Stephen Hawking Details End of the World as "Near Certainty;" What Humans Should Do To Survive

Stephen Hawking believes the end of the world in the next 10,000 years is a « near certainty. » What does the esteemed professor think will be our ultimate undoing? Chief among them: nuclear war, global warming, genetically engineered viruses and mankind's scientific innovations. He also details how humans should conduct themselves to avoid this calamity in the near future.

Speaking during the BBC's Reith Lectures on black holes, the acclaimed theoretical physicist and cosmologist was asked about the end of the world, to which he had a lot to say. For starters, he talked about the likelihood of an Armageddon event in the next several thousand years, saying, "Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years."

He says that by that time, hopefully, humans "should have spread out into space and to other stars." However, he does caution, "We will not establish self-sustaining colonies in space for at least the next hundred years, so we have to be very careful in this period."

BBC News, which reported the story, made the observation that it is quite ironic that such a prominent scientific figure believes scientific innovation could lead to our downfall. Hawking once told the BBC that he believes "artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." Hawking has gone so far as to call for global agreements that would prevent robots from becoming uncontrollable, as portrayed in such films as the Terminator series and I, Robot.

Despite all of the doomsday talk, Hawking says he remains optimistic about the future, saying, "We are not going to stop making progress, or reverse it, so we have to recognize the dangers and control them. I'm an optimist, and I believe we can."