Famed physicist Stephen Hawking died on Wednesday morning at the age of 76.
Hawking struggled with Lou Gehrig’s disease for the last 50 years after initially being given only two years to live. The Cambridge physicist, however, went on to become a pop culture icon and wrote best-selling books.
Despite only being able to speak through a voice synthesizer, Hawking issued dire warnings to humanity. He spent the last months of his life warning about artificial intelligence, alien invasions, overpopulation and man-made global warming.
“We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today,” his children said in a statement to the press. “He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.”
In the realm of science, Hawking and colleague Roger Penrose suggested space and time began with a “Big Bang” and would eventually end with black holes, which Hawking also found emitted radiation and would disappear over time.
NOW WATCH WHY GLOBAL WARMING IS OVERBLOWN:
Hawking’s death comes on international Pi Day, which celebrates 3.14, the numerical value for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Scientists and science organizations issued public statements honoring Hawking’s life:
Remembering Stephen Hawking, a renowned physicist and ambassador of science. His theories unlocked a universe of possibilities that we & the world are exploring. May you keep flying like superman in microgravity, as you said to astronauts on @Space_Station in 2014 pic.twitter.com/FeR4fd2zZ5
— NASA (@NASA) March 14, 2018
His passing has left an intellectual vacuum in his wake. But it’s not empty. Think of it as a kind of vacuum energy permeating the fabric of spacetime that defies measure. Stephen Hawking, RIP 1942-2018. pic.twitter.com/nAanMySqkt
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) March 14, 2018
A star just went out in the cosmos. We have lost an amazing human being. Stephen Hawking fought and tamed the cosmos bravely for 76 years and taught us all something importantabout what it truly means to celebrate about being human. I will miss him.
— Lawrence M. Krauss (@LKrauss1) March 14, 2018
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