“Humans won’t survive a 1000 years on Earth” says Stephen Hawking
Humanity will not survive another 1,000 years on Earth unless the human race finds another planet to live on, one of the world’s best-known physicists Stephen Hawking has warned. “I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet,” the celebrated theoretical physicist and cosmologist said. He painted a grave picture of the future while delivering a lecture on the universe and the origins of human beings at the Oxford Union debating society.
If humanity survives the rise of artificial intelligence, the ravages of climate change and the threat of nuclear terrorism in the next century, it doesn’t mean we’re home free, according to Stephen Hawking.
Remaining on Earth any longer, Hawking believes, places humanity at great risk of encountering another mass extinction.
“We must … continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” the 74-year-old Cambridge professor said during a speech Tuesday at Oxford University Union, according to the Daily Express.
“I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet,” he added.
During his hour-long speech, Hawking told the audience that Earth’s cataclysmic end may be hastened by humankind, which will continue to devour the planet’s resources at unsustainable rates, the Express reported.
“The fact that we humans, who are ourselves mere fundamental particles of nature, have been able to come this close to understanding the laws that govern us and the universe is certainly a triumph,” Hawking said on Monday.
Highlighting “ambitious” experiments that will give an even more precise picture of the universe, he said, “We will map the position of millions of galaxies with the help of (super) computers like Cosmos. We will better understand our place in the universe. ”
“Perhaps one day we will be able to use gravitational waves to look right back into the heart of the Big Bang. But we must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” he said.
