In a new documentary produced for the Discovery Channel, Hawking insists alien species could prove to be a danger to humankind, sort of like in the film Independence Day. A highly intelligent life capable of inter-stellar space travel won’t necessarily be peace-loving, or they could see us as an opportunity for exploitation.

 

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet,” says Hawking. “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.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Don’t Talk to Aliens, Warns Stephen Hawking (by Jonathan Leake, London Times)

Video: Stephen Hawking's Universe: Fear the Aliens (Discovery Channel)