Hanging with Hawking

On Thursday, I went to a preview screening of Stephen Hawking's Universe, on behalf of a friend who had to write an article for Rapport, South Africa's national Afrikaans Sunday paper, about Hawking's recent revelations regarding aliens.
Executive Producer John Smithson told the audience how they went to Cambridge three years ago to pitch the series (which starts on 9 May) to Hawking. And how intimidating it was to wait (for the longest ten minutes ever) for his reply. Fortunately he loved the idea.
It's quite fascinating watching him compose a response with the slightest movement of his eyes. When he's not talking, the screen resembles something from the Matrix. Yes, I sneaked up on him for this one...

It's extremely unlikely that life could spontaneously create itself, Hawking said, but it's like winning a lottery. "Though the odds are astronomical, most weeks someone wins the jackpot."

I think it's safe to assume I will see plenty of aliens before I ever win the lottery! In fact, I saw plenty at the O2 on Friday evening. Alien life is common, as Hawking said; intelligent life less so.