Here’s how Stephen Hawking predicted the world will end

When he wasn’t solving the mysteries of black holes and revolutionizing theoretical physics, Stephen Hawking spoke (a lot) about how the world would end.  From Terminator-style robots taking over to Donald Trump, these are some of the late scientist’s most terrifying doomsday predictions.

Earth will turn into a giant fireball
Humanity is at a “tipping point,” Hawking warned last July. He added that global warming would cause the Earth to become like Venus, with a global temperature of 482 degrees Fahrenheit and sulphuric acid raining from the sky.
“By the year 2600, the world’s population would be standing shoulder to shoulder and the electricity consumption would make the Earth glow red-hot,” he told a gathering of scientists in Beijing, China.
Our best bet is to leave Earth completely, predicted Hawking.

The AI apocalypse will see robots replace humans

©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Col

Facebook and Google are obsessed with artificial intelligence, but Hawking didn’t trust it one bit. He claimed it could be the “worst invention in the history of our civilization.”
 He said: “I fear that AI may replace humans altogether.”
“If people design computer viruses, someone will design AI that improves and replicates itself. This will be a new form of life that outperforms humans.”

Nuclear war could kill us all

North Korea’s intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 lifting off from the launching pad at an undisclosed location near Pyongyang. Getty Images

 

When asked what human trait he’d like to change, Hawking replied, “Aggression.”
He said it could lead to irrational behavior, like sparking nuclear war and ending the world.
“There is no sign of conflict lessening and the development of militarized technology and weapons of mass destruction could make that disastrous,” he said, as part of his 75th birthday celebrations.
“The best hope for the survival of the human race might be independent colonies in space.”

We need to get busy finding another planet

An artist’s concept illustrates the two Saturn-size planets discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission.NASA

 

Fearing that our planet will become overpopulated, Hawking predicted that humans will have to leave Earth and repopulate elsewhere. In a documentary titled “Stephen Hawking: Expedition New Earth,” he warned that if humans don’t become a multi-planetary species and settle on other worlds, we could die out in the next century.

Trump will shove the Earth over the brink.
Hawking was clearly not a fan of Donald Trump. When the president announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement to reduce CO2 levels, Hawking became one of his most outspoken opponents.

he said: “By … pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Donald Trump will cause avoidable environmental damage to our beautiful planet, endangering the natural world, for us and our children.”