an Israeli lab, researchers say they’ve created the first ever sonic black hole that traps sound waves and won’t let them escape.
The saser uses packets of sonic vibrations called “phonons” much like a regular laser uses photons. Specifically, the acoustic laser device consists of a sonic beam traveling through a “superlattice” constructed of 50 sheets of material each only atoms thick that are alternately made of gallium arsenide and aluminium arsenide, two materials found in semiconductor [CNET]. The phonons bounce back and forth inside the lattice, which causes more phonons to be released and amplifies the overall signal. The result is the formation of an intense series of synchronised phonons inside the stack, which leaves the device as a narrow saser beam of high-frequency ultrasound [New Scientist].
At the moment the terahertz saser, described in a paper published in the journal Physical Review B, is mainly a neat trick, but it may find practical applications down the line, says lead researcher Tony Kent. “Fifty years ago many eminent scientists said that light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation [lasers] was no more than a scientific curiosity,” says Kent, but lasers are now used for everything from digital storage and cancer treatment to weaponry [New Scientist]. Kent says the new saser technology could lead to breakthroughs in imaging for tiny, nanoscale objects.
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After yesterday’s alarming news that world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking had been hospitalized and was “very ill” with a respiratory infection, reports from the hospital today come as a relief. According to Cambridge University, Hawking is now on the road to recovery. “He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery,” the university, where Hawking is a professor of mathematics, said in a short statement [CNN].
Hawking’s ex-wife, Jane Hawking, also reassured the public. “I have been to see him and he’s fine – he’s doing well. I don’t think his condition is life-threatening” [Telegraph], she said. Others expressed their admiration for the man who hasn’t let his paralysis from Lou Gehrig’s disease slow him down. “He is amazingly resilient,” said Andrew Fabian, the head of the Royal Astronomical Society and a professor of astronomy at Cambridge. “He goes around the world — he does more traveling than most of us. … And he just seems unstoppable. It’s truly amazing” [AP].
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Image: NASA
Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist and author, is reportedly “very ill” and being treated at the hospital. Says University of Cambridge spokesman Greg Hayman: “Professor Hawking is very ill…. He has been suffering from a chest infection for a number of weeks which has meant he has had to cancel a number of appointments.” Hawking was flown back to the U.K. from the U.S. at the weekend, Hayman said. He was taken to hospital at lunch time today [Bloomberg].
Hawking has remained active despite being diagnosed at 21 with ALS, (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), an incurable degenerative disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. For some years, Hawking has been almost entirely paralyzed, and he communicates through an electronic voice synthesizer activated by his fingers [AP].
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