Alien Invaders

I tend to agree with Mr. Hawking on this issue. We should be careful what we wish for.

Stay home ET. UK scientist: Aliens may pose risks

British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says aliens are out there, but it could be too dangerous for humans to interact with extraterrestrial life.

Hawking claims in a new documentary that intelligent alien lifeforms almost certainly exist, but warns that communicating with them could be "too risky."

The 68-year-old scientist says a visit by extraterrestrials to Earth would be like Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas, "which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."

He speculates most extraterrestrial life will be similar to microbes, or small animals — but adds advanced lifeforms may be "nomads, looking to conquer and colonize."

The Discovery Channel said Sunday it will broadcast "Stephen Hawking's Universe" in Britain next month.

 

hawking is right. he's always been right. why assume all other life in the universe is as benevolent as us

uh i didn't make a choice because you missed..

* size us up for total domination

 

Ah yes. The spanish traded small pox for the clap

 

Here's a thought - what if WE are the ones who discover THEM? And then WE proceed to use THEM as OUR slaves, or WE choose to befriend THEM or destroy THEM or whatever?

 

how we can discover them we aren't interested in space exploration we don't earmark any money for that

 

I would love to see more funding for space exploration. I find it very interesting.

 

I think it is silly to think that if aliens existed they would have any interest in our natural resources. The fact that they could even travel here from another solar system or galaxy shows that they have advanced so far ahead of us that the notion they need gold or oil is absurd. Hawking has been watching too many Hollywood movies or he's starting to lose it I'm afraid. There is also the possibility that Hawking may be playing the fear card for some reason or another...Certainly makes you wonder why he is saying this now and if there are any political motivations involved (funding!).

 

If their technology is advanced enough to travel light years away from their home planet chances are they've found a way to take care of any physical labor needs outside of biological means. If they're microbes who've been living in our couches all these centuries then yes we might discover them before they discover us otherwise ...!

 

Hard to say he's right or "always been right." Because when you get into Theoretical Astrophysics it's just that, theoretical.

Being no Theoretical Astrophysicist with ALS myself my guess would be that we'd have quite awhile to debate our fate since light travels at 186,000 miles per second they'd would still be quite away off when detection occurs one would assume.


"Ladies and gentlemen, er, we’ve just lost the picture, but, uh, what we’ve seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over — ‘conquered’, if you will — by a master race of giant space ants. It’s difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to…toil in their underground sugar caves.”

--Kent Brockman--

 

I would tend to agree. If they are that far advanced, they likely don't need us for anything. As for Hawking and why he's saying this now is likely because, as the OP stated, Hawking has a documentary coming out on Discovery Channel next month. Likely wants to generate some buzz.