Despite the vastness of the universe, Earth remains our only home. However, this uniqueness does not mean it will exist forever. Earth will not be humanity’s permanent residence; before humans existed, five mass extinctions on Earth have warned us that if we want to survive, we must leave Earth and find a new home in the universe in the future.
Of course, the Solar System is also not a reliable option over time. In about five billion years, the Sun will reach the end of its life cycle and will no longer be a hotspot for human survival. So, where will the future of humanity lead?
If Earth becomes too crowded, there must be an exoplanet somewhere with more space. However, choosing a suitable place for relocation and human expansion will require a lot of careful planning.
Abraham ‘Avi’ Loeb, a scientist at Harvard University, believes that in about two billion years, the Sun will become hotter, and even if there are no large-scale extinctions on Earth before then, it will no longer be suitable for our existence.
Furthermore, as the Sun enters the middle and later stages of its life, its light will grow brighter, and various types of radiation will become increasingly intense. Not only will Earth be scorched, but the atmosphere and oceans will also become uninhabitable, leading to the extinction of life. If humanity cannot escape Earth before that time, we will be the first species to go extinct.
Humanity is increasingly eager for space exploration projects in search of a promised land for relocation, in case Earth is no longer a suitable place for us to live. This is a crucial plan for the survival of humanity in the future.
Due to the late supernova explosion of the Sun potentially affecting surrounding galaxies, we not only need to leave the Solar System entirely but also travel as far away as possible. At this point, Alpha Centauri may be an ideal location for our migration. However, the challenge is that both human lifespan and speed are insufficient to support us in reaching this planet. Therefore, the first thing we need to do now is to find a shortcut in space—through wormholes—or try to develop technology for light-speed travel.
Since making technological leaps, humans have nearly exhausted all fossil resources on Earth and destroyed the environment to the extent that scientists have concluded that the sixth mass extinction is currently underway, with humans being the victims of their own thoughtless actions.
However, there is a massive population on Earth, and even if we find another Earth, we will not be able to achieve global migration, nor can we construct a spacecraft that can accommodate billions of people. So, can we turn Earth into a wandering planet in the universe? Clearly, this method would not be effective; science fiction remains just that—science fiction, and not everything in science fiction can be applied in reality.
Scientist Abraham believes that perhaps in the future, we can create a new Earth in the universe through gene replication, or a new home very similar to Earth. As we have seen in many science fiction films, humans carry living fire to other planets and infuse life into different worlds. However, this would mean only a very small number of people could survive, while the majority would likely not be able to leave, remaining on Earth waiting for the day the Sun destroys it.
In the future, humanity will no longer be bound by physical bodies. (Illustrative image).
Of course, we shouldn’t be too pessimistic; a positive attitude is more important than anything else. After all, we still have billions of years ahead, during which human technology may evolve into an unparalleled super civilization, freeing us from constraints such as lifespan and health, or perhaps we have successfully explored ways to use wormholes, achieving interstellar travel at will—conveniently akin to how we currently travel around Earth.
Another possibility is that in the future, humanity will no longer be bound by physical bodies and that everyone will separate from physical form and become a conscious entity, a notion recognized and anticipated by many scientists. Humanity will eventually develop into a state where only a supercomputer is needed to contain everything from our planet, achieving true freedom of movement in the universe.
