Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Hawking theorises Man could colonise Moon an Mars


Stephen Hawking, the world renowned astrophysicist and distinguished Cambridge University professor who wrote "A Brief History of Time" has claimed that humans must learn to live on other planets to survive because there is an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy our Mother Earth.

Professor Hawking said humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years if humans could avoid killing themselves in the next 100 years, he told a news conference in Hong Kong.

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," he said. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of." said Prof Hawking.

Professor Hawking is wheelchair-bound and communicates with the help of a computer because he suffers from motor neurone disease. He is due to give a sell-out lecture in Hong Kong today.

The scientist is teaming up with his daughter to write a children's book about the universe, aimed at the same age range as the Harry Potter books.

His daughter Lucy said it would be aimed at people like her eight-year-old son, "a bit like Harry Potter but without the magic".

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