World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has issued a warning that humans need to colonize other planets in order to guarantee survival from a variety of threats.
The warning comes as part of the new series of Tomorrow’s World, a revamp of the successful British TV show that addressed how advances in science and technology stood to shape the future.
Tomorrow’s World ran for 38 years until 2003. Now it’s back, with a broad spectrum of programming all being commissioned under the title.
One of the programs is Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth, in which Professor Hawking posits his theory that interplanetary colonization is necessary to ensure the survival of the human race.
Grave warning
With climate change, overpopulation, possible asteroid strikes, and the rise of unpredictable technology like artificial intelligence, a world-ending event occurring in the next century is not unimaginable. In order to safeguard the continuation of the human race, it makes sense to have a second base.
Mars and the Moon, as our nearest neighbours, are two of the possible options for where we could move, but would of course require significant development before they were habitable on a large scale.
Thinking of planets that are currently habitable, there is the possibility that one of the seven planets recently found in the Trappist 1 system could be viable as our new home. The only problem is they're quite far away – 39 light years away to be precise, and with current technology it would take thousands of years to reach them.
Tesla Founder Elon Musk’s Space X program is already working on methods for creating reusable craft with the aim of establishing interplanetary human existence, so Professor Hawking isn’t the only person thinking about these possibilities. But it will be very interesting to hear what one of our planet’s greatest minds has to say on the subject.
From The Telegraph
Via Forbes
