Stephen Hawking has joined Facebook, promising to share his work toward discovering “what makes the universe exist” with his followers of his new account. “Time and space may forever be a mystery, but that has not stopped my pursuit,” Hawking writes. “Our connections to one another have grown infinitely and now that I have the chance, I’m eager to share this journey with you.” His page has also posted a video of Hawking accepting the Ice Bucket Challenge, with his three children taking the plunge on his behalf. “It would not be wise for me to have a bucket of cold water poured over me,” Hawking says. The video is perhaps a fitting start given that Hawking has dealt with motor neuron disease for most of his life.

While Hawking joining Facebook is certainly an exciting moment for science enthusiasts, this in part appears to be a marketing move for the upcoming Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything as well. So far there’s no promotion for the movie on his page, but publicity for the film is going out of its way to make a note of Hawking’s new digital presence. Even if that’s the case, Hawking’s thoughts are still being made a lot more accessible — his page is already approach 1 million followers after being publicized just six hours ago — and it’s hard to take fault with that even if advertising may be responsible for getting the ball rolling.

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