Stephen Hawking's final interview released by BBC as iconic scientist tells how gold is formed from collision of neutron stars

The BBC has released the last interview with Professor Stephen Hawking before he died
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Sophie Williams28 March 2018

The BBC has aired the last known interview with Professor Stephen Hawking in which he discusses major steps forward in the science of black holes.

Professor Hawking died on March 14 at the age of 76 and his funeral will take place in Cambridge at the weekend.

The BBC published the final interview with Professor Hawking on Tuesday. The audio of the interview has also been published online.

In the interview which was conducted last October, he commented on the detection of gravitational waves from the collision of two neutron stars.

The findings meant that astronomers can see how gold is formed from the collision of neutron stars.

In the interview with BBC’s science correspondent Pallab Ghosh he said the discovery was a milestone.

“It is the first detection of a gravitational wave source with an electromagnetic counterpart. It confirms that short gamma-ray bursts occur with neutron star mergers," he said.

“It gives a new way of determining distances in cosmology. And it teaches us about the behaviour of matter with incredibly high density.”

Scientist Stephen Hawking - In pictures

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He explained that the collision of neutron stars is one way of producing gold however it can also be formed from fast neutron capture in supernovas.

Professor Hawking added: "Gold is rare everywhere, not just on Earth. The reason it's rare is that by nuclear-binding energy peaks at iron, making it hard to produce heavier elements in general. Also strong electromagnetic repulsion must be overcome by the nuclear force in order to form stable heavy nuclei like gold.

When asked about whether the new finding would give us an insight into how black holes form he replied: “The fact that a black hole can form from the merger of two neutron stars was known from theory.

“But this event is the first test, or observation. The merger probably produces a rotating, hyper-massive neutron star which then collapses to form a black hole.

“This is very different from other ways of forming black holes, such as in a supernova or when a neutron star accretes matter from a normal star.

“With careful analysis of the data and theoretical modelling on supercomputers, there is vast scope for new insights to be obtained about the dynamics of black hole formation and gamma-ray bursts.”

Mr Ghosh wrote in his article: “I was lucky enough to have interviewed him many times and for me he was at his most enthralling when he was on 'home turf' - talking about the physics he so loved and bending our minds with the implications of new discoveries.”

The world-famous scientist died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in the early hours of March 14.

Professor Hawking's children, Lucy, Robert and Tim said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.

"He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years.

"His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humour inspired people across the world.

"He once said, 'It would not be much of a universe if it wasn't home to the people you love.' We will miss him forever."

The renowned physicist was born in Oxfordshire in 1942 and went on to study at both the University of Oxford and Cambridge.

But after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease in 1964 at the age of 22, he was given just a few years to live.

Yet against all odds Professor Hawking celebrated his 70th birthday nearly half a century later as one of the most famous scientists of the modern age.

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