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Stephen Hawking Warns Against Confining Ourselves To Earth

Posted by Soulskill on from the universe-won't-mourn-a-mote-of-dust dept.

alancronin writes with this excerpt from CNet: "Stephen Hawking, one of the world's greatest physicists and cosmologists, is once again warning his fellow humans that our extinction is on the horizon unless we figure out a way to live in space. Not known for conspiracy theories, Hawking's rationale is that the Earth is far too delicate a planet to continue to withstand the barrage of human battering. 'We must continue to go into space for humanity,' Hawking said today, according to the Los Angeles Times. 'We won't survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet.'"

4 of 414 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Earth isn't delicate, by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Informative

        Humans don't actually handle low G all that well.. Vision degrades. Bones weaken. Muscle tone is lost. It would be many generations in that environment before we adapted or evolved to live comfortably in it. We need gravity. We need bugs (and the whole ecosystem). We need changing weather. Without the later two, you won't have well sustained food crops.

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  2. Re:Paradox by khallow · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hawking ought to be more concerned about remaining confined to his chair.

    Hawking ought to be long dead by now. And he currently speaks at about one word per minute (via a twitch of a muscle on his cheek). Do you really think he doesn't get that? "Concern" doesn't magically reverse a medical condition for which we have no clue how to cure.

    But his concern may help save the human race. I think his priorities are in order.

  3. Re: Earth isn't delicate, by hawguy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Or, learn how to survive on this planet before going out and colonizing another one.

    There are things that could happen that would make it very difficult if not impossible to survive on this planet no matter how much we've learned about surviving. Like a supervolcano eruption putting enough ash in the air to shade the entire planet, sudden release of ocean methane stores, a large asteroid strike, etc.

    Any of these events are unlikely, but any of them could happen tomorrow. Even if they don't lead to extinction, the collapse of civilization would prevent us from leaving the planet for a long long time.

  4. Re: Earth isn't delicate, by ZoobieWa · · Score: 3, Informative

    The planet needs humanity or it will turn to dust? You sound religious.

    We are not the only living beings who have gone to space. Bacteria regularly take trips there encased in their own protective shuttles. Here's an article from a few months ago.

    http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/loads-of-bacteria-hiding-out-in-storm-clouds-130124.htm