Those of you with some familiarity with physics will know the name Stephen Hawking, a brilliant physicist with a talent for explaining things to the general public. And the fact that he does it all with a voice synthesizer and scant control over his own body only makes things more impressive. You may also be familiar with Kip Thorne who, aside from being an excellent scholar in his own right, is known (along with (John Preskill) for winning a bet with Hawking. The reason for the bet isn't important right now- the essentials are that it was over an element of theory, Hawking lost, and he paid the penalty. And these are the important essentials because I think, just maybe, Hawking has lost another such bet.

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