Stephen Hawking appears to be getting everywhere these days. First he appears on star trek; then he took centre stage at London’s paralympic opening ceremony. He has been on the Simpsons, the big bang theory, and, my personal favourite, Monty python live. There has very recently been a film released about him, my response to which can be read here; and now I hear he just filmed a sketch alongside David Walliams and Katherine Tate for comic relief. He is currently everywhere you look. I am in two minds about this: while it is great to have such a high profile disabled person out there, it could get too much, go too far and start looking like self-publicity. The professor seems to be currently being wheeled out at every opportunity, like some symbol or totem of human greatness. Yet he is not a symbol but a man, and should be seen as any other human. Besides, what with all these media appearances, it’s a wonder the dude has time to do any physics research.