Two days ago we published a list of 10 services and devices that will be discontinued in 2025. Today it is the turn of the list of 10 science and technology figures who have died in 2025.
1. Dr. Jane Goodall – Leading Primatologist (1934-2025)
Jane Goodall, a leading conservationist and primatologist, died at the age of 91 in California last October. Goodall was responsible for increasing scientific understanding of chimpanzees through the approach of living with the animals being studied.
While using this research technique in the 1960s in Tanzania, Goodall was criticized by other scientists who had only conducted remote monitoring. By living among chimpanzees, Goodall found that apes can show emotions, have their own personalities and use tools to perform tasks like humans.
The discovery of chimpanzees using tools is one of the biggest because until now only humans were believed to have this ability. He also discovered that chimpanzees can grieve the death of a family member like humans.
In addition to increasing understanding of primates, the late Goodall was also an activist on climate change. From the 1970s until the end of her life, Goodall produced dozens of documentaries about primates and how development was destroying their habitat.
2. Udo Kier – Actor of Red Alert 2 (1944-2025)
Udo Kier, a cult-level actor who starred in the video game series Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 and Call of Duty WWII, died yesterday at the age of 81. Kier starred in more than 275 films, TV series and video games in a career that began in 1966. The cause of his death has not yet been announced.
Among fans of the Command and Conquer series, Kier is well known for playing the antagonist Yuri who uses brain control powers to defeat enemies. In addition to Red Alert 2, he is also the main character in the DLC Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge. Meanwhile, he lent his voice to the character Dr. Peter Straub in Call of Duty WWII.
Despite his death, Kier still has 7 projects in the works, including the video game OD by Hideo Kojima. In X, Kojima stated that he was upset by the news of his death because the acting recording phase has not yet been done for Kier's character. OD is eagerly awaited by Kojima fans because it is believed to be a redevelopment of the game P.T. which was canceled after he left Konami.
3. Drew Struzan – Father of Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Posters (1947-2025)
In the Renaissance era, we had Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michaelangelo who are famous for their masterpieces Mona Lisa and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. In the modern world, the painter may not be very popular but I am sure many have seen the work produced by Drew Struzan. He produced posters for the movies Star Wars, Back to The Future, Jurassic Park, Blade Runner, The Thing, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and E.T the Extra Terrestrial, earning him the nickname of the father of science fiction and fantasy posters.
Struzan died at the age of 78, on October 13 due to Alzheimer's disease, which he had been suffering from for the past few years. He was only revealed to have this incurable disease in March after it caused Struzan to no longer be able to work.
Throughout his five-decade career, Struzan produced more than 150 movie posters, with his last work being for the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy in 2019.
His realistic, dynamic and cinematic poster design style has been followed not only by other movie poster designers but also by hundreds of comic book artists who say the posters he produced inspired him growing up.
He produced posters using painting and airbrushing techniques until the end of his life, even though the world had moved to the digital world. Although better known as Hollywood's number one movie poster artist, the late man began his career as a music album artist for artists such as the Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Alice Cooper.
4. Shunsaku Tamiya – Chairman of Tamiya (1934- 2025)
The chairman of Tamiya, Shunsaku Tamiya, passed away on July 18, with the cause of his death at the age of 90 not disclosed by his family.
Shunsaku Tamiya is the son of company founder Yoshio Tamiya. He was born in 1934 and joined the family business in 1958. Tamiya Shoji & Co. was founded in 1946 as a sawmill supplying wood. It then began producing wooden models for Japanese children after the end of World War I.
Sales of wooden models began to decline in the 1950s. This forced Tamiya to produce the plastic models that are now synonymous with their brand in 1959. The first plastic model produced was the battleship Yamato with Shunsaku Tamiya asking his brother Masao Tamiya to create the two-star logo that is still used today. The red star symbolizes creativity and enthusiasm while the blue star symbolizes sincerity and youth.
Shunsaku Tamiya was directly involved in the production of the company's early plastic models. For example, to produce the first tank model, Tamiya would personally visit museums to see every detail of the real weapon.
His greatest contribution was to popularize the hobby of four-wheel drive miniature cars and remote control (RC) cars. If you are like me who grew up in the 80s and 90s, these miniature cars are known by the nickname "Tamiya cars" even though there were other companies that produced them such as Auldey and Takara. Weekends were filled with racing activities with other Tamiya car enthusiasts. For those in their 40s and 50s, the Tamiya car is definitely their first EV.
5. Michael Madsen – Voice Actor for GTA III and Reservoir Dogs (1957-2025)
Michael Madsen, a prominent actor in the films Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, Sin City and Donnie Brasco, died in July at the age of 67. Madsen also lent his voice to the video games Grand Theft Auto III, Dishonored and also reprised his role as Mr Blonde for the video game adaptation of Reservoir Dogs.
Madsen was found unconscious at his home in Malibu, California. When an ambulance arrived, he was pronounced dead, with police saying they did not suspect foul play. In a separate statement, Madsen's manager said the death was caused by a heart attack.
Throughout his 43-year career, Madsen starred in 328 film, TV series and video game productions. He became widely known after playing the iconic role of Mr Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.
In the world of video games, Madsen lent his voice to the character Toni Cipriani in Grand Theft Auto 3, Daud in the Dishonored series, Shimano in Yakuza and Travis Baker in Crime Boss: Rockay City.
6. Bill Atkinson Dies – Macintosh GUI Designer, Creator of Double-Click and Menu Bar (1951-2025)
Bill Atkinson, a software engineer involved in creating GUIs for the Apple Lisa and Apple Macintosh computers, died at the age of 74 due to pancreatic cancer last Thursday. His death was announced by family members on his Facebook page today.
In addition to being involved in the development of early operating systems at Apple, he was also the creator of the menu bar, pull-down menus, and double-clicks using the mouse that are still used in modern operating systems and software. The HyperCard software that Atkinson also developed became a platform for developing software, interactive content, video games and slides before Powerpoint was created by Dennis Austin.
The deceased was Apple's 51st employee before expanding his wings to establish General Magic with Andy Hertzfeld and Marc Porat. At General Magic, the Magic Cap operating system was developed using it on the failed Sony Magic Link.
It failed so much that many people don't remember its existence even though it was one of the earliest mobile devices to combine internet connectivity, a touchscreen, messaging features, a fax machine and a phone, and is considered the proto-smartphone we use today.
The failure of the Magic Link caused the company to go out of business with two of its former employees Tony Fadell and Andy Rubin later creating the iPod and Android. Therefore, General Magic, despite its failure, is considered the Fairchild Semiconductor of the 90s.
7. David Cope – Father of Music AI (1941-2025)
The Father of Music AI is the title given to David Cope, a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce music. He died last May at the age of 83 from congestive heart failure.
Many may think that generative AI producing music is a new invention. In fact, the opposite is true because the late Cope produced the first music AI called Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMI). EMI was developed after Cope was faced with the problem of writing an opera in the early 1980s. EMI's algorithm was trained using data from his own writings, as he was a musician before he got involved in computing.
The process of creating EMI took 8 years, and it then completed the opera that gave rise to it in just two days. EMI was then trained on the works of Bach, Bartok, Brahms, Chopin, Gershwin, Joplin, Mozart, and Prokoviev. The new music EMI produces replicates the styles of these renowned composers and artists.
One difference between EMI and audio generative AI like Suno is that it produces musical works in the form of written sheet music that humans then have to play to hear, rather than software that spews out music immediately after the prom is inserted.
8. George Elwood Smith – Inventor of the CCD Sensor (1930-2025)
Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty
Every phone you hold in your hand today bears the imprint of George Elwood Smith, who died in May at the age of 95. He and William Boyle co-invented the Charge Coupled Device (CCD) in 1959 while working at Bell Labs, which is now a key component of digital camera sensors.
A CCD is a semiconductor that converts light information into an electronic signal that is then stored as an image. It was the first sensor used in still cameras and digital video cameras. The disadvantage of CCD is that it does not work well in low-light situations even when there is a bright light source. This led to the creation of the CMOS sensor which is now widely used.
For their contribution to the creation of CCD technology, George E. Smith, along with Willard S. Boyle and Charles K. Kao, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009.
9. James Watson – Discoverer of the Double Helix Structure of DNA (1928–2025)
James Watson, the Nobel Prize winner responsible for discovering the double helix structure of DNA along with Francis Crick, died on November 6 at the age of 96.
The discovery in 1953 at Cambridge University was made using X-ray data from Rosalind Franklin, they exposed the world to the double helix structure of DNA for the first time. It not only answered the question of how physical characteristics are inherited from parents to children, but also became the cornerstone of the biotechnology revolution we enjoy today.
Without Watson and Crick's contributions, the world might have been slow to understand the mapping of the human genome, CRISPR gene editing technology, and upholding justice in court through forensic technology.
Although Watson's contributions were great to the world of science, his life was embroiled in controversy because of his sexist, racist opinions and he was among the supporters of the eugenics theory that a person's intelligence is closely linked to race with white people having higher IQs. This is why after his death, not many eulogies were written about the deceased.
10. Han Jong-hee – CEO of Samsung Electronic (1962-2025)
Samsung Electronics co-CEO Han Jong-hee died last March at the age of 63 due to a heart attack. He was responsible for leading the mobile device business and also the electronics equipment at Samsung Electronics.
He had been with Samsung since 1988 with the longest involvement in the television business and under his leadership, Samsung managed to become the world's number one TV brand for 18 consecutive years.
Han's death was surprising because he had just been appointed co-CEO of Samsung Electronics in November last year. It also happened at a time when Samsung was experiencing various issues, particularly in declining smartphone sales and increasingly fierce competition in the electronic device market.
