Is Guido the only one to wonder if God played a little joke on legendary sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke? The visionary author insisted that his death ceremony be devoid of any religious ritual of any kind.

Coincidentally a powerful stellar explosion that has shattered the record for the most distant object visible was detected by NASA’s Swift satellite on March 19, the same day he died. It is so bright that it can be seen by the naked eye despite being half-way across the known universe – the most intrinsically bright object in the universe ever observed by humans. Guido likes to think it God’s way of winking at the mortal chronicler of the cosmos who found no sign of his existence in the universe.