霍金：外星人很可能是原始生命 - 英语交流 - 电子工程师俱

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Stephen Hawking: Alien but primitive life likely

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

著名天体物理学家霍金长久思考了这个宇宙问题：“我们孤独吗？”答案很可能是否，他说。

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?"

如果宇宙别的地方有生命，霍金问：那为什么我们没有在太空收到类似“外星人问答竞赛”这样的无线电信号？

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.

一种选项是别的地方没有生命。或者别的地方有智慧生命，但如果他们聪明到能向太空发射信号，他们就会聪明到能够制造毁灭性的核武器。

Hawking said he prefers the third option:

&quotrimitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare," he then quickly added: "Some would say it has yet to occur on earth."

“原始生命很常见，智慧生命很稀有”，他很快补充到：“有人说它（智慧生命）还没有在地球出现”。

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."