Here are some tidbits from from a recent lecture Stephen Hawking gave last week in Hong Kong:

Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God.

Hawking, who didn't say when the meeting was held, quoted the pope as saying, "It's OK to study the universe and where it began. But we should not enquire into the beginning itself because that was the moment of creation and the work of God."

The scientist then joked during a lecture in Hong Kong, "I was glad he didn't realize I had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began. I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo."

The added irony is that Hawking was born on the same day (though not the same year obviously) that Galileo died.  Hawking is one of, if not the greatest, theoretical physicists to have ever lived.  Yet some things remain a mystery even to him:

The moderator at the lecture told the audience that at a recent dinner, she asked Hawking what his ambitions were. He said he wanted to know how the universe began, what happens inside black holes and how can humans survive the next 100 years, she said.

But she added he had one more great ambition: "I would also like to understand women."

You and me both brother.  I think if he figures that one out, that will become his crowning life achievement.