Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that humanity needs to become a multi-planetary species within the next century in order to avoid extinction. Hawking made the prediction in a new documentary called Expedition New Earth, which is set to be released this summer (airing on June 15) as part of the renewed BBC’s Tomorrow’s World science season – reported by Anthony Cuthbertson @newsweek.
Existential risks include climate change, overpopulation, epidemics and asteroid strikes, according to Hawking.
“In this landmark series, Expedition New Earth, he enlists engineering expert Danielle George and his own former student, Christophe Galfard, to find out if and how humans can reach for the stars and move to different planets.”
Our Days Are Numbered
The only way to survive? We need to change planets, and fast. A lot could happen in 100 years, and we’ve proven that we’re capable of discovering and developing many things within a century. But could we really go multi-planetary in that timeframe?
Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk thinks so, and he’s already outlined plans to make it happen. The destination for humanity in his mind? Mars. And while the Red Planet isn’t exactly that near, neither is it too far. Musk intends to land people to Mars by 2025 and set up a colony by 2033 — which is well within Hawking’s timeline. Watch the awe-inspiring video below that shows Musk’s vision for the Red Planet exploration:
SpaceX to Mars (04:21)
However, reaching Mars and setting up a stable habitat could take a couple more decades at least. Fortunately, there are others working on it, too: NASA already has a program for getting to Mars, and China’s also working on its own mission to the Red Planet. (source Dom Galeon/Abby Norman – Futurism)