Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist whose work on black holes and cosmology vastly expanded and complicated our understanding of the universe, died at his home in Cambridge, England early Wednesday, the New York Times reports. Hawking was perhaps the most famous living scientist, known as much for his work bringing complicated ideas about the universe to laypeople as for his breakthroughs in physics. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes offered a breezy, conversational overview of the current state of the field, covering topics as specific as "The Uncertainty Principle" (chapter four) and as broad as "The Origin and Fate of the Universe" (chapter eight). Hawking gave his own biggest discovery--that black holes can emit radiation--a grand total of fourteen pages, in a chapter entitled "Black Holes Ain't So Black," which seems modest to the point of being glib--but then the 1974 paper in which Hawking announced his findings was titled "Black Hole Explosions?", question mark very much included, so not really out of character. A Brief History of Time became a bestseller, made Hawking a household name, and introduced the search for a grand unified theory into the popular imagination.

Science fiction author Isaac Asimov came up with the three'laws' of robotics in a story he published in 1942. The first of these laws says a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Now artist and roboticist Alexander Reben has developed the first robot that breaks this rule, by hurting humans in an unpredictable way. Artist and roboticist Alexander Reben claims he has developed the first robot (pictured) that hurts humans autonomously and in an unpredictable way. It is a'near certainty' that a major technological disaster will threaten humanity in the next 1,000 to 10,000 years.

Some of the world's most prominent scientists and technology entrepreneurs including physicist Stephen Hawking, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons, which they said would be technologically feasible "within years, not decades". Australia has warned the world that artificially intelligent killer robots "may be closer than many of us had imagined" and nations need to work harder to tackle the future threat they may pose. At a United Nations meeting on "lethal autonomous weapons systems" in Geneva, Switzerland, the Australian delegation on Monday night called on the world to come up with agreed rules about how to handle the rapid pace in technology in military artificial intelligence. "The development of fully autonomous systems able to conduct military targeting operations which kill and injure combatants or civilians may be closer than many of us had imagined," the delegation's statement said. "It is an appropriate time to consider the risks of such weapons systems and to make sure we understand fully what might constitute misuse as well as legitimate use of emerging technologies."