Una biografía autorizada por la familia Stephen Hawking retrata al físico más célebre del siglo XX como un científico de logros monumentales y conductas que durante décadas fueron encubiertas por su discapacidad. Hawking: His Life and Work, de Graham Farmelo es el primer gran libro biográfico sobre Hawking y llega con un retrato sin concesiones: ambición desmedida, sexismo, conductas de control y un manejo calculado del crédito científico conviven con contribuciones que, según el propio Farmelo, merecían el Premio Nobel.

La obra, basada en cartas y diarios inéditos de sus padres, además de entrevistas con familiares, amigos y colegas, sitúa la figura del físico en una dimensión más compleja que la del icono popular. Farmelo concluye que Hawking será recordado como “un esclarecedor verdaderamente grande de los agujeros negros”, aunque su alcance intelectual no fue comparable al de Albert Einstein: se especializó en un campo más acotado y sus intervenciones fuera de él generaron cuestionamientos entre sus pares.

Hawking llegó a Cambridge para realizar un doctorado bajo la supervisión del astrofísico Dennis Sciama. A comienzos de 1963, tras sufrir varias caídas, recibió un diagnóstico que le daba tres años de vida. La enfermedad, sin embargo, no frenó su carrera. El joven investigador se interesó por los trabajos de Roger Penrose sobre el colapso gravitacional de estrellas muertas en agujeros negros.

La teoría de la relatividad general de Einstein, formulada en 1915, había anticipado ese proceso. Penrose fue el primero en demostrar de forma convincente que el colapso debía conducir a una singularidad: un punto donde toda la materia de una estrella se concentra en volumen cero, con masa pero sin extensión. Hawking trasladó ese razonamiento al origen del cosmos y, junto con Penrose, sostuvo en un trabajo publicado en 1970 que un proceso inverso podía explicar el Big Bang, ocurrido hace 13.800 millones de años, cuando el universo surgió de la nada.

Cuatro años después llegó su hipótesis más influyente: que los agujeros negros emiten un tenue resplandor de partículas —la llamada radiación de Hawking— y que esa emisión terminaría por evaporarlos. El planteo combinó gravedad relativista, mecánica cuántica, termodinámica y teoría de la información, cuatro pilares de la física que hasta entonces no se habían articulado de ese modo para describir esos objetos. Farmelo sostiene que esos estudios sobre termodinámica de agujeros negros merecían el Nobel, aunque señala que el propio físico desarrolló una obsesión por obtenerlo.

Su popularidad mundial llegó a través de apariciones en Star Trek y Los Simpson, y de la película La teoría del todo, ganadora de un Premio Oscar en 2015. Pero esa celebridad también lo llevó a pronunciarse sobre áreas alejadas de su especialidad. El físico Peter Higgs, asociado al bosón que lleva su apellido, afirmó que algunas declaraciones de Hawking sobre física de partículas eran “una completa tontería” y agregó: “Hacía pronunciamientos sobre cosas que no entendía”, convencido de que esas frases ocuparían titulares sin un examen crítico.

La figura pública de Hawking se consolidó después de que sus principales descubrimientos ya estuvieran hechos, y su discapacidad operó como un escudo ante las críticas. Farmelo documenta que colegas evitaban quejarse porque esas objeciones habrían parecido malintencionadas contra un científico en silla de ruedas.

El entorno más cercano no era ajeno a esos rasgos. Su padre, Frank Hawking, temía que durante la adolescencia Stephen se estuviera convirtiendo en “un carácter egoísta… como un niño pequeño que tomaba todo y daba poco a cambio”. Su hermana Mary lo definió como “una de las personas más egocéntricas que he conocido”, mientras que su hermano adoptivo Edward señaló: “Nunca me he sentido realmente cercano a Stephen… parece muy frío”. Su madre, Isobel Hawking, escribió en su diario que él ignoraba a las personas cuando le convenía: “Supongo que lo que en otras personas sería simplemente mala educación, en él se excusa como la grandeza de un gran hombre”.

Algunos amigos de Oxford lo consideraban perezoso y con un sentido de privilegio; en Cambridge les resultaba “irritantemente altivo”. Su hijo menor contó que Hawking era “enormemente competitivo” y que nunca permitía que él o sus hermanos ganaran en los juegos de mesa. La enfermedad requirió cuidados y tratamientos excepcionales, pero Farmelo atribuye su prolongada carrera también a sus propios recursos: “Fue su voluntad indomable, su resistencia y su fortaleza lo que más hizo posible su extraordinaria trayectoria”.

La relación con su primera esposa, Jane Hawking, acumuló tensiones por las burlas del físico hacia sus creencias religiosas. El libro describe cómo los sacrificios de ella pasaban con frecuencia inadvertidos y cómo el paso de pareja a cuidadora se volvió más difícil por las exigencias “autoritarias” de Hawking y su indiferencia hacia los intereses de Jane.

El trato a otros científicos es uno de los aspectos más cuestionados que documenta la biografía. Hawking no habría reconocido adecuadamente su deuda intelectual con Penrose y atacó con dureza al físico Jacob Bekenstein, quien había propuesto una relación entre el área de un agujero negro y su entropía. Cuando llegó por su cuenta a la conclusión de que Bekenstein tenía razón, se atribuyó en gran medida la idea, una actitud que, según Farmelo, “decepcionó a algunos de los amigos de Stephen”.

Aunque podía ser un asesor generoso con sus propios alumnos, intentó que uno fuera expulsado del doctorado en Cambridge cuando ese estudiante presentó argumentos que cuestionaban una conjetura suya sobre agujeros negros. Algunos colegas sostenían que sus conferencias “giraban todas en torno a él” y que rara vez reconocía públicamente a sus pares.

La biografía también aborda episodios que Farmelo trata con ligereza o deja fuera. El autor no menciona las noches de Hawking en el club de estriptis Stringfellows y describe con escasa profundidad su viaje a la isla de Jeffrey Epstein, anterior a la condena del financiero. Sí recoge, en cambio, una apuesta científica cuya victoria se celebró al obligar a los rivales a dar conferencias con camisetas que mostraban mujeres con poca ropa, y episodios de coqueteo que, según el libro, habrían recibido otra interpretación si el físico no hubiera usado silla de ruedas.

Hawking murió en marzo de 2018, a los 76 años, después de convivir durante más de cinco décadas con una enfermedad de la neurona motora que lo fue paralizando de forma progresiva. Hawking: His Life and Work se publica el 24 de septiembre de 2026.

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DETROIT, MICHIGAN — Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., threw her support behind three of the Trump administration’s signature economic policies in an interview with Digital.

Collaboration between ratepayers and data center developers, public stakes in high-growth industries and loan guarantees for critical mineral extraction are all areas where the Michigan congresswoman says the Trump administration is charting the right course. She also pointed to bolstering American manufacturing and deterring the nation’s adversaries from hostage taking as areas where she believes bipartisan collaboration is possible.

«It’s not just about taxation,» Stevens told Digital when asked how revenues can be raised to fund healthcare and infrastructure programs. «If federal dollars are used, like what Mr. Elon Musk got from the federal government, so potentially this current administration could be right that ownership stakes should be on the table.»

PROGRESSIVE PRAISE FOR TRUMP AS WARREN BACKS PUSH TO CURB DEFENSE CONTRACTOR CEO PAYOUTS

The Trump administration has increasingly pursued direct equity stakes, alongside grants and loans, to steer capital into industries it considers strategically important, such as semiconductors and critical minerals.

For instance, the administration converted $8.9 billion in federal funding into a 9.9% nonvoting stake in Intel, while the Pentagon took a 15% stake in rare-earth producer MP Materials. Both investments have increased in value since the government took them, although those gains are not realized until the shares are sold.

While Stevens thinks stimulating economic growth is part of the equation for balancing the federal balance sheet, she did say that the «wealthiest of the wealthy» should «absolutely» pay more in taxes.

Stevens rose to national prominence during her primary contest against Abdul El-Sayed, who has since become the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan. She cast herself as a more moderate alternative to El-Sayed, who she accused of unfairly singling out Jewish Americans.

DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN

Though the primary feud between the two was intense, Stevens endorsed El-Sayed following a narrow primary defeat and signaled that, while she may agree with President Donald Trump on some things, she still sees his broader agenda as dangerous for America.

«I personally think [Republican nominee] Mike Rogers is going to continue to rubber-stamp Donald Trump’s chaotic agenda,» she said in an interview after endorsing El-Sayed. «People are going to make a personal and private decision. I am not on the ballot in Michigan.»

Likewise, the White House isn’t particularly warm towards Stevens.

«It’s rich that Haley Stevens claims to support President Trump’s proven economic agenda after voting against the President over 80 percent of the time in Congress – including on the Great One Big Beautiful Bill, which is the largest working-class tax cut in history,» White House spokesman Kush Desai told Digital.

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT HALEY STEVENS BACKS EL-SAYED AFTER NARROW PRIMARY DEFEAT, CALLS SOCIALISM ‘DANGEROUS’

Though Stevens is a loyal Democrat, she says that doesn’t prevent her from working across the aisle, especially on local issues.

For that reason, she threw her support behind the Trump administration’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a collaborative framework bringing together utilities, data center developers, cooperatives and state governments to keep energy prices down amidst the massive buildout of AI infrastructure.

«I think collaboration is always a promising first step and path forward,» Stevens told Digital when asked about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. «Before I was in Congress, I had also worked on the bipartisan auto-rescue task force in the Obama administration. I was an Obama appointee, but there were also Bush appointees who stayed on, and there frankly were Republicans who were on the task force. And the reason I’m mentioning the auto task force is that we coordinated at the local level. We coordinated large-scale federal resources.»

Later in the interview, Stevens stressed to Digital that she is «really fired up about critical minerals,» arguing that America makes itself vulnerable to China by failing to increase domestic production. She listed loan guarantees for mining firms, a policy currently being carried out by the Trump administration, as something she supports.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS TURN POLLUTED MINE WATER INTO CRITICAL RARE EARTH MINERALS

The White House did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Digital on Tuesday.

Looking forward, Stevens — who has a strong record of bipartisan work — highlighted a few areas she believes are fertile ground for Republicans and Democrats to work together.

«[Rep.] French Hill, who’s a Republican from Arkansas and a great congressman, French Hill and I have passed considerable pieces of legislation to stand up to America’s enemies, to stand up to our detractors, and that continues to be an area where I believe that we will see more bipartisan collaboration,» she told Digital. «I also feel very strongly and I’m very proud to serve as the bipartisan caucus chair of the manufacturing caucus, our industrial sector, and one of the areas of great success for me in the Congress was, as a midwesterner, working with colleagues on the other side of the aisle to grow our manufacturing economy.»

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and two fellow agitators entered the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room 2272 today, wearing camera-ready T-shirts supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Communist Party of Cuba, turning themselves into a live demonstration of the «Trojan horses» for foreign influence that lawmakers had gathered to examine.

At 2:39 p.m., about 30 minutes into the hearing’s start, after Benjamin carefully photographed their T-shirt slogans appearing on the TV screen behind the witnesses, staffers on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia had had enough, and Capitol Hill police officers escorted Benjamin and her fellow agitators out of the room, as they protested their ejection for staging their trademark CodePink antics.

For lawmakers, CodePink’s camera-conscious performance underscored the central point of the hearing: that protest theater, messaging and social-media content can function as parts of foreign influence operations.

«It’s really about theatrics,» Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., later told Digital. «They’re using it not to affect policy, but really to enrich themselves because they use that then to go out on social media, to try to whip other people up, to help donations, to help get volunteers, help get some of those other folks, and to really try to go and disrupt our – not just our sense of government and processing government – but society.»

HOUSE PANEL TO PROBE FOREIGN ‘TROJAN HORSES’ AS SINGHAM SCRUTINY WIDENS

The hearing, «Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America,» focused on the network of nonprofits, media outlets and activist groups that are promoting the interests of foreign governments and pro-communist ideologues, like Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. tech tycoon who lives in Shanghai, supporting the Chinese Communist Party. According to a Digital investigation, Singham has pumped $278 million into a far-left network of groups that have pushed anti-America, pro-China propaganda, including CodePink, which has received $1.33 million from Singham.

Outside the hearing room, Benjamin refused to answer questions from Digital about the Singham funding, and instead slipped into the hearing room with her fellow activists and positioned themselves behind the witnesses in seats that get maximum TV exposure.

Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, spotted Benjamin immediately and, in a tense back-and-forth with her, said «I’m telling Medea Benjamin that she should try to stop shilling for a communist tyranny.»

Standing on the committee hearing room floor, Benjamin defended herself as «anti-war,» and denied any direction from the Chinese Communist Party.

CUBA BUILT COVERT NETWORK INSIDE AMERICA THROUGH SPIES, ACTIVISTS AND UNIVERSITIES, STATE DEPT ALLEGES

During opening remarks, Huizenga took direct aim at actors he said are tied to U.S. adversaries attempting to influence the American public, including Singham, CodePink and Marxist influencer Hasan Piker.

«We are here today because America’s adversaries – China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia – are conducting covert influence campaigns to shape American thought and society through lies and censorship. These countries have one shared goal: to weaken the United States of America,» Huizenga

«A prominent example of these adversary efforts is Neville Roy Singham, who lives in China and uses his wealth and relationships with the CCP to provide millions of dollars and personnel to extremist groups like CodePink, the People’s Forum, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation to destabilize American society and promote communist ideology,» he continued.

A hub for pro-communist organizing in New York City, People’s Forum has received $22.44 million from Singham.

The first to testify, Gonzalez said a «red-green» alliance of far-left groups working with Islamist organizations channel money through intermediary organizations and donor funds before directing funds toward U.S.-based groups that organize protests and produce political messaging.

Gonzalez pointed to Cuba and China’s influence operations as the basis of a «sustained campaign of subversion against the United States.»

He described BreakThrough News as a media platform that amplifies demonstrations and promotes narratives aligned with Beijing, while arguing that the network’s causes — including Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, the environment and social justice — provide a constantly changing set of rallying points. BreakThrough BT Media runs BreakThrough News and has received $1.098 million from Singham, according to reporting.

The testimony also focused on Singham’s connections in Shanghai. Gonzalez cited research saying Singham shares premises with Maku Cultural Communication, a Chinese communications firm that promotes a favorable image of China, and was photographed attending a Chinese Communist Party strategic communications workshop in 2023. Gonzalez also pointed to connections between Singham-funded organizations and Chinese state-linked academic and media institutions.

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Singham and CodePink have denied that the organization takes direction from the Chinese government. Singham has said he is guided by his own political beliefs, while Benjamin has said CodePink receives no money from the Chinese Communist Party. No criminal charges have been filed against Singham or the organizations in connection with the allegations.

Soon after, Sam Lyman, head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, presented the network as one of three overlapping channels of influence: Chinese state media and online campaigns, nonprofits supported by Singham, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist organization that works closely with CodePink, People’s Forum and BreakThrough News. Lyman said Singham-funded groups had echoed Chinese messaging on artificial intelligence, data centers and U.S. technology policy, while the Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers helped mobilize opposition to data-center projects across the country.

In the gallery, CodePink’s Benjamin stared at her phone, scrolling through messages.

Lyman said his research identified 21 campaigns linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation in 14 states that contributed to data-center moratoriums, a permanent ban and the rejection or cancellation of several projects. He estimated that campaigns in which the Party for Socialism and Liberation played a role had delayed, reduced or blocked proposed AI infrastructure investment across the country. He cautioned, however, that opposition to data centers isn’t entirely manufactured and that many Americans had genuine concerns about electricity costs, environmental effects and local development.

Finally, among the Republican witnesses, Matthew Johnson, senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a think tank, described the Singham network as an intermediary layer that translates themes associated with Beijing — including anti-imperialism, environmental harm, militarization, inequality and opposition to U.S. power — into activist language for American audiences.

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His testimony identified the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News, Tricontinental, CodePink and the communist ANSWER Coalition as part of the broader ecosystem. Tricontinental Ltd. is a Massachusetts-based think tank led by a friend of Singham’s, Vijay Prashad, who led a session on the future of Marxism at Singham’s wedding to Evans. Singham provided $16.76 million to Tricontinental.

«Beijing cannot simply command an American university, company, journalist, think tank or activist,» Johnson said. «It must gain access and cultivate relationships within institutions that shape perception, expertise and decision-making.»

Democratic minority lawmakers called Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, to the hearing as their witness. His opening remarks offered a dissenting opinion to the other witnesses, criticizing President Donald Trump for accepting a plane for Air Force One from Qatar and taking aim at Trump’s family’s business dealings with nations abroad.

The phrase «Trojan horse» comes from the ancient Greek story in which soldiers concealed themselves inside a wooden horse presented as a gift to the city of Troy. Once the horse was brought inside the city, the soldiers emerged and opened the gates to the invading army.

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In modern foreign influence operations, lawmakers used the «Trojan horse» metaphor to describe seemingly legitimate people, organizations, media outlets, nonprofits or cultural initiatives that can provide hidden access for a foreign power’s interests. The concern is that a foreign government, foreign intelligence service, wealthy foreign actor or proxy may use that structure to gain access to American audiences, political debates, institutions, policymaking or elections.

After the last witness spoke, about 30 minutes into the hearing, Huizenga briefly suspended proceedings while U.S. Capitol Police approached Benjamin and her fellow agitators.

«We do have some folks who have not verbally disrupted the committee as of yet,» Huizenga said. «This has been deemed to be a protest by the clerk because of the nature of the shirts and what is happening.»

The shirts were still visible on the official feed of the hearing behind the witnesses.

Video from inside the hearing room shows a Capitol Police officer approaching Benjamin at her seat and asking her to leave. Benjamin complied but protested.

As the activists huddled outside with Capitol Police officers, ranking member Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., objected to the removal, saying the activists were «exercising their freedom of speech by wearing T-shirts» and «certainly were not being disruptive.»

CHINA EXPERT WARNS BEIJING WANTS AMERICANS — NOT THE CCP — TO SPREAD ITS MESSAGE

Outside, Benjamin kept the performance going, strategically positioning herself beside the bronze committee placard and started filming a video about the political spectacle just staged, her Trader Joe bag beside her feet. Suddenly, she cut filming when she spotted Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., exiting the hearing room. Chasing after Fine, a strong opponent of the anti-semitism of the «red-green alliance» and a strong supporter of Israel, Benjamin hurled questions at her, her team filming the chase.

After Fine entered an office, Benjamin returned to her spot outside the Foreign Affairs Committee hearing room, pulled out a comb to straighten her hair and returned to filming her remarks about the day’s hearing. The video complete, Benjamin disappeared down the hall with her fellow CodePink agitators.

Soon after, CodePink published videos of their members disrupting a House Financial Services Committee to heckle Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. As Digital has reported, Bessent’s Treasury Department has been investigating CodePink and other organizations for possibly violating restrictions on doing business with the Communist Party of Cuba.

Then, just about two hours after being escorted out of the hearing room, at 4:38 p.m., the CodePink team posted a carefully edited 43-second video of Benjamin standing outside the hearing room and chasing Fine, packaging the day’s confrontation into a ready-made social-media clip.

Far-left activists from the Singham network quickly shared the CodePink video.

Digital’s Jesse Watson contributed to this report.

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