| Q. And finally - the burning question:
the 7th planet in our solar system, 'Yuri-ness' or 'Yer-anus'. A. It's always been 'Yer-anus'. Click top-left square for full interview. |
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Professor Stephen Hawking
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Click icon if you'd like to find out more about Professor Stephen Hawking. |
| Q. Your son Tim recently made mention
of your CD collection. Besides The Beatles, who else graces your turntable/CD
player? A. I mainly listen to classical music: Wagner, Brahms, Mahler etc. but I like pop as well. What I want is music with character. |
| Q. If given the chance, would you want
to go into space in your lifetime? A. :-) Definitely, if I were Bill Gates, I would hire the space shuttle for a party! |
| Q. Do you receive much opposition to
your cosmic theories from the more extreme elements of the Christian Right? A. I really haven't encountered the Christian Right. I think they live in an insulated world of their own, shutting their minds to science. If they took notice, they would have to oppose every biologist and astronmer in the world. Apparently, someone's taken the trouble of doing an impression of me doing a rap song on this topic?! |
| Q. We heard you attended a Depeche Mode
concert - what was your honest opinion? A. It was a great concert, they had real energy. I don't think many people would have expected to see me there but I'm very glad I went, even though I was sitting just in front of the speakers and my ears were ringing for the next 24 hours. |
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Q. How do you feel about the possibilities of 'space tourism' in the near future? A. I expect it will be possible to go to space and even the moon but the resources required are so great it will only be a handful that go. Space travel isn't a solution to the population problem. Anyway, Earth is by far the nicest planet on the solar system. Who wants to boil in sulphuric acid on Venus? |
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Q. Any plans to write more books or make another film / documentary? A. I have a book out in the Autumn, entitled 'The Universe In A Nutshell'. The idea will be to make astrophysics more accessible by cutting down on the complicated terminology. |