霍金開微博粉絲輕鬆破百萬 被贊新晉網紅

Renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking entered the universe of Chinese social media with a big bang on Tuesday, with his first post to the country's Twitter-like Weibo service garnering him more than 2 million followers the same day.

英國著名宇宙學家史蒂芬·霍金本週二進入了中國社交媒體的浩瀚空間，引起巨大反響。他發佈的首條微博（中國版本的推特）當天便吸引了超過了200萬粉絲。

In less than five hours Hawking flew past Apple chief Tim Cook, who has around 820,000 fans after a nearly a year online.

在不到五個小時的時間裏，霍金一舉超過了蘋果公司CEO蒂姆·庫克。庫克在開通近一年的時間裏擁有了大約82萬名粉絲。

"In my physical travels, I have only been able to touch the surface of your fascinating history and culture," the Cambridge scientist said in his initial post, writing in both English and Chinese.

在首條中英雙語微博裏，這位來自劍橋的科學家寫道："到中國的旅行，使我對博大精深的中國歷史和文化略有接觸。"

"But now I can communicate with you through social media -- and I hope to tell you more about my life and work through this page and also to learn from you in reply," he added.

他還寫道："但現在我可以通過社交媒體與你們溝通了。通過這個微博，我希望和你們分享我的生活趣事和工作心得，也希望能在互動中向你們學習。"

He also explained that he first visited China in 1985, traversing the country by train, and had last been in the capital in 2006 for a physics conference.

此外，他還提到了他第一次訪問中國是在1985年，乘坐火車穿越中國，以及上一次來訪是在2006年在首都北京舉行的物理會議。

Netizens extended their warm welcome to Hawking, with many leaving messages thanking him for his contribution to the world.

許多網民非常歡迎霍金進駐中國微博，並在他的微博下方留言，感謝他一直以來對世界做出的偉大貢獻。

"I cannot believe it. This is a historical moment. I'm so close to the grand master!" a netizen said, whose feelings appeared to be shared by many others.

一位網友留言道："我簡直不敢相信！這簡直是一個歷史性的時刻！我從沒有想過我可以離這樣一個偉人如此之近。"這條評論也道出了許多網友的心聲，許多網友也紛紛轉發該條評論。

His second post, on Wednesday, described the interstellar project Breakthrough Starshot which he is backing, saying it was "exciting to be involved in such an ambitious project".

週三，霍金髮布第2條微博，描述了由他支持的星際穿越項目"突破攝星"，並稱能參與這樣雄心勃勃的項目，非常令人興奮。

Born on January 8, 1942, Hawking is well-known and respected in China not only for his achievements in physics, but also for the inspiring and encouraging story of his fight with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

霍金出生於1942年2月8日，在中國，他不僅因爲物理成就廣爲人知、受到尊重，也因爲他和漸凍症對抗的激勵、鼓舞人心的故事。

"Hawking's popularity shows the Chinese people's great enthusiasm for science, especially among the young generation, which is inspiring for the country's future," Steven Dong, a professor at the Communications University of China, told the Global Times.

中國交通大學教授史蒂芬·東告訴《環球時報》："霍金的風靡顯示出中國人民對科學的巨大熱情，尤其在年輕一代中更是如此，這對國家的未來來說是振奮人心的。"