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Kip Thorne

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Scientist

The Resume

    (June 1, 1940- )
    Born in Logan, Utah
    Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at CalTech (1991-2009)
    Proponent of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO)
    Predicted what the signal of a gravitational wave produced by two colliding black holes would look like
    LIGO successfully detected gravitational waves (September, 2015)
    Discovery confirmed a prediction of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
    Co-recipient, with Rainer Weiss and Barry Barish, of the Nobel Prize in Physics (2017)

Why he might be annoying:

    He has a white patch in his beard that often makes it look like he is sticking out his tongue in photos (especially black and white ones).
    He made a bet with Stephen Hawking about the existence of black holes. Thorne’s wife was reportedly outraged when her husband won a year’s subscription to ‘Penthouse’ after Hawking conceded.
    He noted that his speculation about wormholes and their potential use for time travel had colleagues ‘worried about whether I’d gone off the deep end.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    Football Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen was his debate partner in high school and best man at his first wedding.
    He won the Westinghouse Science Talent Search at age 17.
    He was the scientific consultant for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar.’ (2014)
    Nolan said, ‘I was worried that he would just be the science police, telling me what I could and couldn't do with my story. But what I rapidly realized in talking to him was that he was able to offer me tremendously exciting narrative possibilities. The mind-blowing quality of real science — relativity, gravitational theory, black holes, wormholes — they're far more exotic than anything I can come up with as a screenwriter.’
    Asked how he remained energetic, he replied ‘By enthusiasm and intense work,’ then added, ‘And by engaging in lots of great sex.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 103 Votes: 49.51% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 175 Votes: 70.86% Annoying