NEIL deGrasse Tyson, a popular astronomer, argues that colonising space would stimulate the economy and inspire next generation of scientists. The founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk also says that to safeguard the existence of humanity in the events of catastrophe colonizing space is required.

Michael Griffin, a former administrator NASA, frames it as a matter of survival of the species. Along with them the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking had also conjectured that if humanity failed to colonise space within 100 years we could face extinction.

To fully understand the evolution of humans let us delve into Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, a book written by Yuval Noah Harari. He explains that, we humans are unique creatures; we have total dominion over the planet, and we have even pushed boundaries and gone beyond our own planet to explore, and possibly colonise, space.

How have we been able to achieve this much? In order to find out, we must revisit the evolution of our human species right from the beginning. The very first appearance of human on earth was about 2.5 million years ago in East Africa, evolving from Australopithecus, a genus of great Apes.

Eventually, these early humans such as Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus migrated for more promising environments, abandoning East Africa. As a result of adaptation to these new habitats, they evolved into even more forms of homo, including home neanderthalensis in Europe and Asia.

Homo sapiens or modern humans began to appear around 300,000 years ago. There was not really anything special about this new species of human. They had large brains, walked upright, used tools and were highly social. For sure, none of this is absent amidst the other species of human. Neanderthals, for instance, hunted large game and used fire long before the Homo sapiens emerged.

We know about our past but what about our future? Where will advancements in science and prosperity lead us in the decades to come? Space!

Tooba Mujtaba

Bannu

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2019