Posthuman Blues

Stephen Hawking in Space

In the Independent, Steve Connor quotes Hawking as saying that he has "concluded the dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons. The effects may be less dramatic in the short term than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades climate change could cause drastic harm." The Daily Telegraph quotes Hawking, who is 65 and in a wheelchair, as saying, "This year I'm planning a zero-gravity flight and to go into space in 2009."