Elon Musk: A One-Planet Species Is a Dead-End

Elon Musk: In half a billion years or so, the sun will expand and make life impossible on Earth.

“The universe appears to be 13.8 billion years old. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In another half billion years or so, the sun will expand and probably evaporate the oceans and make life impossible on Earth. Which means that if it had taken consciousness 10% longer to evolve, it would never evolve at all. Just 10% longer.

I wonder how many dead one-planet civilizations there are out there in the cosmos that never made it to the other planet and ultimately extinguished themselves or were destroyed by external factors. Probably a few.”

Interview with Lex Fridman, November 12, 2019