Hawkings: Survival requires space colonies

Tracy Press ^ | June 14,2006 | Sylvia Hui

[txroadkill]

HONG KONG — The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there’s an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth, world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

Humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years, the British scientist told a news conference.

“We won’t find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system,” added Hawking, who came to Hong Kong to a rock star’s welcome Monday. Tickets for his lecture Wednesday were sold out.

Hawking said that if humans can avoid killing themselves in the next 100 years, they should have space settlements that can continue without support from Earth.

“It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species,” Hawking said. “Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.”

[txroadkill]

Damnit! I just bought this house, now I got to move again!

[RexBeach]

Has Al Gore heard about this!?

[ClearCase_guy]

“Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming..."

Wile E. Coyote ... Super Genius!

[newgeezer]

Hawkings: Survival requires space colonies

It's Hawking. Hawking.

[wideawake]

Hawking is a hack.

No real scientist would try to use his expertise in his field of study to lend false authority to his unintelligent ramblings on theology and politics.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Steven Hawking? That guy who appeared in an episode of STNG? What does he know. Geeze - someone is an actor and they think it makes them smart or something.

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[newgeezer]

A simple search reveals this was already posted.

[adorno]

It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species,

I'm all for that as long as we leave behind the liberals and communists and "global warming" alarmists and Muslims and French.

[Centurion2000]

“We won’t find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system,” added Hawking,

WRONG .... Mars can be terraformed fairly quickly.

[Antoninus]

Lots of us have been saying it for years. Nice to hear Prof. Hawking say it. Someone with his stature will get significant attention.

The trick is this: make it profitable to colonize space and people will find away.

[Dead Corpse]

I ain't goin' no wheres lest I can bring my guns...

[frogjerk]

WRONG .... Mars can be terraformed fairly quickly.

Define quickly.

[mbynack]

WRONG .... Mars can be terraformed fairly quickly

Not unless they find large amounts of water there. It would be difficult to stretch a bucket brigade from here to there.

[furquhart]

Oh, a century or so.

[dirtboy]

WRONG .... Mars can be terraformed fairly quickly.

Just wait until environmentalists block it with endless lawsuits.

[Centurion2000]

Define quickly.

A century or so would be long enough to make the surface habitable.

As far as water, there are dozens of large ice bodies in the outer systems that can be dropped into Mars.

[Rock N Jones]

"WRONG .... Mars can be terraformed fairly quickly."

In the movies, sure. B Grade of course.

[tarheelswamprat]

Nice to see that Hawking has finally come around. Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein pointed this out decades ago.

[Centurion2000]

Just wait until environmentalists block it with endless lawsuits.

Actually by then they will probably be called the Red Mars Faction or Preservationists with the sole goal of preventing man from modifying extraterrestrial bodies.