Here’s how we might survive the destruction of Earth

Neal Stephenson is here to tell you about preparing for the biggest emergency.
By | Published: August 4, 2016 | Last updated on May 18, 2023

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Frederick / Wikimedia Commons

Neal Stephenson’s most recent book, Seveneves, deals with how humanity survives a cosmic event that destroys Earth. The book is meticulous in detail, a step-by-step how-to guide to leaving a planet about to die. So it makes sense that PBS Space Time would turn to Stephenson to seek out the answers of how humanity can survive without our home planet.

Host Matt O’Dowd, a physics professor moonlighting as the Space Time host, walks us through a number of scenarios that could spell doom for humanity, whether it’s volcanos, asteroids, or supernovae. It’s a bleak picture but one that, as you’ll find out in the below video, isn’t one without a sliver of hope.