Posted by David S Morgan, CBS News

HAWKING STATES THAT THE UNIVERSE IS GOVERNED BY SCIENCE and THAT OUR EXISTENCE HERE IS BY PURE CHANCE!?

Physicist Stephen Hawking believes there is NO afterlife, and that the concept of heaven is a "fairy story" for people who fear death.

In an interview published in the Guardian, Hawking -- author of the bestselling "A Brief History of Time" -- said that when the brain ceases to function, that's it.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail," he told the Guardian's Ian Sample.

"There is NO heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

Hawking, 69, who has survived for nearly five decades with a motor neuron disease that doctors believed would kill him while he was still in his early 20s, said he does not fear death.

He also said that having lived with the prospect of death from his incurable illness has ultimately led him to enjoy life more.

"I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he said.

Hawking was the target of criticism from religious circles when his most recent book, "The Grand Design," argued that there was no need for a creator to explain the universe's existence.