Stephen Hawking and burgers in outer space Stephen Hawking is a very famous smart guy. But when it comes to nutrition…maybe not so much a genius. During a recent lecture to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA, Hawking compared those who don't want to fund space exploration to those folks in 1492 who didn't think there was a good reason for Christopher Columbus to set off looking for an alternate route to India. Hawking said: "The discovery of the New World made a profound difference to the old. Just think: we wouldn't have had a Big Mac or KFC." Hawking is known to have a sly sense of humor, so I expect this is just a little dig about American consumerism and not a genuine celebration of "convenience" food. But now that he's got me thinking about it, I really truly and deeply hope I don't live to see Golden Arches on the moon. Source:
"Stephen Hawking: Alien but Primitive Life Likely" Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press, 4/22/08, ap.org | 
