Renowned British physicist and author
Stephen Hawking has a dire prediction for humanity: We will not
survive another millennium unless we colonize another planet.
"I don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without
escaping beyond our fragile planet," Hawking said in remarks
delivered at Sydney's Opera House last weekend. His addresses on
Saturday and Sunday were his first in Australia, but were
delivered via hologram from his office in Britain.
We must continue to go into space “for the future of humanity,”
he added. “I want to encourage public interest in space."
Hawking has made similar comments in the past, suggesting that
technological improvements in space travel could make colonizing
a new planet feasible in the future. "Sooner or later disasters
such as an asteroid collision or a nuclear war could wipe us all
out," he told BBC radio in 2006. "But once we spread out into
space and establish independent colonies, our future should be
safe." In 2010, he said humanity's future "must be" in space.
Hawking also answered several pre-submitted questions during his
Sydney appearance, including a surprising one about Zayn Malik's
departure from pop band One Direction. "Finally, a question
about something important," he said. Hawking used the
opportunity to share his thoughts on the possibility of multiple
universes.
"One day there may well be proof of multiple universes," he
said. "It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that
somewhere outside of our own universe lies another different
universe. And in that universe, Zayn is still in One Direction."