Stephen Hawking visits Stockholm:

"Black holes ain’t as black as they are painted" according to the renowned mathematician and quantum physicist. 

  • Stephen Hawking at Stockholm Waterfront Congress. Photo: Per Larsson

  • There is a way out of black holes. That was the message communicated by Professor Stephen Hawking in a public lecture in Stockholm which attracted more than 3,000 people to the audience.
    The international "Hawking Radiation Conference," held at KTH Royal Institute of Technology August 24-29, brought together the world’s leading researchers in cosmology and theoretical physics. The conference was organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and hosted by Nordita, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stockholm University and KTH. The best known participant was of course Professor Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge and author of numerous bestselling books about space.
    In connection with the conference, a public science lecture with Stephen Hawking was organized at Stockholm Waterfront Congress. Tickets for the 3,000 seats were quickly sold out earlier in the summer.

  • Stephen Hawking at Stockholm Waterfront Congress. Photo: Per Larsson

  • Standing ovations
    Professor Hawking was welcomed by a standing ovation when he entered the lecture hall in his permobil power chair. He started by giving an overview of how research has concluded that there should be existence of black holes in the universe and the calculations behind these theories which have crucial importance for physics and astronomy, an area where Hawking is probably the foremost researcher. However, Professor Hawking has not yet received a Nobel Prize.
    "If some researchers would find a black hole, I will get a Nobel Prize," he noted.
    Hopefully the CERN Particle accelerator in Switzerland will be able to find proof for the existence of black holes.

  • Passages to alternative worlds
    Hawking talked about alternative worlds and black holes as passages to them.
    "But you couldn’t come back to our universe. So although I’m keen on space flight, I’m not going to try that,” he said which made the audience burst into laughter.
    During the conference week, Professor Hawking presented new theories which show that black holes are not "as black" as believed so far. Matter that falls into black holes is not destroyed but is rather preserved in another universe.
    "If you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up. There’s a way out," was his concluding message to the audience.

  • More information about the conference, see Nordita: www.nordita.org/hawkingradiation, www.su.se