“So remember to look up at the stars and not at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up. Unleash your imagination. Shape the future.”

<ul><li> Stars supports itself against its own gravity through the creation of thermal pressure. </li><li>Inside every star, a huge amount of energy is being generated through nuclear reactions (fusion) which convert hydrogen into helium.</li><li>Eventually, a star will run out of nuclear fuel. When this happens, most stars draw all surrounding matter inward and contract to an infinitely dense, infinitely small point or singularity – this is the black hole.</li></ul>

So Why Isn’t Our Sun Currently Not Collapsing?

In quantum mechanics, particles do not possess well-defined positions and speeds. Rather, these values are represented by something called a wave function. A wave function is a set of numbers, each one representing a different point of space. The size of the wave function predicts the probability that the particle will be found in each point of space.So, We can’t predict the future but we can make it :)

Quantum Mechanics

<ul><li> Hawking discovered that black holes release particles at a steady rate ( Hawking Radiation).</li><li>His theory argues that space is filled with particles and antiparticles. They’re in a constant process of bonding, separating and then annihilating one another.</li><li>The complex interaction of these pairs with black holes – particularly when partners are separated by the event horizon – causes black holes to lose mass, shrink and eventually disappear.</li></ul>

Even Light Cannot Escape A Black Hole – But Something Can !! 🤯

Laplace argued that if we knew the positions and speeds of all the universe’s particles, we could calculate their future behavior.But Heisenberg discovered that due to the way , light waves are packaged into discrete units called quanta, “you cannot measure both the speed and position of a particle simultaneously; the more accurately you measure one, the less accurately you can measure the other”. This rule became known as the uncertainty principle.

It Might Be Possible To Predict The Future –But It’s Unlikely

<ul><li>Space itself is a vast store of negative energy. Enough to ensure that everything adds up to zero.</li><li>The universe is like an enormous battery storing negative energy.</li><li>It means that if the universe adds up to nothing, then we don’t need a God to create it.</li><li> The universe is the ultimate free lunch.</li><li>Positive energy is the matter which has mass.</li></ul>

So Where Is All This Negative Energy Today ?

<ul><li>….. was a star so massive that it had collapsed in on itself.</li><li> It’s so massive that not even light can escape its gravity, which is why it’s almost perfectly black. </li><li>It’s gravitational pull is so powerful, it warps and distorts not only light but also time.</li><li>Black holes are formed when stars collapse by its own gravity.</li></ul>

What Are Black Holes ?

<ul><li>The universe is a machine governed by principles or laws.</li><li>The laws of nature are a description of how things actually work in the past, present and future.</li></ul>

Forces And Laws Govern Our Universe 

“When you look at the vast size of the universe, and how insignificant and accidental human life is in it, that seems most implausible.”

<ul><li>Einstein realised that two of the main ingredients needed to make a universe—mass and energy—are basically the same thing.🤯</li><li>His famous equation E = mc^2 simply means that mass can be thought of as a kind of energy, and vice versa.</li><li>So instead of three ingredients, we can now say that the universe has just two: energy and space.</li></ul>

Mass And Energy Relationship 

<ol><li>The first is matter—stuff that has mass.</li><li>The second thing we need is energy.</li><li>The third thing we need to build a universe is space.</li></ol>

What Are The Three Ingredients We Need To Cook Up A Universe?

“We are inconsequential cosmic dust, bumping and milling about on a tiny blue speck. We imagine our own importance. We invent our purpose—we are nothing. Enjoy your f*cking coffee.”

<ul><li>Space and energy can materialise out of nothing. The laws of physics demand the existence of something called “negative energy.”</li></ul>Imagine a man wants to build a hill , To make this hill he digs a hole in the ground and uses that soil to dig his hill. But of course he’s not just making a hill—he’s also making a hole, a negative version of the hill. Here, The Hole is negative energy and the hill is positive energy.

What Is A Negative Energy ?

<ul><li>Most massive objects – like black holes – can warp space-time so violently that time itself stops.</li><li>By following the “chain of causality” back to its furthest point, we can prove the Big Bang couldn’t have a cause because time didn’t exist.</li><li> There was no time for a cause to exist in.🤯</li></ul>

 What Came Before The Big Bang ?

<ul><li>In nanoseconds, the universe went from an infinitely dense point ( maybe smaller than a proton ) to a rapidly expanding body which continues to grow today.</li><li>Evidence supporting such a theory first appeared in 1965, with the discovery of faint background microwaves in space. </li><li>These microwaves are likely leftover radiation from an initial “bang.”</li></ul>

What’s A Big Bang ?

<ul><li> At the instant of the Big Bang , Time itself began 🤯.</li><li>There was no time before the Big Bang. </li><li>So there is no time for God to make the universe in.</li><li>No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. </li><li>There is probably no heaven and afterlife either. Belief in an afterlife is just wishful thinking. </li><li>When we die we return to dust.</li></ul>

IS THERE A GOD?

<ul><li>It’s estimated that 20 percent of all stars have Earth-like planets orbiting them in the Goldilocks Zone . ( a region capable of sustaining life because it’s not too distant from its star to be an icy wasteland, but not close enough to fry its inhabitants)</li><li>There are roughly 200 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. This potentially gives us forty billion Earth-like planets just in our cosmic neighborhood.</li><li>Other lifeforms might not have been so lucky :)</li></ul>

There’s No Easy Answer To The Question Of Alien Life

………suggests that “computers can double their speed and capacity every 18 months. If our gadgets keep following Moore’s law, AI may surpass human intelligence within the next hundred years, making the possibility of a self-aware Skynet less remote.”

Moore’s Law

“When we see the Earth from space, we see ourselves as a whole. We see the unity, and not the divisions. It is such a simple image with a compelling message; one planet, one human race.”

<ul><li>Global warming might be Earth’s most immediate threat, but we also face a greater one: nuclear annihilation.</li><li>Our planet could end up like the surface of Venus – a planet not known for its hospitable conditions (250 degree Celcius and evening showers of sulphuric acid).</li><li>In the planet’s present state, it’s almost inevitable that either nuclear war or environmental disaster will devastate Earth in the next 1,000 years.</li><li>By that point, though, humanity will hopefully have the technology to escape the planet and survive disaster.</li></ul>

To Survive On Earth, We Need To Take Immediate Action

If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?

THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty' GUARDIAN The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work. Is there a God? How did it all begin? Can we predict the future? What is inside a black hole? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Will artificial intelligence outsmart us? How do we shape the future? Will we survive on Earth? Should we colonise space? Is time travel possible? Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet. And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind. Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next. A percentage of all royalties will go to charity.

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The world-famous cosmologist and author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind. “Hawking’s parting gift to humanity . . . a book every thinking person worried about humanity’s future should read.”—NPR NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Forbes • The Guardian • Wired Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues. Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe’s greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet—including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence—he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? ​​These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history. Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking’s daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world. Praise for Brief Answers to the Big Questions “[Hawking is] a symbol of the soaring power of the human mind.”—The Washington Post “Hawking’s final message to readers . . . is a hopeful one.”—CNN “Brisk, lucid peeks into the future of science and of humanity.”—The Wall Street Journal “Hawking pulls no punches on subjects like machines taking over, the biggest threat to Earth, and the possibilities of intelligent life in space.”—Quartz “Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and—where it matters—witty.”—The Guardian “This beautiful little book is a fitting last twinkle from a new star in the firmament above.”—The Telegraph

Stephen Hawking is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Stephen Hawking has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Stephen Hawking's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

MARK MANSON

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