The figures the telescope was producing were all that was left of an 
exploding star twenty million years ago. A billion small rubbery things on 
two planets who had been getting on with life in a quiet sort of way had 
been totally destroyed, but they were certainly helping Adrian get his 
Ph.D. and, who knows, they might have thought it all worthwhile if anyone 
had asked them. 
        -- (Terry Pratchett, Johnny and the Dead)