Stephen Hawking has partnered with the Discovery Channel to present a new documentary series called “Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking” covering some pretty wonderfully geeky subjects including alien visitors and time travel. But don’t get all excited. Mr. Hawking, as ever, is measured in his approach—though his comments on time travel will likely cause a stir in the science community, as it’s considered somewhat of a taboo topic.

According to CNET, on the subject of aliens, Hawking is far from optimistic. Says Mr. Hawking: “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.” So, in geek speak, that’s a little more Independence Day and a lot less Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

While he’s not alone in his considerations of less than friendly life in space, Hawking was reluctant to share his opinions of time travel, worried he might be labeled a heretic. Hawking believes that high-speed flight will absolutely be possible, with spaceships zooming around so quickly we’ll be able to skip generations in the bat of an eye. While this opinion is far from accepted in scientific circles, it’s exciting to hear regardless. Who knows? While we certainly won’t be around to see such advances, it’s still a thrilling possibility.

Let’s steer clear of those vicious aliens.

You can learn more about the show here: Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking.

(via CNET)

Tags: Science, science fiction, Stephen Hawking, time travel