There is still a long time left for it. But there will eventually come a day when, as a species, we will have to pack our bags and bid goodbye to our home planet. This isn't just wild fantasy. Global scientists have been speculating about how the human race is heading towards a situation where vacating not just Earth, but the entire solar system might become necessary. And a talk at an event that will be held this weekend at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), ahead of National Science Day on February 28, will discuss the long-term future of mankind, and the possibilities of life existing outside our known boundaries.

"People have long been looking for planets away from our own solar system. We have scientists all over the world searching through Kepler and other missions to find out whether such places indeed exist. And if there is a possibility of these planets being there, then it could also be that there's a place that is habitable, where life can exist. So, there has been talk about an eventual exodus from the solar system. But we need to be ready. That's what this talk is about," shares Surendra Kulkarni, TIFR's technical director.