World-famous physicist and cosmologist, Professor Stephen Hawking, has appeared as an onstage hologram during two lectures over the weekend in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. The holographic image of Hawking was made possible by DVE Telepresence Holographic Live Stage technology and a high definition video stream provided by Cisco. Professor Hawking – who was physically located at Cambridge University in the UK – was joined onstage by his daughter, Lucy Hawking, and physicist, Paul Davies. He spoke about his childhood in post-war Britain, his years at both Oxford and Cambridge University and, of course, his thoughts on the future of mankind during his lecture in front of 2000 people on Sunday night. Hawking took questions that had been submitted prior to his lecture from members of the audience. One attendee asked him if the universe could have been created by a supernatural being or god. After a long pause, he simply answered ‘No.’ Hawking also answered one of this year’s biggest questions. “What is the cosmological effect of Zayn [Malik] leaving One Direction and consequently breaking the hearts of millions of teenage girls around the world? His advice to heartbroken teenage girls was to pay close attention to the study of theoretical physics, hinting one day there may be proof of multiple universes, and in a different universe, Zayn might have not left One Direction at all. Meanwhile, Stephen and Lucy Hawking were awarded the 2015 University of New South Wales Medal for Science Communication. UNSW Dean of Science, professor Merlin Crossley presented the medals to Lucy on Sunday night. Professor Crossley congratulated Lucy Hawking on being a great communicator of science who initiated the ‘George’ series of children’s books, co-written by Stephen Hawking. These books have sold millions of copies. Hawking is not the only celebrity to have appeared at an event as a hologram, although the other two notables are deceased – singers Michael Jackson and Tupac. Tupac appeared at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2012, and Michael Jackson at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter:@ByronConnolly Related content opinion Can you spot the hidden theme of CSO’s Future of Cybersecurity summit? By Beth Kormanik May 31, 2023 2 mins Events Cybercrime Artificial Intelligence interview Broadcom’s Andy Nallappan on what cloud success really looks like The CTO, CSO, and head of software engineering and operations knows firsthand that a successful move to the cloud is all about changing the culture and replacing on-prem’s sunk cost mentality with incentivized FinOps. By Martha Heller May 31, 2023 8 mins Technology Industry IT Strategy Cloud Computing feature How CIOs distill the most sought-after data skills From back-end engineers to data scientists and line-of-business experts, here’s the in-demand talent that all organizations need to turn a glut of information into game-changing insight. By Mark Samuels May 31, 2023 8 mins IT Skills Data Center IT Leadership case study How IT leaders use EV tech to fuel the transport revolution in Kenya Many African nations are starting to invest in electric vehicle (EV) transportation as a means to broaden access and help keep pace with global environmental initiatives. In Kenya, strides are being made despite industry and tech leaders grappling to By Vincent Matinde May 31, 2023 5 mins CIO CTO Emerging Technology Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe