Another controversial statement made by eccentric physicist Stephen Hawking. During a lecture in the Sydney Opera House, the Cambridge University professor warned that if humanity does not leave the Earth within 1000 years, it will disappear.
The lecture in front of young Australian scientists was broadcast live using a holographic projection, while Hawking himself was in his office in Cambridge. The scientist stated that humans need to master interplanetary travel if they wish to survive.
According to him, our planet is an incredibly fragile organism that humans exploit way too intensively. With the rate at which we are using up the Earth's resources, humanity will soon be facing death due to starvation, believes the prominent physicist.
He says that colonizing other planets is a type of life insurance for the human race. It's the only way for humans to survive as a species in the Universe.
"So remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. The only important thing is not to give up, " concluded Hawking at his lecture.
The physicist has on numerous occasions urged humans to look for another habitable planet. According to Hawking, the human race is at risk of man-made catastrophes of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis type and the probability of similar cataclysms will only increase in the future. Further, the rise in population and limited resources on Earth will lead to life becoming impossible at some point.
This is not the genius's first warning of an eventual end of the human race. Some years ago he warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence, as well as the possibility of the self destruction of humanity.
"We need to think about all possibilities for salvation, " as Hawking has stated more than once, "If we manage to avoid catastrophe in the next 200 years, humanity will be safe because we will spread out across the Universe."
