By Xinhua,
Beijing : Stephen Hawking said there may be alients, but they may not be intelligent as others had thought, or just primitive life.
The 66-year-old famed British cosmologist Hawking’s comments were part of a lecture at George Washington University on Monday in honor of NASA’s 50th anniversary.
He theorized that there are possible answers to whether there is extraterrestrial life.
“Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare,” said Hawking “Some would say it has yet to occur on earth.”
So should you worry about aliens? Alien abduction claims come from “weirdos” and are unlikely. However, because alien life might not have DNA like us, Hawking warned: “Watch out if you would meet an alien. You could be infected with a disease with which you have no resistance.”
Hawking, who suffers from ALS and must speak through a mechanical device, believes “if the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Hawking compared people who don’t want to spend money on human space exploration to those who opposed the journey of Christopher Columbus in 1492.
“The discovery of the New World made a profound difference to the old. Just think we wouldn’t have had a Big Mac or KFC,” said Hawking.