Modern-day genius Stephen Hawking theorizes that if extraterrestrial intelligence exists on other planets, it is highly likely for these aliens to destroy the human race in their efforts to colonize Earth.
Hawking believes that extraterrestrials are a potential threat to humanity and if they arrive on our planet, chances are they will wipe out the human race and the world as we know it.
"It would be much worse than what happened when Columbus discovered America, " the world-renowned physicist told Spanish newspaper El País.
He sees aliens as nomads who are constantly on the lookout for new worlds, just like ours with the people living on it. In all likelihood, aliens are intelligent beings, and according to some theories their technology and intellect could surpass humans' several times over.
Prof. Hawking adds that the only chance the people on Earth have for survival is to live on another planet. A potential colonization of Mars, and why not even Venus, could save humanity from its doom.
This would also save people from a catastrophic natural disaster. That type of risk would always exist and we are already witnesses to the drastic climate changes worldwide.
Starting this past summer, Stephen Hawking has joined in on a project for the search for extraterrestrial life. The project is financed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, who is investing $100 million in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
The billionaire believes that somewhere in the Universe there are civilizations more advanced than ours, which would be able to teach us how to more effectively use the resources we have available.
"If we're truly along in the Universe, we need to take good care of what we already have, " concludes Milner.
Scientists are searching for ET life with some of the most powerful telescopes we have - ones capable of finding even the smallest sign of life in many points on the sky map.
The 1st zone to be studied encompasses 1 million stars, with 1 day's worth of data taking a period of 1 year to be analyzed by experts.
