Name: Can we prevent the end of the world?
Uploaded: 2014-08-25T15:08:10Z
Duration: 6 min 43 s
Description: A post-apocalyptic Earth, emptied of humans, seems like the stuff of science fiction TV and movies. But in this short, surprising talk, Lord Martin Rees asks us to think about our real existential risks — natural and human-made threats that could wipe out humanity. As a concerned member of the human race, he asks: What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?

A post-apocalyptic Earth, emptied of humans, seems like the stuff of science fiction TV and movies. But in this short, surprising talk, Lord Martin Rees asks us to think about our real existential risks — natural and human-made threats that could wipe out humanity. As a concerned member of the human race, he asks: What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?

Can we prevent the end of the world?

For the first time in 45 million centuries, one species has the power to control the Earth’s future. Catastrophic threats once came from nature, but now the gravest dangers are human-made, from runaway biotechnology to global network failures. Even a one-in-a-billion chance of human extinction is too much when billions of years of potential lie ahead. As technology races forward, society must urgently confront and guard against existential risks.