Nobelists bare their minds on the future of mankind

The mushroom cloud produced by the first test of an American hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific

THE GREATEST THREATS TO CIVILISATION AS WE KNOW IT

Fifty Nobel Prize winners were quizzed on how they thought we'd be wiped out. Here's how they responded:

1) Population rise or environmental degradation: 34 per cent - 18 laureates
The human population is set to soar to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. Meanwhile, scientists expect climate change to cause grave environmental disaster.

2) Nuclear war: 23 per cent - 12 laureates 

If Russia and the US fought a war using atomic weapons, the results would be disastrous. North Korea could also do some terrible damage if it launched nukes at its neighbours.

3) Infectious disease or drug resistance: 8 per cent - 4 laureates

A new disease could appear out of nowhere and wipe out humanity. The Black Death, for instance, killed between 30 and 60 per cent of Europe's population in the 14th century. There is also a chance that familar diseases will become resistant to treatment.

4) Selfishness, dishonesty and loss of humanity: 8 per cent - 4 laureates

If we all stop caring for fellow humans or start to see other races as subhuman or inferior, it could result in death on a massive scale.

5) Donald Trump and ignorant leaders: 6) per cent - 3 laureates

Scientists are no fan of Donald Trump, who is famous for questioning the existence of climate change. If populism continues to surge around the world, we could get leaders who fail to recognise threats to humanity and end up condemning us to a grim fate.

6) Artificial intelligence: 4 per cent - 2 laureates

Killer robots and super clever machines could one day turn on their creators. Professor Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk are two of the famous proponents of this theory.

7) Inequality: 4 percent - 2 laureates

The gap between rich and poor is getting larger. If robots start to wipe out poor people's jobs whilst making a small elite extremely rich, then chaos and war is likely to follow.

8) Fundamentalism or terrorism: 6 percent - 3 laureates

You might think that religion has disappeared from society, but try telling that to the Islamic extremists waging war against every other inhabitant of the world. If ISIS gets a nuke or biological weapons, its zealots will use them and kill millions.

9) Ignorance and distortion of truth: 6 per cent - 3 laureates

Fake news has become a major problem on the internet and is used to manipulate people. If we don't know what's true and what's false, our society is unlikely to be able to continue indefinitely.

10) Drugs: 2 per cent - 1 laureate

Drugs are becoming stronger and stronger. Could a super addictive future narcotic turn us all into mindless zombies?

10) Facebook: 2 per cent - 1 laureate

Mark Zuckerberg's firm knows a truly shocking amount of information about its users. What would happen if the billionaire decided to go to the dark side? We may find out if his rumoured bid to become US President becomes a reality.

So-called 'strong artificial intelligence' could be the worst thing that's ever happened to humanity