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TOP > Special > Stephen Hawking - Stephen Hawking Ponders the Universe -
——What do you think about the coming era of space travel? Do you see that we will be able to travel to deep space by interplanetary flight, like on your favorite show, Star Trek?
I look forward to space travel. I would be one of the first to buy a ticket. I expect that within the next hundred years we will be able to travel anywhere in the solar system, except maybe the outer planets. But travel to the stars will take a bit longer. I reckon in 400 years we will have visited some of the nearby stars. It won't be like Star Trek. We won't be able to travel at warp speed. So a round trip will take at least ten years, and probably much longer.
——Do you believe in intelligent life in the universe?
Is there intelligent life on Earth? But seriously, we think life developed spontaneously on Earth, so it must be possible for it to appear elsewhere in the universe. But it might be a very long way away. I think this must be the case, because we don't seem to have been visited by aliens. If there is intelligent life elsewhere, it must be a very long way away. Otherwise, it would have visited Earth by now. I think we would know if we had been visited. It would be like in the film Independence Day.
——Among all Scientists, who inspired you the most?
Galileo and Einstein. Galileo was the first modern scientist, who realized the importance of observation, and Einstein was the greatest, but reassuringly, he had a number of blind spots, like quantum mechanics and gravitational collapse.
——If you met Galileo or Einstein, what would you tell him?
Galileo would want to know about all of modern science. I think he would be quick to understand. I would tell Einstein he went wrong on black holes.
——People consider you on par with Newton and Einstein. How would you like to be remembered?
Comparing me to Newton and Einstein is media hype. I would hope I would be remembered for my work on black holes and the origin of the universe.
