Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking says aliens are out there, but it could be too dangerous for humans to interact with extraterrestrial life.

Human beings have always been fascinated by the thought of extra-terrestrial life-forms since the beginning of civilization. And the cave paintings of such celestial beings as ancient as 10,000 BC in the cavern of Val Camonica, Italy to the latest Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" only signify man's fascination with things extra-terrestrial in origin. Even though the media have projected aliens as both good guys (Spielberg's E.T) and bad guys (Ridley Scott's Aliens), the global scientific communities have been relentless in their search for such beings within and beyond the solar system. Numerous satellites and radio-telescopes are scanning the skies as well as radio waves are being sent with the hope that someday our lonely Earth will find a friendly neighbour somewhere in this cosmos. But it may turn out that the Extraterrestrial (ET) is not so friendly towards us after all! According to the eminent astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking, the chances are aliens are out there, but any interactions with their kind with humans might bring disastrous consequences for this planet and its inhabitants! In a new T.V documentary series titled "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking", the 68-year old former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics gently warned us with these words: "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans".
In the documentary program for the Discovery channel, Dr. Hawking expressed his firm belief in the existence of intelligent alien life-forms on other planets. He pointed out that, there are more than 100 billion galaxies out there each containing hundreds of millions of stars. So the thought that the systematic evolution of life only took place here on Earth is somewhat impractical. Besides, according to Hubble Telescope's own observations, there are at least 6.25 billion life-supporting solar systems out there! In the words of the legendary theoretical physicist, "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like". He speculated that most extra-terrestrial life would be similar to microbes or small animals that could exist beneath Martian surface, where liquid water is thought trickle through the rock. And massive marine creatures could also conceivably exist as well in the oceans underneath the mile-thick icy layer of Europa, one of Jupiter's 4 moons. But what lies beyond our solar-system that is a whole different story. According to Hawking, if there is a scientific census of the rest of the Milky Way and beyond, the odds in favour of life's existence would rise dramatically. Prof. Hawking thinks that's exactly where the true risk lies.
"I imagine they might exist in massive ships…having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach," maintains the great astrophysicist. Expeditions into the heavens is indeed a risky business and the scientist believes that instead of seeking them out, humanity should do all that it can to avoid any such contact. Despite being a prominent advocate of space travel, Hawking remains sceptical of man's search for extra-terrestrial civilizations. "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet", said Dr. Hawking. True, human beings haven't still learnt to coexist peacefully. What guarantee is there that any contact with an intelligent alien civilization wouldn't lead to a cosmic warfare?

The contributor is a freelance science writer.