CLEVER MONKEY OF THE WEEK

David Hawking, Brilliant British Astrophysicist

This week we salute David Hawking, the brilliant British Astrophysicist and author of the popular book, A Brief History Of Time, for saying that the survival of the human race depends on our ability to find new homes in the solar system, while adding, “We won’t find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system.”

He believes we could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars within 40 years. "It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking continued. "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."

He neglected to specify who might prefer to live full-time on the moon or Mars or to invoke the time-honored paean that the first thing we better do is take better care of the home we’re already parked in, since it does appear to have certain life-enhancing advantages.

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