Hawking: Unintelligent life is likely on other planets

WASHINGTON — Famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been thinking a lot about the cosmic question, "Are we alone?" The answer is probably not, he says.

If there is life elsewhere in the universe, Hawking asks why haven't we stumbled onto some alien broadcasts in space, maybe something like "alien quiz shows?"

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.

One option is that there likely isn't life elsewhere. Or maybe there is intelligent life elsewhere, but when it gets smart enough to send signals into space, it also is smart enough to make destructive nuclear weapons.

Hawking said he prefers the third option:

"Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare," he then quickly added: "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."

The 66-year-old British cosmologist, 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."

___

On the Net:

Stephen Hawking's web site: http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html

Comments

[Lucas]

I've often thought that scientists are looking for life in the wrong places.

Think about how diverse our solar system itself is, with many planets consisting largely of odd gaseous makeups. Scientists are always looking for life similar to ours, one that breaths air and drinks water. They loook for planets with water and air like ours, because that is what we know.

BUT, suppose there is life out there (which I am sure there is). Why couldn't there be life with a completely different makeup than life on our own planet. Maybe there is a lifeform that breathes sulphur and has mercury running through it's veins or something completely different. Maybe there is a lifeform that is not carbon based.

Maybe even there is some form of life out there that cannot be detected by our human senses. Maybe we are living in a parallel universe with some other lifeform which we cannot detect.

Scientists are too focused on finding a lifeform that is similar to ones on the Earth.

[mbaty]

Well, we're getting warmer, but I guess it's still not ok for the aliens to come out of the closet yet.

[Hollyse]

Considering TIME bends the possibilities for intelligent life in another dimension may be rolling right along side of the one we "feel & experience" Our present becomes our past when someone listens to our words and their present soon becomes their past but our present when listening to their words. So we think, when speaking with each other, we're in each other's here and now zone of life. Are we really? As much as I admire Stephen Hawking's exceptional intellect, for him to say alien life although unintelligent may exist, he's using a limiting statement that most of our public can accept without adding more to life's nano chemistry outside of H20 and Co2. Would enjoy one day speaking with you Mr. Hawkings by chance happening I suppose.

[vandegrasse]

Scientists use statistics to speculate on the probability of life in outer space. They contend that there is so much space out there that there must be life out there on other planets. I contend that life is so improbable that there is an infinitesimal chance that life exists elsewhere just as it was improbable that it ever developed here.

[RedDogBear]

This wouldn't fit in the space limit: I happen to agree with you in my gut. A major part of scientific advancement through history has been discovering humans aren't as unique as we like to believe. But that's just my gut. The fact is there are so many unknowns right now all we can do is speculate which is what Mr. Hawkins was doing as well.

[vandegrasse]

Good Lord, Stevey baby, you can find primitive life on Earth. They're call human beings.

[Marlyn]

Stephen Hawking has said "I think computer viruses should count as life." And "there need be nothing biological about living systems."

http://www.rohitab.com/discuss/lofiversion/index.php/t18512.html

But I feel LIFE must be defined as biological. A computer and its virus are artifacts, created by living beings, but THEY are NOT ALIVE. They are machines.

[DharamDev]

What a stupid thing to say. He claims to be a scientist, but he is guessing. Typical.

I wonder if he's going to have his brain frozen like Leary and Disney.

[iluvsam]

Oh, PUUULLLEEEZ! He is a scientist and as such makes educated guesses. He takes from what he KNOWS about life on this planet, how it evolves, what it takes to create and sustain it, and is making an EDUCATED assumption of what we could expect from any sort of life form on other planets. What is it that you EXPECTED him to say? That there IS life on other planets that looks and acts EXACTLY like us? Well, there is no proof of that. He's saying it is possible, but not PROBABLE. Moreover, he is more likely correct when he talks about possible diseases that humans or other life forms on this planet could be infected (or otherwise affected) with if we are visited by alien life forms. We see that sort of genentic destruction on our own planet. Can we say the words Aztecs and Mayans anyone? HIV? Ugh. The stupidity on this board is rampant.

[indypete]

Hawking is one of the smartest people on the planet. Not just my opinion but well documented. You are not fit to shine his intellectual shoes let alone criticise his intellegence. Go back to your magic, something on which you appear able to speak with aparrent authority.

[Atrueoriginall]

What's scary is that as a scientist, if he's going to comment on something he's supposed to have researched it. If he's making such derogatory statements in such a broad fashion that says more about his own shortcomings and that his research in all other fields needs to be thoroughly examined and not taken for gospel because of his notoriety.

Could be a reason why he's had to change his opinions about physics on several occasions and why he has failed to finally find a 'theory of everything'.

Well another hero brought down to earth by that good ol' fashioned arrogance.

I have seen this story picked up soooo many times by soooo many different websites due to my Google Alerts. I would say upwards of 50 plus.

What is it? Are people so much in denial that they grasp for articles such as this. Or is it they have a nut about UFOs and aliens so make a point of down playing the subjects in order to give themselves maybe some peace of mind.

One scientist to make one single statement and then the article is treated as if it's the gospel simply because we're inundated by the same article over and over and he has a reputation.

**alien abductee here** waves hands and says that science is not to be taken too seriously these days, credible or not, they still have opinions that aren't scientifically fact.
http://aliencases.conforums.com

[iluvsam]

You make no sense whatsoever.

[indypete]

They're all coming out of the woodwork on this one, eh? I just had a look at your profile, Sam, and my favorite saying from the North of England popped into my mind... "There ain't nobody right in this world 'cept thee and me... and I ain't so sure about thee!" We heretics need to stick together. Keep the pressure on, I've got your back.

[tjkreidler]

The ultimate human conceit is that we are alone in the universe. Just consider the number of stars in our own Milky Way galaxy, then consider the number of galaxies we know of (and mulitply that number by several orders of magnitude for the galaxies we are not aware of) and the chances that this is the only planet on which the conditions were just right for the evolution of life becomes absurd. We may never make contact with any of the other civilizations in the universe (although personally, I believe they have been in contact with our planet for years), but to think that they are not out there is ignorant.

[Marlyn]

I agree that since we are here, there must be others out there, but the stars are so far apart that it would be impossible to have a conversation via signals through space, much less to actually travel to another star system.

[indypete]

It all comes down to economics. Costs $30,000 a pound to get to the moon and cosmically speaking that's not even spitting distance.

[RedDogBear]

People have already thought about this with more rigor. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation)

The Drake equation states that N = R* x fp x ne x fℓ x fi x fc x L
where:
N is the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which we might hope to be able to communicate;
and
R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy
fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne is the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fℓ is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi is the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fc is the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space
L is the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

There are a lot of unknowns here. Earth sized planets have been undetectable until recent computer advances because they are so small compared to a star. fℓ is something we can barely speculate about right now. We have tentative theories for how life arose from primordial chemical soup but (unlike evolution) we don't really know which if any of them are true and their are major gaps in all of them so figuring out how likely it is that an earth sized planet would develop life is just speculation.

[indypete]

As you point out, the Drake equasion is a bit, shall we say, shady. It's meant, I think to be an illustration rather than an answer. Is there other life out there? Probably, given the numbers involved. Or perhaps not, given the narrow parameters needed. After all, just because we're here doesn't imply that others are. Intellegence? Same deal. This is why I sometimes envy religious people... they can simply say, "The invisible guy in the sky did it." And they're off to sleep while I'm up all night with my brain going round in circles. Reminds me of the old gag about the dyslexic insomniac agnostic who stayed awake all night wondering if there was a dog.

[RedDogBear]

This got placed in the wrong spot. My original post was over the Huffpo word limit so I had to chop it up in two (Tangent: Hey Huffpo how about a word counter in the editing box so we know when we are going over?)

I happen to agree with you in my gut. A major part of scientific advancement through history has been discovering humans aren't as unique as we like to believe. But that's just my gut. The fact is there are so many unknowns right now all we can do is speculate which is what Mr. Hawkins was doing as well.

[jorge]

I wouldn't worry so much about alien infections...if the DNA is different, maybe maybe not, remember you can't catch a cold from a daisy.

[iluvsam]

Yeah, but there are millions who are allergic to them, and they do get sick.

[dadw5boys]

So in other word life forms just like us.

Most human are so engrossed with their own selfish desires that what passes for intellgence is lost on them unless it applies to their life. Right. According to Star Jones, the world is flat.

[connman]

Give credit where credit is due. I believe it was Sharri Shepherd that made "the world is flat" statement...not Star Jones.

[GravitonX]

And they might be running for President of the United States...

[GoodwithWood]

Just read the Bionic eye blog and then this one. I think that if a life form becomes advanced enough that integration with mechanical and computer technology is a real possibility. Extending and improving life. Imagine computer processors integrated in your brain.
Hhhhm, I’m sounding pro Borg.

GWW

[TakeSake]

You have been assimilated.

[indypete]

Resistance is futile.

[LordMoon]

The universe is infinite. The mind is finite. Given infinite resources and endless amounts of time, one thing is certain. There are bound to be some unexpected things out there, things or beings which may be beyond our comprehension.

Right here on this little blue jewel, there are many intelligent beings, Cetaceans, Chimps, Gorrila's Parrots, Elephants...and though we haven't learned to speak with them yet, the day may soon come when we are able to. What will they answer?

At this point hopefully, what they have to say to us about who we are, may change our view of ourselves, and our perspective of our place in the animal kingdom and the universe.

One small planet so much intelligent life.

Though these animals do not have technology at their disposal they will someday, because we will give it to them. Hopefully at that point they won't put us in a cage for what we've done to them.

The universe is so large, it is quite likely we have overlooked some possibilities.

[JimReed]

We are only 14 billion years after the big bang, so the universe can't be infinite.

Chimps and parrots might be intelligent to some degree, but for Hawking's purposes intelligent life means technologically advanced to the capability of somehow communicating through intersetllar distances, such as with radio dish antennas.

It would be very difficult for any other animals to develop technology as we have because of the ecological niche. Once humans dominate the world, chimps have nowhere to master this stuff, and if they tried we would keep them down.

Our view of ourselves is probably driven foremost by groupthink. The human animal more than chimps and gorillas and others believes what they are told by friends and family. This is an unfortunate byproduct of our evolution. It was forced on us when all we had was sticks to fight off the lions, we had to follow the group to survive. It might be possible for a minority to grow beyond this state, but in a democracy the majority rules.

[LordMoon]

The universe that we currently know may be 14 billion years old, but actually the universe that we know may be one of an infinite number of "branes", existing in the multiverse. The time span of the multiverse may be unknowable.

That animals will be augmented with biological and mechanical devices, to enable them to be more useful to us is already happening, eventually that technogy will effect their development to the point where they may surpass us, due to our mental and physical deficits and interspecies violence.

Evolution is more complex than just DNA, one of the most important aspects of our evolution is paedomorphisis, where by our genes are turned off, letting us retain fetal characteristics into adulthood. Because of this, the evolution of our technology and our culture, became more important than retention of our genetically pre programed physicality. For instance long spears are much more effective than teeth in fighting, and once they are developed have the potential to become and art form, as the technology develops around its physics.

In the world we now live in, each generation as it ages faces significant challenges in adapting to technological change, which is more easily adopted by younger, more maleable members. Eventually our technology will shape our view of ourselves more than the previous generation, who carries the cultural norms.

Neandertahl was probably baffled, by some if not all, of the technology of Neolithic hunters, so too will we be, by those next in human evolution.