Extraterrestrial

Stephen Hawking warns against contacting ET

By T.K. Randall
September 24, 2016

Image: Stephen Hawking
Credit: (PD) NASA In a new online documentary entitled 'Stephen Hawking's Favorite Places', the wheelchair-bound physicist is depicted paying a visit to Gliese 832c - a potentially habitable extrasolar world.

"As I grow older I am more convinced than ever that we are not alone," he said. "After a lifetime of wondering, I am helping to lead a new global effort to find out."

"The Breakthrough Listen project will scan the nearest million stars for signs of life, but I know just the place to start looking. One day we might receive a signal from a planet like Gliese 832c, but we should be wary of answering back."Hawking had previously indicated that if an extraterrestrial civilization did pick up our signal, they would probably be so far in advance of us that we may be of no interest to them whatsoever.

He did however warn that there is also a chance that they may want to colonize the Earth.

Comparing such a scenario to the plight of the Native Americans following the arrival of the first Europeans in the Americas, he noted that it "didn't turn out so well" for them either.

Source: Independent

Tags: Stephen Hawking