Hawking says we are doomed this millenium

[samclem]

While running out for dinner this evening, the National news had a snippet saying that Stephen Hawking said the human race will end this millenium, wiped out by a virus, unless we colonize space.

I don’t need an argument, or even a discussion, just a link. Thanks.

If anyone wishes to turn this into a debate, open a thread in GD.

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

The national news went out for dinner?

[sub]i think that’s what they call a dangling participle–fun, aren’t they?[/sub]

ahem…

Well, the media likes to pretend like they’ve just discovered these things, when actually it’s something he’s already said before.

http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/life.html

Aggression, in the form of subjugating or killing other men, and taking their women and food, has had definite survival advantage, up to the present time. But now it could destroy the entire human race, and much of the rest of life on Earth. A nuclear war, is still the most immediate danger, but there are others, such as the release of a genetically engineered virus. Or the green house effect becoming unstable.

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSSpace0101/15_hawking-ap.html

The British physicist said humans should improve their mental and physical capabilities and meet challenges posed by space travel.

“If we don’t destroy ourselves in the next 100 years, I expect we will spread out to planets in the nearby solar system and then to nearby stars,” Hawking said.

And, ya know, before anthrax was in the news, he thought it was gonna be global warming, not a virus.

http://www.eces.org/articles/static/97029000081570.shtml

Hawking Says Global Warming Threatens Humans With Extinction.
(9/30/2000)
World renowned physicist Stephen Hawking fears the human race may not survive another millennium. “I am afraid the atmosphere might get hotter and hotter until it will be like Venus with boiling sulfuric acid,” the physicist said. “I am worried about the greenhouse effect.”

To ensure the survival of humans, he adds, efforts must be made to colonize other planets. Space travel would not solve every problem, but at least it would ensure that people don’t become extinct. “It takes too many resources to send each person into space,” he said. “But unless the human race spreads into space, I doubt it will survive the next thousand years.”

What network/channel was it? Radio, TV?

[samclem]

Radio, CBS, I think. Thanks Ducks (I’ll take it easy on you when I finally discover the answer to the “Mad Hatter” discussion.

[sleestak]

Hawkings is one of my heros but quantum physicist does != genuis at everything. While nuclear war is the biggest threat(#1), gobal warming is far from proven(#2) and germ warfare is iffy at best.

The biggest threat is probably a major asteroid(SP?) impact. On the other hand, habatating other worlds is a good idea anyway.

Eric

#1. My Dad, for a good number of years, had the job of predicting what the USSR would launch at us if a nuclear war happened. His numbers were bad but no where near as bad as what I heard via the press. (#3)

#2. If you actually look at the data, it appears that the earth has been under the average temp for the past couple hundred years. We are now just starting to reach the 100,000 year average temp. For a cite check the WSJ.

#3. My Dad went to Three Mile island when that whole mess happened. He recently told me that he was offered the job of cleaning it up. He turned it down and said it was the best choice he ever made.

[Koxinga]

I am confident that Hawking would be able to survive the boiling atmosphere of Venus. What does he have to worry about?

[Niobium_Knight]

you know what? i reckon Hawking is doomed this millenium.

[Badtz_Maru]

Remember kids, even geniuses get crazy ideas stuck in their heads sometimes.

[Xerxes]

Put it another way; do you think our long-term chances as a species would be helped or hindered by off-world expansion? Does it sound so crazy now? [sub]Maybe it does[/sub].

[occ]

Yeah, I’ve gotta say, I was surprised at many of the statements Hawking made when I saw him interviewed on some talk show (Larry King, maybe?) a year or so back.

He obviously knows his physics, but his views on humanity, diplomacy, and the like seemed rather simplistic and bleak.

Yeah, thats right! He ain’t so smart!

[audient]

*Originally posted by sleestak *
**
The biggest threat is probably a major asteroid(SP?) impact. **

uh, you think our biggest threat is something that happens every couple million years (for the really big ones, we’re talking every 50 - 100 million years)? More likely than anything that humans could do in the next 1000, 10,000, or 100,000 years?

major meteor hits are pretty low on my list of worries, but they make for fun stories & movies.

[tiny_ham]

[stephen hawking]

If you’re looking for trouble buddy…
you found it

[/stephen hawking]

[Sofa_King]

Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors … Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations. - Albert Einstein

A day will come when beings, now latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins, shall stand upon Earth as a footstool and laugh, and reach out their hands amidst the stars. - H.G. Wells

There will certainly be no lack of human pioneers when we have mastered the art of flight…Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes. In the meantime we shall prepare, for the brave sky-travelers, maps of the celestial bodies. - Johannes Kepler

Why, I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? - Vincent Van Gogh

Before another century is done it will be hard for people to imagine a time when humanity was confined to one world, and it will seem to them incredible that there was ever anybody who doubted the value of space and wanted to turn his or her back on the Universe. - Isaac Asimov

We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. - President Jimmy Carter

“Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever.” - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

I’m astounded by people who want to know the Universe. It’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown. - Woody Allen

[Philster]

I think his opinion is less valuable than a reasonable person’s.

I think Hawking is unqualified to make such predictions. I think his concern over the greenhouse effect tells you all you need to know:

He ain’t got a clue.

Stevie H. should stick to physics.