Physicist Stephen Hawking's passing is putting a focus on his warnings about the survival of the human race.
In recent months, Hawking warned that humans need to leave earth in the next 200 years if we want to survive. He discussed the potential for a space colony for survival.
“I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space,” the physicist told Charlie Rose.
Hawking believed life on Earth would be wiped out by an asteroid strike, artificial intelligence, an alien invasion, or some other major disaster. He also warned that over-population, war, and climate change could be the end of humanity.
“Although the chance of a disaster on planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, becoming a near certainty in the next 1,000 or 10,000 years,” Hawking said in the BBC documentary Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth.
“We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” he also said. “I don’t think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”
The legendary physicist passed away at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76.