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Stephen Hawking Going To Canada

Posted by timothy on from the making-reservations-on-a-guild-heighliner dept.

thepacketmaster writes "A previous Slashdot article I posted mentioned the possibility of Stephen Hawking coming to Canada. The Toronto Star now reports that he has accepted the position. Hawking will hold the title of distinguished research chair at the prestigious Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics."

8 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Someone sent us up the brain! by HRbnjR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's kind of ironic in that Canada has historically had a problem with what we call the "brain drain", where students graduate and leave for the US or overseas for higher paying jobs. Nice to see us on the other end of that for once!

    1. Re:Someone sent us up the brain! by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It's apparently a bit of a myth. There is (or was) a slight tendency for recent, young graduates to run off to the US lured by promises of the big bucks. Most of them (plus others) come back though, after they start to add up what educating their kids and keeping themselves healthy will cost. Those two factors tend to wipe out any tax advantages there might be.

    2. Re:Someone sent us up the brain! by abigor · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, guns are very available in Canada. I believe we even have a per capita gun ownership that exceeds that of the US, though I'm not positive on that. Regardless, there's just some cultural difference that prevents us from killing each other the way you guys do, although there are gun deaths, don't get me wrong.

  2. Just before World War II, Einstein left.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Germany.

    Is this an ominous sign?

    1. Re:Just before World War II, Einstein left.. by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Is something that happened 60+ years ago an ominous sign today?
      Not especially, unless you're peddling paranoia.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  3. Watch Out, Canada! by sk999 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hawking has a wicked sense of humor and will pull practical jokes. Many years ago I watched him skewer Caltech professor Kip Thorne just as he (KT) was about to begin a seminar. It was one of those "you had to be there to appreciate it" moments, but it was hilarious - the whole audience was laughing. Not bad for someone who, even then, could do little more than activate his motorized wheelchair. A sense of timing does wonders.

  4. Anyone up for his old job? by Macblaster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A vacancy has just opened up. Apply by December 15.

  5. Perimeter = RIM? by That.7O's.Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Q: What's a synonym for Perimeter?
    A: Rim, or more appropriately, RIM (Research In Motion)

    Not sure if it's already mentioned in the comments, but the Perimeter Institute was founded, and is primarily funded, by Mike Lazaridus, Co-CEO of RIM and Chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

    I wonder if Dr. Hawking will be getting a free Blackberry? (I guess he'll have to design an interface as his first task at Perimeter.)