Why is hawking in a chair

Hawking is known for his theoretical contributions to science. In , he bet physicist Kip Thorne a Penthouse subscription that an astronomical object known as Cygnus X-1 was not a black hole. Eventually, he lost all three of these bets. But he was also very concerned about the pursuit of artificial intelligence, or A. We do not yet know which. The subject was personal for Hawking because, despite his fears about where A. The motorized chair, used by Hawking after he was paralyzed with motor neuron disease, raised , pounds in a Christie's online auction.

It had been expected to fetch up to 15, pounds. He had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease in his 20s, which meant he spent much of his life in a wheelchair. For his friends and family the wheelchair was central to his identity, which would now most likely have an afterlife. The only slight drawback was the fact that the Equalizer only had one accent: American and Stephen was very much British.

Gradually, Stephen lost the use of his hands but being ever-determined! Thanks to Richard Branson, in when Stephen was 65 years old, he got to take the trip of a lifetime: heading off to experience zero-gravity.

While floating in space, Stephen ditched his chair and even managed to do backflips! Of course, this being Stephen, he wanted more — and publilcy declared his ultimate goal: to travel into space.