Renowned scientist Professor Stephen Hawking has claimed that the survival of the human race depends on colonizing other planets. He also stated that aggression is the trait that could lead to the demise of humanity. He added, space represents the long term future of the human race and can act as “life insurance” for the species.

“Space could prevent the disappearance of humanity by the colonisation of other planets.” Professor Hawking made the comments while escorting an American visitor around the museum as part of a guest of honour prize.

Adaeze Uyanwah, 24, from Palmdale, California, won the tour after producing a blog and video describing a ‘perfect day’ in the UK capital. She asked Professor Hawking what human shortcomings he would alter, and which virtues he would enhance if this was possible.

He replied:”The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression,” he responded. “It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory, or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all.

“A major nuclear war would be the end of civilization, and maybe the end of the human race. The quality I would most like to magnify is empathy. It brings us together in a peaceful, loving state. So, space travel is our best bet for survival”.

“Sending humans to the moon changed the future of the human race in ways that we don’t yet understand. It hasn’t solved any of our immediate problems on planet Earth, but it has given us new perspectives on them and caused us to look both outward and inward.

Expressing her feeling on meeting with Hawking, Uyanwah said that “It’s something I’ll never forget ..” and added that decades from now when her grandchildren will be learning Hawking’s theories in science class, “I’ll be able to tell them I had a personal meeting with him and heard his views first hand.”



