http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011016S0026
By the end of the millennium, people will have to learn to live in space because genetic engineering could result in the creation of a virus that either by accident or design could destroy human life on Earth, noted physicist Stephen Hawking warns. By David M. Ewalt
Physicist Stephen Hawking is warning of impending doom for mankind; get off Earth, before it's too late! "I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years unless we spread into space," the Cambridge University professor of mathematics tells the British newspaper The Telegraph. "There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet.
Wheelchair-bound with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neuromuscular disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the author of the best-selling book A Brief History Of Time says he's most worried about the dangers posed by genetic engineering. "You can't regulate every lab in the world," he warns. "The danger is that either by accident or design, we create a virus that destroys us."
But Hawking says he's an optimist. "We will reach out to the stars. I think humans will have to learn to live in space," says Hawking, who once played himself on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. No word on whether we can expect a lift from Capt. Picard.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011016S0026
===== Kevin Dean Buffalo, NY ICQ: 8616001 http://www.yaysoft.com
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