In November, Stephen Hawking and his bulging computer brain gave humanity what we thought was an intimidating deadline for finding a new planet to call home: 1,000 years.
Ten centuries is a blip in the grand arc of the universe, but in human terms it was the apocalyptic equivalent of getting a few weeks’ notice before our collective landlord (Mother Earth) kicks us to the curb.
Even so, we took a collective breath and steeled our nerves.
So what if there’s no interplanetary Craigslist for new astronomical sublets, we told ourselves, we’re human — the Bear Grylls of the natural order. We’ve already survived the ice age, the plague, a bunch of scary volcanoes and earthquakes, and the 2016 election cycle.
We got this, right? Not so fast.
Now Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist turned apocalypse warning system, is back with a revised deadline. In Expedition New Earth — a documentary that debuts this summer as part of the BBC’s “Tomorrow’s World” science season — Hawking claims that Mother Earth would greatly appreciate it if we could gather our belongings and get out — not in 1,000 years, but in the next century or so.
You heard the man — a single human lifetime.
In recent months, Hawking has been explicit about humanity’s need to find a “Planet B.” In the past, he also has called for humans to colonize the moon and find a way to settle Mars — a locale he referred to as “the obvious next target” in 2008, according to New Scientist.
Remaining on Earth any longer, Hawking claims, places humanity at great risk of encountering another mass extinction.