On 20 July 2015, Hawking helped launch Breakthrough Initiatives, an effort to search for extraterrestrial life. Hawking created Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth, a documentary on space colonisation, as a 2017 episode of Tomorrow's World.
On 20 July 2015, Cuba and the United States officially resumed full diplomatic relations with sections of "Cuban interests" in Washington, D.C., and "U.S. interests" in Havana upgraded to embassies (The embassies had previously been dissolved in 1961 after Cuba became closely allied with the USSR).