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We better figure out how to build battlestars and star destroyers soon
Aliens almost certainly exist but humans should make every attempt to avoid them, Stephen Hawking has warned.
In a series for the Discovery Channel the renowned astrophysicist said it was "perfectly rational" to assume intelligent life exists elsewhere.
But he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on.
"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.
Mr Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.
He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."
The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like
Stephen Hawking
In the past probes have been sent into space with engravings of human on board and diagrams showing the location of our planet.
Radio beams have been fired into space in the hope of reaching alien civilisations.
Mr Hawking said: "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.
"The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."
The programme envisages numerous alien species including two-legged herbivores and yellow, lizard-like predators.
But Mr Hawking conceded most life elsewhere in the universe is likely to consist of simple microbes.
In a series for the Discovery Channel the renowned astrophysicist said it was "perfectly rational" to assume intelligent life exists elsewhere.
But he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on.
"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.
Mr Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.
He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."
The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like
Stephen Hawking
In the past probes have been sent into space with engravings of human on board and diagrams showing the location of our planet.
Radio beams have been fired into space in the hope of reaching alien civilisations.
Mr Hawking said: "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.
"The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."
The programme envisages numerous alien species including two-legged herbivores and yellow, lizard-like predators.
But Mr Hawking conceded most life elsewhere in the universe is likely to consist of simple microbes.
Rest of the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm
Drake, we already know that you are retarded, so please stop documeting it
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