a rounded projection, bend, or protruding part; protuberance; hump: a bulge in a wall. 2. any sudden increase, as of numbers, sales, or prices: the bulge in profits. 3. a rising in small waves on the surface of a body of water, caused by the action of a fish or fishes in pursuit of food underwater. verb (used without object), bulged, bulging.
View full size image. For most people, the name Stephen Hawking calls to mind the brilliant, wheel chair-bound physicist and his renowned theories about space-time and black holes. But a new film depicts a different side of Hawking: his relationship with his first wife, and his battle with a brutal disease. The Theory of Everything tells the story of Stephen Hawking 's life with Jane Hawking, and his struggle with motor neuron disease, or ALS. The movie reveals how the couple's bond allowed Hawking to persist in the face of increasing disability, and develop the theories that made him so famous.
Scientists also don't know for certain what causes ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease) in general and are studying genetic and environmental links, the CDC notes. But although the underlying reasons for Hawking's long-term survival are unclear, researchers' thoughts on it aren't. He is exceptional, neurology professor Nigel Leigh told the British Medical Journal in 2002. I am not aware of anyone else who has survived with [ALS] as long.. What also makes Hawking's case unusual is that he was informed of his illness so young: The average age for diagnosis is 55, the Post notes, though Hawking's early onset may have helped him in the long run.