Editor's note

This week, the world lost not only one of its greatest scientists but one of its greatest science communicators. In tribute to Stephen Hawking, we invited one of his students to share what she learned from his teaching and heard from Astronomer Royal Martin Rees about the great physicist’s life.

Hawking was always adamant that sharing his knowledge with the public was vitally important to his work. And so many other academics are now doing the same. The research they do every day helps us understand the world around us and equips us with the information we need to confront the most difficult subjects of our age.

A new immersive exhibition at the Wellcome Collection in London, for example, will be exploring some of the biggest questions about human life. One of the featured scientists, Kevin Fong, has worked with Nasa on human physiology in extreme environments, as well as delivering the Royal Institution Christmas lectures. He wrote for us about his work investigating how free drivers are able to descend hundreds of metres under water, holding their breath for up to 11 minutes at a time.

Meanwhile, Oxford’s Rasmus Kleis Nielsen was part of a high level expert group on "fake news" that reported back to the European Commission this week. He describes how soft power, rather than waiting for technology companies to act, could be the most effective solution to the issue that has everyone bamboozled.

Have a nice weekend. 

Laura Hood

Assistant Editor

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