Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May received the Stephen Hawking Award, which is awarded within the framework of the Starmus festival.
The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication was initially announced on December 16, 2015 at the Royal Society in London, by a panel including Professor Stephen Hawking, the Starmus founding director Professor Garik Israelian, Dr. Brian May, Professor Richard Dawkins, Alexei Leonov and Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto.
The Starmus VI festival opened in Armenia with the Sonic Universe concert.
The concert at the Sports Concert Complex after Karen Demirchyan featured Rick Wakeman, System Of A Down lead singer Serj Tankian, the Sons Of Apollo super group, jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan, Russian rock musician Andrey Makarevich, cosmonaut-musician Chris Hadfield.
The Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra was on stage throughout the concert.
Armenian hosts the world-famous Starmus. 50 years on Mars scientific festival September 5-10.
Dozens of scientists, astrophysicists, Nobel laureates, cosmonauts have arrived in Armenia to participate in the event.