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Celebrity

Entry 349, on 2006-06-14 at 14:23:52 (Rating 1, News)

I read an item today which quoted famous University of Cambridge astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking as saying that we should be planning for new colonies on other planets. He claims the Earth is increasingly threatened and that we should have alternative places where humans could live.

I'm not sure what sort of disasters he was referring to. As far as I know there is no reason to believe that we are in more danger from natural disasters than at other times in the past, although some theories suggest a big asteroid strike is overdue. Problems created by humans, such as global climate change, could make the Earth a worse place to live, but aren't likely to destroy it in any real sense.

Of course, we should be building bases on other planets and the Moon. Plans exist for this now, but science isn't enjoying a lot of support from many governments now, so lack of funding is a continuing issue. NASA is planning for permanent bases on the Moon, and Mars mission planning is in the early stages.

Colonising space is an interesting issue, but the thing that impressed me most about the story was how Hawking is treated as such a celebrity. He has been lauded as the greatest astrophysicist since Einstein. This claim certainly has some merit.

According to the article he got a "rock star's welcome" and his lectures were sold out. Its certainly refreshing to see someone who superficially is the ultimate example of the opposite of a celebrity (he's stuck in a wheelchair because of the degenerative disease ALS, for example) being treated this way. Maybe there is hope for the future, after all, when Hawking can be treated as a celebrity.

Comment 1 (210) by Jim on 2006-06-16 at 13:29:20:

I have read some of Hawking's books and I think he has some interesting ideas. But I don't think he is really a celebrity. Where did all this rock star welcome stuff happen?

Comment 2 (270) by OJB on 2006-10-17 at 18:31:03:

According to MSNBC...

The British astrophysicist told a news conference in Hong Kong that humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years.

"We won't find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system," added Hawking, who arrived to a rock star's welcome Monday. Tickets for his lecture planned for Thursday were sold out.

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