Topics: World News, Science, Space, Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change
Turns out we should've all been paying a bit more attention during our binge-watching of Ice Age during Christmas.
As we head into 2025, the impacts of artificial intelligence and climate change may still feel like a safe-enough distant reality, however, that doesn't mean 'disaster' isn't coming as predicted by the late theoretical physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking - and potentially Ice Age: Collision Course too.
Who'd have thought, eh?
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Director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge and considered one of the most prestigious academics across the whole world, Hawking shared several theories, concerns and suggestions before he passed away in 2018.
One idea he repeatedly advocated for was the idea of humans trying to find another planet to inhabit rather than simply relying on Earth.
During a press conference in 2017 in London, Hawking warned: "I strongly believe we should start seeking alternative planets for possible habitation.
"We are running out of space on Earth and we need to break through the technical limitations preventing us living elsewhere in the universe."
And it's not just running out of space which Hawking was worried about either.
Given how close asteroids come to Earth - some even colliding with our planet - it's far from wild Hawking shared his concern about a large asteroid striking Earth and wiping us all out in a mass extinction.
We may laugh about it all when binge-watching Ice Age, but it's actually a more real possibility than we realized age nine - or 24, hey I don't judge - shovelling popcorn in our mouths while watching Scrat and his acorn obsession result in a huge rock barrelling towards Earth.
Oh and it's not just asteroids to worry about either, artificial intelligence on the rise - TV series HUM4NS now looking like it really was predicting the future rather than simply make-believe for our entertainment.
Throw into the mix climate change, genetically modified (GM) viruses and nuclear war and hey, it's a miracle we're all still alive really.
And in a 2016 interview with the BBC, Hawking predicted just how long humankind has left if we do remain on Earth and only Earth.
He warned: "Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next thousand or 10,000 years."
There is hope however, Hawking noting at the time he was fairly confident we'd have all found a way out to another planet by the time 'disaster' does strike.
But that doesn't mean it will happen within many of our lifetimes, the physicist guessing humans won't 'establish self-sustaining colonies in space for at least the next hundred years' and so ultimately we will have to be 'very careful in this period' ahead.
So, how about taking a leaf out of Greta Thunberg's book and becoming an environmental activist for 2025?
