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Stephen Hawking’s Mind Reading Experiment and Big Bang Cameo

(Dr. Stephen Hawking lent his gray matter to the cause of furthering scientific study of the brain this week, and also did a cameo on “The Big Bang Theory.” Scientist Stephen Hawking of ‘Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking’ speaks via satellite during the Science Channel portion of the 2010 Television Critics Association Press Tour at the Langham Hotel on January 14, 2010 in Pasadena, California.)

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Stephen Hawking has proven again this week he may still be the coolest theoretical physicist in the universe.

Hawking has lent the use of his nervous system’s gray matter to a San Diego-based company that produces the iBrain, a device that endeavors to read minds. The iBrain monitors a single channel of electrical brain waves and interprets the data into information doctors and researchers can use to diagnose conditions like sleep apnea, depression and autism. Dr. Hawking hopes that it may lead to future treatment for ALS and other neurological diseases.

The physicist also shared something on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory this week, showing up ultimate Hawking groupie, Shelton Cooper. Using voice work he insisted on generating himself, Hawking takes cooper down a few pegs by informing him he made a math error in an important research paper about the Higgs Boson particle.


An understanding of Black Holes, AND great comedic timing—even characters like Cooper may have work to do before they get in the same league as Hawking.

Video produced by Paca Thomas