Hawking warns: an artificial deadly virus may destroy humanity

The professor warns that if the human race does not settle in space it will be extinct in the next millennium; The virus can be produced by design or by accident; Unlike an atomic weapons facility, it is impossible to monitor every small laboratory

Renowned professor Stephen Hawking said this week that the human race must spread into outer space before it is destroyed by a man-made virus. "The danger is from a virus that will be created accidentally or in a planned way that will cause us to be destroyed," Hawking told the British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph", which was quoted in the news agencies.

Hawking said in an interview that he does not think that the human race will survive the next millennium if it does not begin to spread to living in space. "There are too many accidents that can wipe out life on an entire planet," warns the professor. Despite his pessimistic forecast, the well-known mathematics professor expressed optimism about the chances of the human race succeeding in colonizing space.

Professor Hawking believes that biology and not physics pose the greatest danger to humanity. "Although the events of September 11 were terrible, they did not threaten the survival of the human race, as nuclear weapons do. In the long term I am more concerned about biological weapons. To create an atomic weapon, you need large facilities, but genetic engineering can be carried out in a small laboratory." Hawking explained that "it is not possible to monitor every laboratory in the world". Professor Hawking following the publication of his book "A Brief History of Time" and soon his new book "The Universe in Brief" will be published.