One of the world's leading scientists, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking says that aliens almost certainly exist but mankind should be doing everything they can to avoid contact。
"To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational," he said. "The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."
His views are expressed in a new documentary made for the Discovery Channel. In it he points out that the universe has more than 100 billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars. In such circumstances, Earth is unlikely to be the only planet where life has evolved, Hawking claims。
While many forms of life may be little more than microbes, Hawking says a few life forms could be intelligent and pose a threat to the human race. Aliens might simply raid Earth for its resources and then move on. "I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach," Hawking says。
"If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans," the scientist says。
霍金警告称,招惹外星人可能会给地球带来毁灭性后果。他说:“如果外星智能生命到访,结果很可能和当年哥伦布到达美洲大陆一样,给土著居民带来沉重灾难。”
英国物理学大师史蒂芬-霍金表示,外星生命几乎可以确定存在,并警告人类不要主动接触。
霍金表示,“以我的数学思维来判断,仅这些数字就足以表明,存在外星生命的推断是合理的。而真正的挑战是弄清楚它们的模样。”
据英国《星期日泰晤士报》25日报道,霍金在录制《探索》频道即将播出的系列纪录片时表示,宇宙中有1000亿个星系,每个星系都包含数以亿计的恒星,因此地球不可能是唯一有生命的星球。
霍金表示,外星人可能以微生物等简单的生命形式存在,也可能是比人类智能更高的生命体。霍金认为如果外星智能生命与人类接触,很可能会掠夺地球的资源,他说,“我想他们其中有些可能生活在巨大的太空船上,已经将自己星球上的资源全部用光,这些高级外星人可能成为游牧民族,企图征服所有可以到达的星球”。