Friday, July 12, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Stephen William Hawking
Stephen William Hawking is a
great scientist of our time. He was born on January 8, 1942. He is an English
theoretical physicist, cosmologist,
author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within
the University of
Cambridge. His
significant scientific works have been a collaboration with Roger
Penrose on gravitational singularities
theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical
prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking
radiation. Hawking was the first to set forth a cosmology explained by a
union of the general theory of relativity and quantum
mechanics. He is a vocal supporter of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum
mechanics.
He is an Honorary
Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and
a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the
highest civilian award in the United States. Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics
at the University
of Cambridge between 1979
and 2009.
Hawking has achieved success with
works of popular science in which he discusses his own
theories and cosmology in general; his A Brief History of Time stayed on the
British Sunday Times best-sellers list for a
record-breaking 237 weeks. Hawking has a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS),
a condition that has progressed over the years. He is almost entirely paralysed
and communicates through a speech generating device. He married twice
and has three children.
Hawking published The Universe in a Nutshell in 2001, and A Briefer History
of Time which he wrote in 2005 with Leonard
Mlodinow to update his earlier works to make them accessible to a wider
audience, and God Created the Integers, which appeared
in 2006. Along with Thomas Hertog at the European
Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and Jim Hartle, from 2006 on Hawking developed a theory of
"top-down cosmology", which says that the universe had not one unique
initial state but many different ones, and therefore that it is inappropriate
to formulate a theory that predicts the universe's current configuration from
one particular initial state.
Hawking continued to feature
regularly on the screen: documentaries entitled : The Real Stephen Hawking: and
"Stephen Hawking: Profile" and works.
Over the years, Hawking
maintained his public profile with a series of attention-getting and often
controversial statements: he has asserted that computer
viruses were a form of life, that humans should use genetic engineering to avoid being outsmarted
by computers, and that aliens likely exist and contact with them
should be avoided. Hawking has expressed his concerns that life on earth is at
risk due to "a sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other
dangers we have not yet thought of". He views spaceflight and the
colonisation of space as necessary for the future of humanity. Motivated by the
desire to increase public interest in spaceflight and to show the potential of
people with disabilities, in 2007 he participated in zero-gravity flight in a
"Vomit
Comet", courtesy of Zero Gravity Corporation, during which he
experienced weightlessness eight times.
Source: Various online sources
Saturday, June 1, 2013
What is a game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports/games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).
Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role.
Attested as early as 2600 BC,[1][2] games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.[3]
Source: Wikipedia
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