science, definitive science what we know about the cosmos, but in an educating and in an informative and in an entertaining way so that a global audience on discovery channel could be sort of interested in this. larry: ben, does the british government take this seriously? i m not i m not sure i m qualified to answer that, but i don t think so. larry: john well, ben, you first. the tendency has been to kind of dismiss this, until mr. hawking arrived, as kind of kooky, right? maybe it s been overstated slightly from what he actually says in the film. what he says in the film is that if intelligent aliens exist that s a big if and that s were to meet us, that s another big if, then we might be wise to treat them with caution. it s not stephen saying as far as i know in any way, stephen is not saying aliens are coming, we ve got to hide under the bed. he is not trying to frighten anyone. he is just saying if you follow
a computer recorded the signal as six letters and numbers. astronomer jerry ermin saw the letters and wrote one word in the margin. larry: this is a remarkable, remarkable entertaining feature that will air on discovery sunday. john smithson and ben bowie are the executive producers of end of the universe with stephen hawking. this would be an opinion, ben. do you think we would be hostile or not hostile to another environment coming here? do i think i don t think you can really say. i think the only thing you can say is that you don t know. if you don t know, then caution seems to be the most sensible approach. i m not one to call whether aliens will come here and stroke us and pet us or zap us with lasers. i think we just don t know, and therefore you can t really
brain-numbingly difficult, but also really good fun. and stephen hawking is just a remarkable man. i mean he he just has this presence. everyone feels it. we did something with him last night in london. and the whole room stops when he comes in. he has, you know, it s weird. we almost talk of him as a rock star of science. he has this extraordinary aura about him. and we just know that trapped in this body that he can t use is this quite brilliant brain. and there is something about that that is such a powerful and poignant image. it just seems to touch people. larry: thank you both very much, john smithson and ben bowie. the second part of this special will air sunday on discovery. we ll be back. we ll talk with stephen hawking and we ll meet an expert panel as well. stephen hawking in his own words, next. the authentic, the rare, the hard to define. to those who d climb mountains or sail across seas.
about him. and we just know that trapped in this body that he can t use is this quite brilliant brain. and there is something about that that is such a powerful and poignant image. it just seems to touch people. larry: thank you both very much, john smithson and ben bowie. the second part of this special will air sunday on discovery. we ll be back. we ll talk with stephen hawking and we ll meet an expert panel as well. stephen hawking in his own words, next.
space real threat to human life? next on larry king live. larry: good evening. you can say that this show tonight is out of this world. john smithson is executive producer of end of the universe with stephen hawking, . stephen hawk willing join us later. warns that contact with extraterrestrial life might not go so well. watch. so if aliens ever visit us, i think the outcome would be much as when christopher columbus first landed in america. which didn t turn out very well for the native americans. larry: john, you re producing the show. do you accept the theory? well, we we re working with one of the greatest living scientists, one of the best scientific brains in the world. and i m not a scientist. my job on this series for discovery channel was to bring the views, the vision, the imagination of this great scientist to a mass audience. these interest words of professor hawking. i don t have the scientific credentials to second guess professor hawking. i m prepar