Clifford at cosmic variance addresses a fundamental question about the need(?) to populate other planets, versus exploring?
And it would be nice if we did the exploration primarily out of curiosity and wonder, and not out of fear for our future
But of course, as with any thread there is a diversion of thought, so I answer this, while still trying to understand what he meant by the timescale?
A Blackhole ate my Planet?
It’s almost worth following the trail of “Risk Assessment” here. Some might remember James Blodgett?
In recent years the main focus of fear has been the giant machines used by particle physicists. Could the violent collisions inside such a machine create something nasty? “Every time a new machine has been built at CERN,” says physicist Alvaro de Rujula, “the question has been posed and faced.”
Of course, refering to “cosmic particle collisions”,then to have the “issues of strangelets” explained away as well. I mean every journey is fraught with the anxieties of fear. Fear of the unknownas one progresses along the roads to new worlds?
See:
Strangelet Search at RHIC by STAR Collaboration
So where do we stand with the fate of our planet?
See:
Strangelets in Cosmic Considerations
Cosmic Ray Collisions and Strangelets Produced
Microstate Blackhole Production
Quark Gluon PLasma II: Strangelets Produced
Accretion Disks
Strangelets Form Gravitonic Concentrations
IN a Viscosity State Production is ?
What Are those Quantum Microstates”>Strangelets Do Not Exist?
Dialogos of Eide 