suppermariobroth:

In memory of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away earlier today, a Mario fact that showcases that his contributions to science were appreciated even in something as unconnected to physics as Mario games:

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, the skybox for Starship Mario when it is stationed in World 6 contains a large black hole. The black hole is notable for having a thin stream of what appears to be steam escaping it. This is actually a reference to a phenomenon in physics known as black hole evaporation, which states that in addition to accumulating matter, black holes should eject matter as well, leading to them losing mass in a manner similar to what is depicted in the game. Black hole evaporation was discovered by Stephen Hawking and is also known as Hawking radiation.