Humans have less than 1,000 years left on Earth before they are wiped out in a mass extinction, Stephen Hawking delivered this grim forecast during a speech at Oxford University Union.
Discussing the universe and the origins of human life, the renowned theoretical physicist urged the public to take greater interest in space travel and look for places beyond Earth to shift to, in order to avoid extinction.
“Perhaps one day we will be able to use gravitational waves to look back into the heart of the Big Bang,” he said. “Most recent advances in cosmology have been achieved from space where there are uninterrupted views of our Universe but we must also continue to go into space for the future of humanity.
“I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping our fragile planet,” the physicist added.
Stephen Hawking, 74, has predicted such an outcome in the past as well. In January this year he warned that technology would lead to a virtually inevitable global cataclysm on Earth.
“We face a number of threats to our survival from nuclear war, catastrophic global warming, and genetically engineered viruses,” he had said.
According to Hawking, finding another planet is humankind’s only chance of survival.
