(Newswire.net — May 6, 2017) — Stephen Hawking predicts that humankind has no more than 100 years left before it perishes from planet Earth. In a new BBC documentary, he limits our chances of surviving on this planet to until the next century.
In the documentary called “Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth,” which will be aired this summer, the professor claims that the human race would fade into oblivion unless it colonizes another planet.
It’s no secret that physicist Stephen Hawking believes that humans are running out of time on planet Earth.
The famous physicist has warned for decades that humans are heading to Armageddon, because we are unable to learn from our own history and because we keep developing weapons of mass destruction. If not in a nuclear war, humans would meet their bleak destiny due to climate change that would alter our planet. Hawking also predicts that genetically engineered viruses may cause the extinction of the world’s population.
In his “not so bright” forecast, Hawking also mentions the development of artificial intelligence. He claims that further development of autonomous weapons could have serious consequences on mankind.
Last year, Hawking together with more than 20,000 scientists and public figures, including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and Noam Chomsky, urged governments across the globe to ban the development of lethal autonomous weapons that can select and attack targets without intervention by a human operator.
The group advocates tighter control of autonomous weapons and its appliances in military technology, fearing that “The Terminator” film fictional scenario could easily become a reality.
One way or another, humankind is acting against its own legacy, but there is a way out. According to Hawking, the way out is to literary get out of this world. In the BBC’s documentary, the scientist claims that mankind needs to find and colonize another planet in order to survive.
Human migration to a new planet is crucial within the next 100 years, which is why scientists need to concentrate on choosing the right planet.
“We must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” Hawking said in his 2016 speech at Britain’s Oxford University Union. He added that humans are most definitely not alone in the universe and that the encounter of alien species is inevitable, but that it is better for us to find aliens in our deep space exploration than to be found by them here in our solar system.
“I am more convinced than ever that we are not alone, but if the aliens are finding us, they will be vastly more powerful and may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria”, Hawking noted.