By David L. Brown
Well, Stephen Hawking is at it again, with a prediction that humankind “will need to venture far beyond planet Earth to ensure the long-term survival of our species,” according to a story in The Telegraph (here). Hawking has spoken before on this subject, warning earlier this year during a trip to China that the Earth could turn into another Venus with temperatures of 400 degrees Celsius that would make all life impossible.
According to the Telegraph report today:
Returning to a theme he has voiced many times before, the Cambridge University cosmologist said today that space-rockets propelled by the kind of matter/antimatter annihilation technology popularised in Star Trek would be needed to help Homo sapiens colonize hospitable planets orbiting alien stars.
Internationally known cosmologist Stephen Hawking.
Prof. Hawking, who is confined to a wheelchair with motor neuron disease, MND, was commenting using a muscle below his right eye to operate - via a switch on his glasses - his voice synthesizer. He spoke to a press conference prior to the presentation of Britain’s highest scientific award, the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, previously granted to Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, and Albert Einstein.
Surprisingly considering his health profile, Hawking expressed a desire to personally travel into space, suggesting that Sir Richard Branson’s SpaceShipOne program could be used to take him for a brief trip beyond the atmosphere.