Hawking Says Humans Must Go Into Space

Hawking Says Humans Must Go Into Space


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 the Earth, world-renowned scientist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

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"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."

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Fragile earth, indeed....

Ive always believed that space exploration is essential. We honestly cannot stay on this planet forever, even if we do clean it up.

Its the next step towards the evolution of our spieces. Its our destiny. Regardless if earth is clean or a toxic dump.

It's fun to dream and I'm a fan of Sci-fi...

BUT...

We're not going anywhere until we can bring our environment with us and break the light-speed barrier.

Maybe we should learn to take better care of our one and only spaceship earth before thinking that we deserve another place to trash.
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Since the beginning, man has had a fascination with the stars. Now, our technology has caught up with those dreams. The steps we have taken in the last century have been immense. For the first time in history; man has actually achieved its dream of reaching the stars(moon landing)

It is only a matter of time until this planet is unsustainable for our continued growth(even without natural disasters, nuclear war, genetically engineered virus, etc..)
And with our population increasing exponentially, it is but a short time we have left, to achieve anything close to what Hawking has stated.

It is most unfortunate that; our psychology has not developed as fast as our technology. The acheivements we could aspire to; if only, we would spend as much time and money helping one another; as we do killing and destroying ourselves and the environment.

Ever since I first saw Star Wars in 1978(I was five); I have had a love affair with the notion of space travel. The idea of a multitude of alien planets and species intermingling was, to me, a most fascinating and brilliant concept.

hopefully, people like Mr. Hawkins and others will help continue to pioneer our science to help us(as the human race) progress towards colonization of other planets and assure the continuation of our species.


[edit on 13-6-2006 by TONE23]

Originally posted by Gools
Maybe we should learn to take better care of our one and only spaceship earth before thinking that we deserve another place to trash.

I agree. Another point to think about is; Let's say we can develop deep space travel and are forced to move off our planet and we find another planet similar to Earth somewhere. Let's say there are other inhabitants on that planet that are caveman-like, technologically speaking.

Would we move in, take over, and eventually wipe out their species? Looking at our past, I have to wonder...

[edit on 13-6-2006 by mecheng]

Originally posted by loam
"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."

And for us conspiracy theorists - Think he knows something?

Originally posted by Gools
Maybe we should learn to take better care of our one and only spaceship earth before thinking that we deserve another place to trash.

Beautifully said.

I respect Dr.Hawking, enormously so, but he lives in his own world that few mortals can ever begin to comprehend. Going to stars is cool, but it's a shame to give up on mother Earth while we are still capable to fix it.

It's like -- I havent' cleaned my house for 25 years now and it's barely livable, and that stench in the kitchen... OMG... The plates I haven't washed in the past 6 months... There is some good food in the fridge from a real nice Chinese restaurant -- too bad they went our of business 5 years ago...

So, I make a decision to work extra hard (too bad I can't take a shower anymore) and move to a new house next block. This way, I don't have to deal with this mess. Hurrah!

I cant believe someone could be so narrow minded as yourself GOOLS!

Firstly, have you ever heard of Quantum Physics? If not start reading mate!
There is alot more to this world and life then you or I will ever know...

I urge you to look at various works of -

Dr Emoto - Alters the way water crystals form by thought...


Dr Hamer - Heals cancer without medicine...

Chech out the website - www.whatthebleep.com

Originally posted by mecheng

And for us conspiracy theorists - Think he knows something?

I just think he, just like everyone with their head in the stars (me included), knows that it is necessary for us to venture out and live beyond this Earth. Even if we were treating the Earth well, our population is still growing and we will run out of resources on this Earth to sustain the population.

Originally posted by whatthehealth
I cant believe someone could be so narrow minded as yourself GOOLS!

I don't want to speak for Gools but I don't think he's being narrow minded. These are questions any repspectable civilization should ask before venturing out. It called being responsible. Are we children who mess their rooms and leave the cleaning for someone else or are we responsible adults who take care of our homes?

Also, I haven't read the books you're touting, but how is remote viewing going to get a civilization off this planet and onto another?

Ummm... yeah... I do have an honours degree in science. Which is why I'm not being narrow minded just practical. Ever hear of biology, biochemistry and psychology?

The nearest star is Proxima Centauri and is 4.3 light-years from our Sun.

Assuming we can travel at the speed of light it's over a four year trip. That's ten years round trip at the speed of light in case we don't find a planet with conditions very close to Earth to survive there.

We need a specific conditions of gravity, air pressure, air mixture, sunlight, food and water requirements etc. Not to mention the psychological effects of such an endeavour.

Astronauts show signs of cardiovascualr changes and bone demineralisation in the first hours of leaving the atmosphere. We are intimately linked with our environment through millions of years of evolution whether we realise it or not.

We are part of this planet not just living on it.

Thinking we can survive without it (or on a totally different biosphere we did not evolve with) is wishful thinking IMO.

Like I said, if we can't take our environment with us and we can't break the light barrier, we are not going anywhere.

But hey, I like to dream too. I'm just not ready to spend billions on manned space flight until we can at least develop an engine we can slap on a probe an go see what our nearest neighbour has in store for us.

In the meantime, escape from our messy world of our own making is not an option.
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Why must the human race survive though? What have we done that makes us so uber special and worth saving at all costs? Call me a cynic, but if the human race was wiped out tomorrow and life on Earth was left to whatever animals survived...no great loss in my book.

Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, a plague...

...and comets are the cure.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Why must the human race survive though?

Survival is the most basic of instincts.

but if the human race was wiped out tomorrow and life on Earth was left to whatever animals survived...no great loss in my book.

Man, sorry you feel that way. I know we humans do stupid things probably more often than not, but it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Cheer up. Life is a beautiful thing.

Gools would have received a WATS from me if it was allowed.

not only do we need to learn to take care of the planet we are on, we need to learn to live amongst ourselves before we bring the human existence to another planet. Imagine trying to colonize another planet when we can't get along with ourselves. Would we bring the fight to a new arena? Would we first fight with the species that already controls that planet and then kill ourselves in a new arena?

We are too immature to move. We need to evolve more emotionally and mentally before we can consider that option (assuming it were available).

Originally posted by mecheng
Cheer up.

Did I say I was unhappy or not enjoying life? Our enjoyment of life and the case for our worthiness for continued survival are unrelated. In fact, in certain situations one be used as the basis for an argument against the other.

Originally posted by Gools
We need a specific conditions of gravity, air pressure, air mixture, sunlight, food and water requirements etc.
Astronauts show signs of cardiovascualr changes and bone demineralisation in the first hours of leaving the atmosphere. We are intimately linked with our environment through millions of years of evolution whether we realise it or not.

Acually the problems you presented will eventually become the cure..The human body adapts very quickly to enviromental changes.. as you said. changes even in as little as a few hours in space.These a problems regarding a return to earth conditions but not for survival in space.They have to be endured and conquered

We really need to expand the exposure to these conditions for a few generations until a ''natural born'' traveller can be conceived either through natural or artificial methods

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Why must the human race survive though? What have we done that makes us so uber special and worth saving at all costs? Call me a cynic, but if the human race was wiped out tomorrow and life on Earth was left to whatever animals survived...no great loss in my book.

Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, a plague...

...and comets are the cure.

Dude, are you serious?

Personally, I think there is alot that we have done that is worth saving:
Love
Music
Technological advancement
Family
Comedy
Imagination

I mean I could keep going, but really, there is alot worth saving. Human beings are not a disease, they are the rulers of this planet. We dominated, over animals much larger and more verocious. And even if we WERE a virus, then F it, cause just from those things I listed above, our purpose is to keep going.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Did I say I was unhappy or not enjoying life?

I think you answered that yourself.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
but if the human race was wiped out tomorrow and life on Earth was left to whatever animals survived...no great loss in my book.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Why must the human race survive though? What have we done that makes us so uber special and worth saving at all costs? Call me a cynic, but if the human race was wiped out tomorrow and life on Earth was left to whatever animals survived...no great loss in my book.

Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, a plague...

...and comets are the cure.

Cynic.... just kidding.

wecomeinpeace -We dont really have to be "uber special" to be worth saving. But is it not, the instinct of all life to continue to evolve in order to survive? Personally I feel the same way you do sometimes, Especially knowing mankind's tendencies.

original quote by:Gools
Maybe we should learn to take better care of our one and only spaceship earth before thinking that we deserve another place to trash.

Clearly and Succinctly put Gools.

general point -Unfortunately, with the way the human race tends to be bent on war and destruction; we are as close to achieving this goal as we are to that of; Dr. Hawking's. It takes a global, conciencious, mindset to attain sustainable developement on a planetary scale.

thank you for your time

mecheng, you're assuming that there's nothing better after. With all the suffering and pain that is being experienced by all those less fortunate than you every minute of every day, do you think that an end to it all and cleaning house should be something to fear and mourn?

Nice to see I stirred the pot so easily though.

[edit on 2006-6-13 by wecomeinpeace]