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Steven Hawking Considering Move To Canada
thepacketmaster learned of "...the possibility of Steven Hawking moving to Waterloo in Canada: 'A report out of Britain suggests Stephen Hawking is considering an invitation to come work at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics....But he's also being encouraged to move to Ontario by his University of Cambridge colleague Neil Turok, the mathematical physicist who will take over as Perimeter's executive director on Oct. 1. Perimeter confirmed last night that it has made a standing offer to Hawking...Turok is leaving Cambridge after failing to persuade university authorities, research councils and sponsors to spend $40 million...By comparison, Waterloo's Perimeter Institute has about $600 million in funding...The addition of Hawking to Perimeter's staff of top physicists would be a major coup for the research institute, founded in 1999 by Mike Lazaridis, founder and co-CEO of Research In Motion, which makes the BlackBerry.'"
all the top phycisits start leaving Germany when things started going downhill?
Just think of the tax savings!
cat sig >
He's moving there to be closer to the headquarters of the Vice Presidential Action Rangers.
Ubiquitously - A Ubiquity Developer Community
how long it will take his little chair to get him there. Does that thing have snow treads?
RIP UK science.
What a crying shame from a country that produced Newton.
Canada also has better wheelchair access.
Its our national healthcare system.
Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
We must have him!! The US MUST have all the best scientists in the world...
Give him whatever he wants to become an American citizen, and that will prove that America is the brightest country....
Mr. Turok, mathematical physicist and dinosaur hunter, to you, pal.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
Some were Jewish and others didn't want to work for a corrupt regime.
I don't think our situation is that bad yet. Yet.
Can we get the computerized voice with a Canadian accent, eh?
I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
Don't you get it? If you die in Canada you die in real life!
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
I never realized Stephen Hawking was British. He doesn't sound it....
I hear he is no longer able to respond to such offers.
Perhaps Balmer might be able to make a modified version of such an offer that might be compatible with his current restraints.
This bird's gotta fly!
I mean, really, the university isn't even the best in Ontario, let alone the country
For math and physics it sure is the best, especially with the perimeter institute there now. Sounds like they sent you a nice rejection letter :)
I doubt Stephen Hawking gets out and about very much. And not just because of his disability. Many brilliant people are so eccentric they never need to leave their place of research, so it doesn't worry them too much whether their community is a happening place or not.
They hatin Patrolling they tryin to catch me theorizing dirty Tryin to catch me theorizing dirty
Kooky Kanux talk funny, ay?
So do Minnesotans, North AND South Dakotans, and don't even mention NEW Englanders, and NEW Hampshire may as well be another country.
No more traffic jams on Silver Street.
Stephen Hawking changed his mind about what he wanted to eat for lunch.
"At first I thought I wanted fish," said Mr. Hawkings, "but then I decided I did not want fish. I eventually went with spaghetti."
There is much debate in science-related blogs as well as in academia about the significance of this change.
Hawking will have his venerable voicebox replaced by one of Canadian manufacture, based on an amalgamation of Geddy Lee and Alex Trebek's voice, which automatically interjects "eh" every 8th word.
Waterloo is alright ... though the local Mennonite community lends a somewhat strange vibe.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
That sounds like a front organization for Aperture Science.
One of the coolest things about the Perimeter Institute is that they have a public lecture series. The lecturers are a mix of eminent scientists from inside and outside the Institute. The topics are mostly drawn from the edges of physics and cosmology. Some are more accessible to lay people than other.
The Institute has most of them available for offline viewing and reading. Maybe they could get Stephen Hawking one day.
... at least the 'A' key, eh?
Anybody want a peanut?
Actually, I refused to apply there because they pay female grad students in physics and astronomy $2000 more than their male peers and I don't think it's fair that I should get paid more for doing the same work, nor do I support an institution that would do such a thing. Also, they didn't have any profs with research that particularly interested me.
what's that now?
"World's leading physicist moves to the university in the middle of nowhere"
I wonder...
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Waterloo has the best or at least second best computer science, mathematics and engineering programs in Ontario. I'm not sure where you gathered your information. Maybe if you are talking about arts degrees, but that is not what Waterloo is known for. I also don't think that Hawkings is hankering to get a fine arts degree, either.
I love waterloo, I decided to stay here after I got my university degree there. It's really nice to have an office with trees outside. It's only an hour away from Toronto, and it has a very large Asian community so the food here is great and varied. And despite what you think we are one of the premier Math and Computer science school in North America, we compete with MIT for contests.
This may be true, but man, I was stuck in Waterloo for a day and it was the most boring day I've ever had.
Side note: I somewhat forgot that the perimeter institute is based there (I'm not in theory so I don't pay much attention to where their institutions are actually located).
what's that now?
Going to Canada in October. Oh, yeah...the rustle of big autumn leaves, rustling in the snow.
Sounds like someone only able to pose a $15M argument asking for $40M, so he's taking his toys and going home.
I'm reminded of the Baldwins (not Adam) who, every time a Republican is elected claiming they're moving to France. If only they'd follow through.
Isn't it Steve Hawking that's trying to suggest that all of reality came from *nothing* instead of coming from light/energy? Nothing comes from nothing; nothing ever could. But maybe the Canadians can be convinced.
Take your heavy clothes, Steven- appreciate the scenery, 'cause that's what they have the most of. (Can't wait to get there for a vacation, myself!)
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
As a Computer Science major at the University of Waterloo, I'm proud to hear that the Waterloo region and it's research and higher education institutes are attracting top minds to the area. Arguably, the university is already the top undergrad tech school in Canada and competitive with the top in the U.S. as well, but currently only on the undergraduate level. However, huge amounts of funding have been recently pouring into UW's graduate programs, and associated research institutes. Some Waterloo folks like to label the university "MIT of the north" but unfortunately, I'd argue that's currently only true on the undergraduate level. Its co-op program makes Waterloo grads among the most employable new grads in the world. With this kind of exposure I'm sure Waterloo will reach its goal of being competitive with the top U.S. tech schools in all areas within the next 5 to 10 years. Maybe they'll start making movies with references to Waterloo as well.:P Then again, most movies are made/produced in the U.S...
I mean, really, the university isn't even the best in Ontario, let alone the country and Waterloo itself is in the middle of nowhere.
Depending on what you're studying, Waterloo actually is the best University in the country.
FYI, if not doing anything I can use some helping packing and moving. I will splurge for Pizza.
S.H.
Blackburn warned that Hawking was "obviously a man of few words, so the first we would probably know of it is when he packs his bags."
That could take some time then.
Is anyone else irked by the apparent misspelling? Steven != Stephen
I guess that gig he has with the Cable Weather Satellite channel was just a temporary gig. I heard him on there the other day:
Tomorrow's weather, partly cloudy with little temperature change.
On an unrelated note... Anyone know how Canada got its name?
They placed a bunch of letters in a hat and drew them out. The one doing the drawing picked out the first letter, "C, Eh". then "N, Eh" and finally "D, Eh." (if you didn't get it, say it out loud).
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
You clearly know nothing about Hawking and nothing about people who do research. It beggars belief that someone as ignorant as you thought that your comment was worth putting on display for other people to read. What is this? Youtube?
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
...that the submitter was under the influence of a central inverse-square force.
I am a grad student in physics at waterloo (phd) and my female counterparts do not get paid anymore than me from the uni. Where the heck did you hear this?
Are you sure that you aren't just talking about 3rd party scholarships that are only available to women? The amount from you get from the actual university is the same for men and women.
Perhaps the Perimeter Institute can find the singularity where all those Blackberry messages went
He's going to start the Deputy Prime Minister's Action Rangers, a secretive, shadowy organization including such diverse Canadians as Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, the clone of Frederick Banting and Alex Trebeck.
A press release from the newly-minted organization stated:
"As there is currently no deputy prime minister in Canada, we welcome Dr. Hawking to the position and are together looking forward to the great things he can do for our country, which is large and mostly empty, like our prime minister's head."
or related ones. I looked it up, the WH keeps requesting small increases to the NSF... http://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/ and they request specific amounts for projects only to see them whacked http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/12/us-budget-spell.html
Now I know, there are going to be the standard cry-about-Iraq-because-if-not-Iraq type crap totally ignoring the fact that just a small percentage of earmarks wasted on works named after LIVING congressmen could pay for any number of our own pet projects.
The money has always been there, Congress has the final responsibility for directing it correctly. Iraq is a very good excuse to spend money how they want while pointing "SEE SEE SEE SEE" elsewhere. In other words, one negative about Iraq that people ignore is that its mere existence allows Congress to waste money because they can always lay claim to the fact that Iraq consumes more.
without Iraq the money would be just as unavailable as it is today. This situation will not change until neither Democrats or Republicans are dominant.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
No, it was on their website. They posted their grad student salaries online. Although they seem to have redone their website for this since I last checked and taken this information down (i.e. it looks very different).
what's that now?
I have to use spy's to steal great thinkers, either that or conquer the city they are based in. Is there even an option to just bribe them to move like this? That would be too easy.
...when scientists from all countries can collaborate with each other for the benefit of humanity in general? Imagine how much scientific advance could be made!
I'm a Physics Undergrad student at the University of Waterloo, and I am definitely excited. This will add a lot of value to my degree, and reputation for the physics department in general.
He'll have too much trouble adjusting here, he'll never get used to driving his wheelchair on the right side of the road.
Ah, the "perimeter" institute. eh?
Is that where mathematical geniuses figured out that the perimeter of a circle is 2*PI*r?
Have they made any headway on finding a formula for the perimeter of a Mandelbrot fractal?
need to speak French first then English to be legal over there? Or is that only in Quebec?
Technically you get paid more, but I heard that the extra incentive for females really offsets the sausage-fest that is astronomy grad work.
This is what entropy is for.
"Many brilliant people are so eccentric they never need to leave their place of research, so it doesn't worry them too much whether their community is a happening place or not."
You mean he probably isn't going to the local pubs with his pals to chug beer while doing complex integrals in his head to impress the local ladies?
You've totally shattered my vision of Hawking and what the life of a scientist is really like. [Sniff]
I'm going back to business school.
While this poster might not have expressed him/herself well, the point is valid.
The assumption that brilliant people (especially when it comes to "nerdy" fields like mathematics and physics) do not have a social life or are usually highly eccentric is still a stereotype. And it's not a matter of going out to bars and socializing (which I'm sure one could do in Waterloo anyways), what if Dr Hawking likes the theatre or visiting art galleries and museums. You can't just assume that because someone is brilliant in one field, they don't have other interests because it's very rare that someone only has one interest in life, even if they are very good at that one thing.
That being said, I don't know whether he actually does have any other interests or what they are.
what's that now?
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/24/75-threatening-to-move-to-canada/
Some physics grads I know from Cambridge were applying there for their PhD's. One of them was invited over for an interview where he found out that he had to come with his own funding...
I gues tis shoves uz tat te dhing too doe iz zhoot gramaar nazii's on te spoot.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Am I the only one who noticed his name spelled incorrectly in the headline? And again in the link, only to be spelled correctly 3 words later? Seems odd.
...and smell.
Waterloo is in the middle of nowhere... you really need to come here for a visit.
I enjoyed the consistency of the spelling of 'Stephen'.
I'm too lazy to look up actual research data, but I wonder how much of a factor, if anything, environmental factors like diet play. Possibly not enough vegetables or protein as a child could make you dumber as an adult. Therefore, a country with many of its citizens suffering from a poor diet could find their population's intelligence hampered.
Conversely, England has one of the worst diets of the developed world due to its population's predilection for fried foods, so one would have to take that into account too.
BTW I live just outside Waterloo, ON so if I see Mr. Hawking trundling along a sidewalk some day I'll make sure I say hi to him for you.
www.clarke.ca
Wow. Note to self: Failed attempt at humour = troll.
what's that now?
1. Buy dress for less than $2000.
2. ??
3. Profit!!
while the gettin's good. Who else would have a better idea of what the LHC is going to do to Europe......
So this isn't a total shock. I'm so glad I saw Prof. Hawking lecture before he decided to leave this decaying and stagnant country, though. To be frank, opportunities to see him speak are getting fewer.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
I keep hearing a robotic voice, saying "Habs suck. Habs suck. Habs suck. Habs..."
Godwin right in the first post! Bravo I say, Bravo! A true and shining accomplishment in the field of utterly irrelevant comparisons.
Thank you! I truly appreciate the resounding compliment. As you can tell it was a near thing and required forgoing spellcheck...but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make for my adoring fans...fans like you.
In all seriousness, I do think scientists are an excellent canary for the local political/cultural environment. They rely on public funding while demanding the right to teach/work as they see best. When the scientists start leaving I sit up and take notice.
Have you ever gone to a dance club on "Ladies Night" and got in for free? You can bet that none of the men there were complaining that a lot of women were getting in for free.
This is the same idea applied to female physicists.
and what he ate for lunch?
That might be because the area is heavily populated with people of german descent and there are beer gardens and lots of pretty blue eyed blonde women. At least the beer is probably more attractive to male geeks than female geeks.
Society seems to have no tolerance for philatelists.
Apparently Hawking has responded to the press reports. A move isn't happening any time soon, if ever. But he is planning to visit Waterloo for a week this year.
I hear the BC bud is one of the best around. Hope he enjoys.
but the Farmer's markets are awesome.
Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
Make up your mind! Waterloo to you is either "here" or "there", not both at the same time >;p
I hope that he does move. It's not that I want to see him go but it might shame the government into improving science funding.
From now on, Poirot will eat spaghetti!
there is no god but truth, and reality is its prophet
I'm a Canadian, but I'm honestly more concerned than proud of this disparity between funding. This is Steven Hawking himself, so is this situation truly indicative of falling interest in science in the US? I mean, wouldn't Harvard or Yale or MIT be willing to shell out monster bucks to say they have him in their institution? He's gotta be a trophy of contemporary science right now, right? RIGHT?
What gives, US? Does it have something to do with the right-wing fundies somehow creating long-term political traction? I really wanna know...
Who in their right mind would want to move to Waterloo? I mean, really, the university isn't even the best in Ontario, let alone the country and Waterloo itself is in the middle of nowhere.
UWaterloo is one of the top universities in the world for Math and CS. Besides the Perimeter Institute, it also has the Institute for Quantum Computing which is pretty major in the field. Also, the Fields Institute was originally founded at UWaterloo before moving to the University of Toronto (the only other university in Canada that's comparable in Math). UWaterloo also has strong ties with industry. Research in Motion is right next door and has hundreds of Waterloo graduates in CS working for them. Microsoft has a good number of UWaterloo graduates as well. It's really exciting that he's thinking about going there (not only for Waterloo but also it's very great for Canada as a whole).
He's moving to get as far away as possible from the Large Hadron Collider. Genius.
> Perimeter confirmed last night that it has made a standing offer to Hawking
And what was his seated reply?
But he's also being encouraged to move to Ontario by his University of Cambridge colleague Neil Turok.
So he's shifting his career to focus on a joint effort to fight dinosaurs?
average IQ in waterloo jumps by 15 points...
Is there an American equivalent to the Perimeter Institute, in terms of funding and prestige, that doesn't over-emphasize String Hypothesis at the expense of competing ideas?
(Yes, I've read Lee Smolin's: The Trouble With Physics and I recommend it)
I'm sorry, but who cares?
I completely understand that not having a research area you are interested being a deciding factor; and you're while, as a grad student, you are obviously very intelligent your other deciding factor does not seem very wise.
First off - to clear up a possible misunderstanding before it arises- women aren't accepted to the grad program because they are women, but because of their previous academic efforts.
Some schools offer extra money to particular female grad students because they are trying to attract and/or retain more young women in certain undergrad programs. A university having female TA's and RA's in grad level programs is one of many tools used to increase female undergrad science/engineering retention.
It's fairly simple, the younger women see you as an accomplished (in their eyes) grad student and, often unconsciously, think "I can do it too"
Don't like being an example/positive role model/ideal --- to bad, you're a grad student you just became one! That's true of almost all grad students by the way.
As I have advised other young women - consider the extra money as payment for having to put up with the, hopefully occasional, old boys network and it's assorted stupidity.
If that doesn't work for you; then please realize that women often work for less than men in similar positions - why not try the reverse occasionally, earn more for similar work.
C eh? N eh? d eh? :)
welcome my wheelchair-bound overlord!
that they have on their keyboards in Canada. At least we had them at Michigan Tech.
On first glance, I thought it said Steven Hawking Considering Moving Canada. Was wondering where he would end up leaving it.
I drank what? -- Socrates
Cambridge insists Hawkings is Staying
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2008071603
Neil Turok... wasn't he a Romulan senate procounsul?
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/16/hawking-perimeter.html
The University of Cambridge has poured cold water on reports its most famous physicist might be coming to Canada to work, saying Wednesday Stephen Hawking "has no plans" to leave.
A report in the Daily Telegraph in the U.K. said Hawking was contemplating joining his colleague Neil Turok at Waterloo, Ont.'s Perimeter Institute. The South African-born cosmologist Turok, 49, is leaving Cambridge to take over the role of executive director at the institute, which was founded in 2000 by Research in Motion co-founder Mike Lazaridis and is devoted to the study of theoretical physics.
Cambridge's statement called the report "unfounded speculation."
Hi Welcome to The Great White North otherwise known as Canada.
It's cold up here even in the summer.
Well have a special igloo (http://tinyurl.com/6kd7y3) built with wheel chair access for you Steven.
As for your black holes, hmmmm... we've got lots of empty space to keep them in.
Well Steve, you'd be welcomed!
All the best,
brrrrr
If you read the thread you were replying to, you'd see that the very topic of debate is about how circumstances are correlated with opportunity to display one's brilliance. So cities with more inventors etc. could be (and almost certainly are) a sign of a certain cultural and economic climate which encourages it. Maybe all the goatherds of Albania are as smart as Newton. How would we notice? Maybe Newton would have been a very average goatherd, or worse. That was the point!
But if we accept your shoddy evidence, you'll also have to admit that cities had spurts of brilliance at specific times - Athens in 400BC, Copenhagen in the late 20s, Vienna around 1900, etc. Would you suggest that the cities smartened up or dumbed down on a time scale of one generation? Or is it rather that the social circumstances changed while the intellectual talent of the people stayed the same? Of course there are brain drains throughout history, but that doesn't explain any of the examples I gave.
I don't know how your comment got modded up. Your remark about agrarian countries lacking brilliant people is totally reprehensible - and stupid. Yes, you're stupid.
The truth is, Dr. Hawking has reached the retireable age of 66 and though he's still very lucid, it's customary for universities to shell out the big bucks for professors who are in their prime. Statistically, it's pretty unlikely that Dr. Hawking has a whole lot of great ideas left in him. The physics work for which he's famous was in the 60's and 70's. Plus, it's kind of in bad taste to think of him as a trophy - not that all US universities lack bad taste.
Anyway, I think this open speculation has more to do with trying to shake down the British government for a bit of extra research money, to avoid the UK's embarrassment of losing their most prominent homegrown talent, who occupies Newton's old chair. And that's probably the greatest thing that Dr. Hawking can do for physics now: Bring in money, increase awareness and generate press.
I thought it was all about black holes, not berries..
that's awesome. I live in Waterloo and I'd be honored to have someone like Hawking live here as fellow citizen. University of Waterloo has one of the strongest math departments in North America as well, so Hawking would not be bored here :D.
I just hope he accepts the invitation.
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
... being a long time Waterloo resident and grateful both for what PI does for pure science and what it gives to the community (public lectures, etc)... I am thrilled Steven Hawking would consider coming here to be part of the PI. Welcome Steven our newest pure science overlord.
... the idea is shot down... Maybe ... Steven you can just visit anytime.
It really smells around here, especially in the summer months. -_-
That our Cambridge (University) is located in Cambridge (City), in Cambridgeshire.
Confusing, I know.......
*s*
What people dont know, is that he has found a girlfriend there, and has actually made a song about, check it out:
http://www.rektor.no/filarkiv/princess45sec.mp3
its a free downloadable too, with playable music video. Impressive Mr. Hawkins!
waterloo's been a hot school for physics for a loooong time.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
You are assuming that the distribution of bright people is uniform across populations of nations. In that case most populous nations would have highest number of bright people.
However, brightness is highly dependent on economy, except for a small number of scientific disciplines that do not require huge sums of money to fund research in (like pure math).
Even theoretical physicists like their particle accelerators, or expensive telescopes :D.
As the island of our knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
Or he'll kill Hawking's pet Velociraptor.