WTF, really......... Stephen Hawking: Abandon the Earth

#1
OrangeEmpire

OrangeEmpire

The White Debonair
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#1
Stephen Hawking: Abandon the Earth

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has some advice for the people of Earth - it's time to get off.
"I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space," Hawking said to Big Think , a global forum that includes interviews with experts.
"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."
The physicist called humankind's survival "a question of touch and go" and referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963 as one time people narrowly avoided extinction. He also referred to the 22,600 stockpiled nuclear weapons, including 7,770 still operational, scattered around the planet.
If that doesn't drive us off, University of Sussex astrophysicist Dr. Robert Smith said global warming may reach a point "where all of Earth's water will simply evaporate." He said life will disappear on Earth long before the 7.6 billion years some say the aging sun will expand and destroy Earth.
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Thoughts?

Why does this sound like Wall E........
 
#2
#2
You should hear his take on extra terrestrials. He says we should avoid contact or communication with them at all costs.
 
#3
#3
That makes sense though, what if they are not friendly, obviously they would be more advanced on the technology side if they come to us.

I don't get the gloom and doom earth stuff, seems silly.
 
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#5
Let's all go live on a space station designed by NASA with a faulty A/C unit.
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#6
#6
It is just as he said, we are all on one planet. One big asteroid and we are done. One new plague and we are back to the stone age. That sort of thing. Think of it on a smaller scale. What if there were only 60 humans that existed, and they all lived in Seattle, Washington? One tsunami, one volcanic eruption, or one earthquake could knock out the entire species. heck, one outbreak of the mumps.
 
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#7
Hopefully the next 20-30 years will give us some real innovation in the space industry.
 
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IPorange said:
It is just as he said, we are all on one planet. One big asteroid and we are done. One new plague and we are back to the stone age. That sort of thing. Think of it on a smaller scale. What if there were only 60 humans that existed, and they all lived in Seattle, Washington? One tsunami, one volcanic eruption, or one earthquake could knock out the entire species. heck, one outbreak of the mumps.
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You'll have to point out what exactly we can do about living on one planet.
 
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OrangeEmpire said:
You'll have to point out what exactly we can do about living on one planet.
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I believe he said we should try and diversify in 200 years. He is hoping that we will work something out by then, and not blow ourselves up in the mean time.
 
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Yeah I don't think this is that crazy. If a giant asteroid is approaching, I'd be cool with having an escape plan rather than relying on Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi to deal with things.
 
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lumberjack4 said:
Hopefully the next 20-30 years will give us some real innovation in the space industry.
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with the path Obama has set us on, we will be reduced to efforts similar to the flashlight stuffed with bottle rocket innards from "October Sky"
 
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IPorange said:
It is just as he said, we are all on one planet. One big asteroid and we are done. One new plague and we are back to the stone age. That sort of thing. Think of it on a smaller scale. What if there were only 60 humans that existed, and they all lived in Seattle, Washington? One tsunami, one volcanic eruption, or one earthquake could knock out the entire species. heck, one outbreak of the mumps.
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or what if the last 60 ppl that survived were bammers .. :blink: :banghead2:
 
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kptvol said:
Yeah I don't think this is that crazy. If a giant asteroid is approaching, I'd be cool with having an escape plan rather than relying on Bruce Willis and Steve Buscemi to deal with things.
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Gotta admit that was funny.
 
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MG1968 said:
with the path Obama has set us on, we will be reduced to efforts similar to the flashlight stuffed with bottle rocket innards from "October Sky"
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On the contrary I think with more of a focus being put on the privatization of space we will see an explosion of innovation over the next several years. SpaceX has a promising future when it comes to delivering cargo into space at a price the government could never imagine. Virgin Galactic is still a few years away from achieving low earth orbit, but they have done a lot in the last 5 years alone to get where they are today. With greedy profit being the motivational force behind space exploration private companies will push the envelope to the extreme. That's something that's simply impossible for the government to do.

The Shuttle program is over 20 years old now. What advances in manned space exploration have we seen over the last 20 years? Very little.
 
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Virgin Galactic - hence my Branson comment. Problem is that the focus is some tourist based venture where a few fat cats get a joyride and then come back. Privatization and innovation sounds nice but it is not getting us far on autos and energy. We've been trying to get to new ideas for both areas and we're stuck with the Volt and a few token windmills that liberals beg for and then complain they are an eyesore. With a lack of innovation here on earth, I'm not seeing a faster pace in space.
 
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lumberjack4 said:
On the contrary I think with more of a focus being put on the privatization of space we will see an explosion of innovation over the next several years. SpaceX has a promising future when it comes to delivering cargo into space at a price the government could never imagine. Virgin Galactic is still a few years away from achieving low earth orbit, but they have done a lot in the last 5 years alone to get where they are today. With greedy profit being the motivational force behind space exploration private companies will push the envelope to the extreme. That's something that's simply impossible for the government to do.

The Shuttle program is over 20 years old now. What advances in manned space exploration have we seen over the last 20 years? Very little.
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so you think Obama's economic policies have laid the groundwork for space entrepreneurs?
 
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MG1968 said:
so you think Obama's economic policies have laid the groundwork for space entrepreneurs?
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No, but I think over the next 20-30 years the economic situation will improve where space entrepreneurs are free to pursue their interests. It's not a good economic time now, but history shows that at some point it will improve.

I also believe that his plans to downsize NASA are more good than bad. I know that's blasphemy living in the area that I do, but NASA is the same as any government bureaucracy (same as the DoD), in that there's more than enough waste around to cut.
 
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lumberjack4 said:
No, but I think over the next 20-30 years the economic situation will improve where space entrepreneurs are free to pursue their interests. It's not a good economic time now, but history shows that at some point it will improve.

I also believe that his plans to downsize NASA are more good than bad. I know that's blasphemy living in the area that I do, but NASA is the same as any government bureaucracy (same as the DoD), in that there's more than enough waste around to cut.
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I can't see myself swelling with pride when a private craft, festooned with more corporate logos than a NASCAR car, lands on the moon or Mars.

There's just something unique about seeing the American flag and "USA" on a vehicle that is the first to do something. Gutting our manned exploration just seems the wrong way to go about saving money.
 
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lumberjack4 said:
No, but I think over the next 20-30 years the economic situation will improve where space entrepreneurs are free to pursue their interests. It's not a good economic time now, but history shows that at some point it will improve.

I also believe that his plans to downsize NASA are more good than bad. I know that's blasphemy living in the area that I do, but NASA is the same as any government bureaucracy (same as the DoD), in that there's more than enough waste around to cut.
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I am generally for smaller government, but the Navy and NASA are two exceptions. Can they better manage their money? Sure. Should they try to focus all their planning into a few concrete goals? Definitely. Should we shrink the ONE government institution that has elevated the standard of living of Americans and even the world over the last 50 years? No.
 
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wounded mullet said:
Kirk or Picard?
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Depends on the situation. If I got to make first contact with aliens or investigate some exoarchaeological mystery, I'll take Picard. If I want to go down to the Space Pub and nail some green chicks and maybe pick a fight with a 8 foot tall scaley dude, I'll take Kirk.
 
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MG1968 said:
I can't see myself swelling with pride when a private craft, festooned with more corporate logos than a NASCAR car, lands on the moon or Mars.

There's just something unique about seeing the American flag and "USA" on a vehicle that is the first to do something. Gutting our manned exploration just seems the wrong way to go about saving money.
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I still think that NASA has a place in manned spaceflight, but being the sole participant isn't it. I understand that in many ways its up to NASA to do beneficial research. When NASA is spending billions trying to go to Mars instead of setting up a research lab on the moon, I'm sorry but the Mars program needs to be closed.

I never thought that the Constellation program was the best way to replace the shuttle. We were essentially using Saturn V technology to go back to the moon 40 years after that same technology took us there in the first place.

At a time when the country is spending money that it doesn't have, NASA should be on the list along with the social programs to be cut back on.
 
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