Stephen Hawking: Alien Life May Exist

I've definitely heard more earth-shattering statements. So the exact title of the link on yahoo news was "Stephen Hawking says primitive alien life may exist." Haven't we, as humans, been speculating for years and years and years about alien life? How many movies have been made about the possibility of alien life? Hawking's speculation that alien life probably exists really isn't even the most interesting part of what he said to the audience at George Washington University. He also said that basically we've never been visited by aliens because of the fact that they only seem to visit "cranks and weirdos" (Based on UFOmaps.com there are a lot of "cranks and weirdos" in the southeast...not surprising). And he also compared space exploration to Christopher Columbus' trip across the Atlantic in 1492. Back then there were many who felt it was a waste of money to send him out there on a boat, but obviously the discovery he made changed things back in the old world. Similarly, there are people who feel like it's a waste to spend money on space exploration.

My take: Chances are that we're not going to find another habitable world in our lifetimes. However, it does seem that in the process of space exploration we do tend to develop technologies that affect us in positive ways. There's also a good chance that we'll make some good discoveries that will help us here on earth as well. So yeah, i don't agree with the Columbus comparison directly, but i do feel like it isn't a waste of time completely.