Stephen Hawking just gave humanity a leave-by date

From The Washington Post, an article by Peter Holley about the latest from Stephen Hawking:

If humanity survives the rise of artificial intelligence, the ravages of climate change, and the threat of nuclear terrorism in the next century, it doesn't mean we're home free, according to Stephen Hawking (photo).
The renowned theoretical physicist has gone as far as providing humanity with a deadline for finding another planet to colonize: we have a thousand years. Remaining on Earth any longer, Hawking believes, places humanity at great risk of encountering another mass extinction. “We must continue to go into space for the future of humanity,” the 74-year-old Cambridge professor said during a speech at Oxford University Union, according to the Daily Express. “I don’t think we will survive another thousand years without escaping beyond our fragile planet,” he added.
During his hour-long speech, Hawking told the audience that Earth's cataclysmic end may be hastened by humankind, which will continue to devour the planet’s resources at unsustainable rates, the Express reported.
His wide-ranging talk touched upon the origins of the universe and Einstein's theory of relativity, as well as humanity's creation myths and God. Hawking also discussed “M-theory,” which Leron Borsten of PhysicsWorld.com explains as “proposal for a unified quantum theory of the fundamental constituents and forces of nature.”
Though the challenges ahead are immense, Hawking said, it is a “glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics. Our picture of the universe has changed a great deal in the last fifty years, and I am happy if I have made a small contribution,” he added.
Speaking to audience members in a public Q&A session ahead of the annual BBC Reith Lectures, Hawking also said that leaving the planet behind was our best hope for survival. The key, he noted, was surviving the precarious century ahead. “Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near-certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years. By that time we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race.”
Since 2009, NASA has been hunting for Earth-like planets with the potential for human colonization. 

In a speech in July of 2015, Hawking explained Breakthrough Listen, an initiative aimed at discovering intelligent extraterrestrial life. Researchers have discovered more than four thousand “candidate” planets and another two thousand or so confirmed planets, according to the agency.
“The first exoplanet orbiting another star like our sun was discovered in 1995,” according to NASA. “Exoplanets, especially small Earth-size worlds, belonged within the realm of science fiction just twenty years ago. Today, thousands of discoveries later, astronomers are on the cusp of finding something people have dreamt about for thousands of years.”
Before we have a chance to relocate, Hawking says, we'll first need to solve the potential threat created by technology. While Hawking thinks technology has the capacity to ensure mankind's survival, previous statements suggest the cosmologist is simultaneously grappling with the potential threat it poses. When it comes to discussing that threat, Hawking is unmistakably blunt: “I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” Hawking told the BBC in a 2014 interview that touched upon everything from online privacy to his affinity for his robotic-sounding voice.
Despite its current usefulness, he cautioned, developing artificial intelligence could prove a fatal mistake. “Once humans develop artificial intelligence, it will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate,” Hawking warned in recent months. “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded.”

Rico says that, all 'Big Bang Theory' joking aside, the guy knows...