Grand opening of the Stephen Hawking Centre

Last week saw the grand opening of the Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. Various luminaries (including the Governor General, David Johnston) turned out for inspiring speeches, a facility tour and the live recording of part of Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas.

Many of the speakers mentioned the apparent oddity of making major investments in theoretical physics at a time when economic conditions have funders focusing on less esoteric fields with direct economic benefits. Mike Lazaridis (co-founder of both RIM and the Perimeter Institute itself) tackled this question head-on, reminding listeners that physics has given us some of the greatest technological developments of the past 100 years, and that we are approaching the very limit of what our current understanding can do for us. Emerging fields like quantum computing will keep us innovating through this century, and the future will be far stranger and more creative than anyone can predict.

The Perimeter Institute has a summary of events up on its website, and you can watch Stephen Hawking: The Power of Ideas below: