On the 8th January, scientists gathered at a symposium in Cambridge to celebrate Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday, an occasion few had imagined they would ever see.

Hawking was given just a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease in 1964, at the age of 20. His condition has progressed over the years and has left him almost completely paralysed and unable to speak.

Brian Dickie, research director at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, stated: “Only five percent live longer than 10 years and in those cases it’s 15 or maybe 20 years. Stephen Hawking is at one extreme end of that spectrum and the quality of his care cannot explain why the disease has progressed so slowly in him.”

Hawking was propelled to fame by his 1980 book A Brief History of Time, in which he outlined the concept of a universe with no boundaries in space or time. It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. He held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics for thirty years at Cambridge, although he completed his undergraduate degree (in Physics) at University College, Oxford.

In a recent interview Hawking admitted that he regularly completed only an hour of work a day in his early life as a student, commenting, “You were supposed to be brilliant without effort, or to accept your limitations and get a fourth class degree.”

The professor himself was unable to attend the birthday celebrations because he was too unwell. However, the guests enjoyed a pre-recorded version of the lecture in which Hawking spoke of the happiness he felt knowing that he had made a small contribution to our understanding of the universe. He concluded with the following message to his wellwishers, “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

A lost world of previously unknown creatures has been found flourishing next to boiling vents of water, miles under the surface of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.

The discoveries, made by teams led by the University of Oxford and Southampton in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, include a new species of yeti crab, a forbidding pale octopus and a predatory seven-armed starfish.

The hydrothermal vents of the East Scotia Ridge are powered by underwater volcanoes, and produce springs of black, smoky water capable of reaching temperatures as high as 400C (752F). They are of interest to deep-sea biologists as they host animals found nowhere else that derive their energy not from sunlight but from the bacterial oxidation of chemicals in the vent fluids. These discoveries therefore help scientists to build a picture of what elements are actually required for life to exist.

The vents were discovered to be competing grounds for massive densities of crabs. Up to 600 of the crustaceans compete for each square metre of land, attempting to get as close as possible to the vents without accidentally cooking themselves in the scalding fissures.

The findings represent the latest in a string of discoveries of crab communities in the South Pacific since the first known yeti crab, the Kiwa hirsuta, was identified in 2005. However, the crabs were not only observed in much greater numbers in the East Scotia Ridge, but discovered to possess a unique physical trait. Whereas the hirsuta is characterised by the long, silky hairs that grow on its claws, thick clumps of hair cling to the undersides of the new species.

Nicolai Roterman, A DPhil student here at Oxford researching the genetic makeup of these creatures, was the mastermind behind a now infamous nickname for the new species. “I dubbed it the ‘Hoff Crab’ owing to its hairy chest”. He explains that the tufts “provide an ideal growing environment for bacteria which are then grazed upon by the crab – sort of using their own bodies as a farm”.

Roterman describes a gruelling work schedule on board the RSS James Cook, the team becoming accustomed to working 16-18 hour shifts over the course of the six weeks in order to make the most of an expensive opportunity. “Occasionally the volume of material found meant that some of us would be working for more than 30 hours straight before being relieved in order that everything was done correctly. This was imperative because you never know if the weather would suddenly deteriorate and potential science hours lost due to rough seas.” Resilience in testing conditions however proved worthwhile when breakthroughs were made – “I think all in all, we were delirious with excitement from the discoveries”.

During the expedition in January 2010, the team used a purpose-built, remotely operated vehicle called the Isis, boasting a HD video camera, a “slurp gun” for picking up delicate invertebrates and a sophisticated acoustic mapping system, to access the deep-sea vents. The ROV, about the size of a Land Rover, cost approximately £3 million to build and is capable of diving 6500m. Without the groundbreaking Isis, the team would not have been able to uncover and unearth some 12,000 samples of rocks, bacteria and other marine life.

The South Pacific is attractive to deep-sea biologists at the cutting-edge of research as it has been considered as an important gateway for the dispersal of vent animals between the other major oceans of the world over geological timescales. “We expected to find a mixture of animals probably reflecting such dispersal, certainly shrimp and possibly mussels and other animals”, says expedition leader and Professor of Conservation Biology Alex Rogers.However, the nature of the sea-life confronting the team surprised as much as it delighted. “We were fairly certain that the Southern Ocean was a major missing piece in our understanding of the distribution of vent species but we never expected something so new.” The Somerville Fellow adds, “what we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did. Many animals such as tubeworms, vent mussels, vent crabs, and vent shrimps, which are found in hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, simply weren’t there.”

Prof. Rogers explains that the discoveries have significant implications in terms of an understanding of the marine life of the Indian Ocean, rewriting the story of vent biogeography. Just last month, more yeti crabs have been spotted by a research team following the lead of Rogers’ team, based at Southampton.

He hopes that the findings will encourage a new generation of marine biologists to involve themselves in deep-sea research. “With modern research vehicles the images we have are fantastic and really help to engender enthusiasm for the subject. For me, teaching students about the deep ocean is a pleasure. To reveal to anyone for the first time the wonders of the deep ocean and seeing their reactions is always great.”

A report detailing the research has been published in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.

Geoffrey Hill, Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, has received a knighthood for services to literature in the New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Hill, who has been described as the “greatest living poet writing in the English language,’ has produced more than fifteen volumes of celebrated poetry, including the acclaimed King Log and Speech! Speech!, in a career spanning over fifty years. Hill has also written four volumes of influential literary criticism.

In June 2010, he became the 44th occupant of one of the most distinguished literary chairs in existence, Oxford’s Professor of Poetry, succeeding Christopher Ricks in a line of incumbents that includes Matthew Arnold, W. H. Auden, Robert Graves and Seamus Heaney. A record 2,500 votes were cast in the election, of which Hill secured the overwhelming majority – more than three times than that of his nearest rival, Michael Horovitz.

Dr. Peter McDonald, Christ Church Tutor, literary critic and editor of Geoffrey Hill: Essays on His Later Work, spoke to Cherwell of the importance of the honour, commenting, “Geoffrey Hill has been for a very long time now the best poet writing in English; in my view, he is also a poet of permanent importance, whose work certainly ranks alongside that of Yeats and Eliot in power, memorability, and originality. Three such poets in a hundred years are all any culture can reasonably expect.

“The knighthood is right and proper as an expression of national pride, though it must be added that the British poetry world has seldom been inclined to take any particular pride in Hill’s achievements: this reflects badly on that little world, but will be of no consequence in the longer term. Oxford’s securing Sir Geoffrey’s services as Professor of Poetry will I think come to be seen as a great triumph for our University.”

Dr Seamus Perry, Lecturer and Deputy Chair of Oxford’s English Faculty Board, also sang Hill’s praises. He said, “This is a wonderfully fitting tribute from the Crown to England’s greatest living poet. For more than half a century Hill’s works have meditated upon the history and politics of these islands with an unrivalled imaginative tenacity and a fiercely engaged moral intelligence that is wholly unique: this recognition is thoroughly deserved. I hope he gets the Nobel next.”

Dr. Daniel Tyler, English tutor at Lincoln, was “delighted” by the honour, telling Cherwell, “It is good news that such a fine poet has been recognised in this way. Although best known for his poetry, Geoffrey Hill is also a literary critic of the highest order – as all those of us who have enjoyed his stimulating lectures as Professor of Poetry can attest. In all his writing, he strives for precision of thought and expression rather than popular appeal, but if the award of this honour brings his writing to the considered attention of a larger body of readers, then it will have done a good thing.”

One English student at Corpus Christi acknowledged, “As a poet who is not only current but also connected into both the academic and composition sides of the art, Geoffrey Hill is a clear candidate to represent the profession.”

The New Year’s Honours List had a strong literary presence this year. Novelist and Oxford graduate Penelope Lively became a Dame, whilst Australian writer Clive James and author Rachel Billington were awarded CBEs. Diarmaid MacCulloch, Oxford’s Professor of the History of the Church, also received a knighthood in recognition of his services to scholarship.

Sir Geoffrey Hill is a fellow of Keble College, Oxford. His latest work, Clavics, is shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Poetry 2011. Since June 2007, he has completed five new collections of poems, scheduled for publication by Oxford University Press in 2013. In 2009 his Collected Critical Writings won the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism, the largest annual cash prize in English-language literary criticism.