@north,
Agreeing with the idea and not with the chosen words North...
...nothing has not a state nor it has a form...you cannot instance nothingness in absolute as a thing with a state and a form, the use of the term refers to the absence of stuff that exits, therefore being relative to what exists and somewhat is absent at a given time...now to settle things down, nothingness as nothingness cannot refer nor can it be described if not as an opposition to what there is...same is to say there is n´t no such thing as an absolute nothingness...in absolute, nothingness is not...nothingness is nothing at all !
...someone should explain that to some pop scientists around that in order to keep up with the media at all costs sell this kind of confusing ideas to common folk...Steven Hawking is making a name for stupidity in that department !
Regards>FILIPE DE ALBUQUERQUE