Hawking's New Book: No God Just Physics

Hawking sure has been on a tear -- insulting aliens and pronouncing no god. Yikes. The people who fear that he is right will get all bent out of shape:

God did not create the universe, the man who is arguably Britain's most famous living scientist says in a forthcoming book.

In the new work, The Grand Design, Professor Stephen Hawking argues that the Big Bang, rather than occurring following the intervention of a divine being, was inevitable due to the law of gravity. Guardian

Here he is on aliens from other planets:

If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said. "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet." ABC

Where I think he goes wrong -- I'm about to disagree with a genius -- is he's suggesting we're intelligent life. Intelligence is much more than math and science or building space ships. Human kind isn't intelligent. We're overrated as a species. Any other life form that could possibly be out there has to be smarter than us. In the scheme of the universe, we're probably the lowest ranked life form. We haven't even figured out how to live on the planet without killing and maiming each other. If we could do that, then we'd be intelligent.

I am going to read his book, though. It sounds fascinating.

Hawking Says Aliens Will be Like V

Obama awards Hawking a Medal of Freedom

This has nothing to do with politics, or does it?
Physicist Stephen Hawking says on his Discovery show that aliens will probably be like the aliens on V, wanting to colonize the planet and destroy us. But I've got to imagine that if there are other life forms out there, we're surely at the bottom as far as Universe rankings on intelligence, with intelligence defined as enlightened enough to live peacefully, because that's what real intelligence is. It's not developing the latest gadget or mapping the human genome, or being a whiz at physics, it's the ability to live the golden rule, to respect the planet and all that exists here. We're probably the bacteria of the Universe. So if we get a visit from aliens, seems to me it will be from life forms that are beyond our intelligence, peaceful, not another low-life life form like us.

Should we try to make contact with ET? Certainly not, says Steven Hawking, citing concerns that our Earthly resources would be plundered. "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said in a series broadcast on the Discovery Channel on Sunday.

Researchers have been debating whether to call or not to call for some time, and have come up with a measure called the San Marino scale to gauge the risk of broadcasting messages to space. New Scientist

Obama Honors Harvey Milk and Others With Freedom Medals

Other honorees include Stephen Hawking, Billie Jean King, Desmond Tutu and Nancy Goodman Brinker, who founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure. See the list of Medal of Freedom recipients here.
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What a wonderfully diverse bunch of people.

2009 Medal of Freedom Recipients Include Hawking and Milk

Update Aug. 12: See video of the presentation here.

The awards will be presented on August 12. Here is a little bit about this year’s recipients:
Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer grassroots organization.

Pedro José Greer, Jr. is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Florida International University School of Medicine. He is also the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless and low-income patients each year in Miami.

Stephen Hawking is an internationally-recognized theoretical physicist, and is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.

Jack Kemp was a U.S. Congressman, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Republican Nominee for Vice President in 1996. He died in May, 2009

Sen. Edward Kennedy is one of the longest-serving and greatest Senators of all time. He has worked tirelessly for health care reform over the last five decades.

Billie Jean King is known for winning the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match, and championing gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all aspects of life.

Rev. Joseph Lowery has been a leader of the civil rights movement since the 1950s, and co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow is the last living Plains Indian war chief, and author of works on Native American history and culture who has served as an inspiration to young Native Americans across the country.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, and encouraged LGBT citizens to live their lives openly.

Sandra Day O’Connor was a Supreme Court Justice from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. She was the first woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court, and has received numerous awards for her outstanding achievements.

Sidney Poitier is an actor known for breaking racial barriers. He is the first African American to be nominated and win a Best Actor Academy Award.

Chita Rivera is an actress, singer and dancer, who has broken barriers and inspired a generation of women. In 2002, she was the first Hispanic to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.

Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Since 2002, she has been the President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative.

Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., is the Blum Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago. She discovered the first consistent chromosome translocation in a human cancer.

Desmond Tutu is widely regarded as "South Africa’s moral conscience," and was a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa.

Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and pioneered the use of "micro-loans" to provide credit to poor individuals. More at WH.