Michio Kaku on Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, & Time Travel

Michio Kaku, in his new book, Physics of the Impossible, warn us that nothing should be considered impossible or beyond our eventual understanding. "In my own short lifetime," he writes, "I have seen the seemingly impossible become established fact over and over again."

Kaku, a  professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York and world-renowned author of "Parallel Worlds," "Beyond Einstein" and the bestselling "Hyperspace. " Kaku pioneered string field theory and is now working on the fabled Theory of Everything (a union of gravity with the three other fundamental forces: electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces).

In "Physics of the Impossible," Kaku divides the "seemingly impossible" into three classes.

Class I consists of technologies that "might be possible in this century," including "teleportation, antimatter engines, certain forms of telepathy, psychokinesis, and invisibility." Class II awaits the wisdom we will have acquired in "millennia to millions of years in the future" and includes time machines, hyperspace travel and popping through wormholes in space into another universe. Class III  is the "perpetual motion machine" and precognition. Kaku concludes that if "they do turn out to be possible, they would represent a fundamental shift in our understanding of physics."

Soon, Kaku belives, humanity may face an existential shock as the current list of a dozen Jupiter-sized extra-solar planets swells to hundreds of earth-sized planets, almost identical twins of Earth. This may usher in a new era in our relationship with the universe: we will never see the night sky in the same way ever again, realizing that scientists may eventually compile an encyclopedia identifying the precise co-ordinates of perhaps hundreds of earth-like planets.

"The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM)," Kaku writes, "to be launched early in the next decade, consists of multiple telescopes placed along a 30 foot structure. With an unprecedented resolution approaching the physical limits of optics, the SIM is so sensitive that it almost defies belief: orbiting the earth, it can detect the motion of a lantern being waved by an astronaut on Mars! The SIM, in turn, will pave the way for the Terrestrial Planet Finder, to be launched late in the next decade, which should identify even more earth-like planets. It will scan the brightest 1,000 stars within 50 light years of the earth and will focus on the 50 to 100 brightest planetary systems."

"All this, in turn, will stimulate an active effort to determine if any of them harbor life, perhaps some with civilizations more advanced than ours."

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Related Galaxy posts:

The Elegant Universe's Brian Greene Shares Insights on the 'Theory of Everything'
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Beyond Weird Science: General Relativity Expert Believes Humans Could Master Time Travel This Century
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Advanced Civilizations in the Universe -A Galaxy Insight
"The Elegant Universe" -A Galaxy Insight
Stanley Kubrick & the Mythology of Extraterrestrial Life -A Galaxy Insight

Comments

[Tyler]

Very interesting article. I'm glad there are people far brighter than me with just as much optimism and wild dreams.

Considering editing it though, as it repeats itself.

[Geoffrey Thomas]

A fan of the first session TV series the sliders.

Doing a blog search on my favorite subject I come across this site. I'm reminded of one a my favorite science fiction parallel universe about 4 people lost riding the legendary Einstein/Rosen bridge we understand as a wormhole portal to many parallel universes trying to find their way back home.

In the Pilot when Mallory nearly caused a bad intersection pileup running green light, spotting billboard advising one of Elvis Presley's gigs and hearing on the radio an interview with J.F.K he realized he had traveled to a parallel universe. From then pilot on, the 4 travelers meet their fair share of doubles on the way.

I would have though the bridge could only be created from the deep well sinking of black holes in deep space, not an artificial bridge created by an antigravity experiment here on earth in a student's study. Never the less I though it was a romantic series anyway.

Curious how Quinn Mallory's antigravity experiment pulled it off, I set about discovering how his experiment did it. I've created a blog spot called (http://) time travel and parallel universe theorie (.blogspot) that outlines my thoughts of duplicating Mallory's experiment in the hope I could creat Mallory's bridge.

I soon discovered the bridge, much less a time machine, has a far two much compremize on the laws of mathematics let a lone the laws of physics as we know it for any possible work rounds seem impossible.

Cheers

Fan of the TV series the sliders

[knoxvilledaniel]

The one problem I have with some science - fiction concepts is not technology, nor money to fund, build & operate such devices as force fields, transporters, FTL travel, or even generating artificial, stable wormholes leading to other planets, galaxies & such. It's energy expenditure. Some of these devices would use more energy than most countries or even ( inhabited ) continents.

Unless we discover & harness a nearly unlimited power source - think in terms of a ZPM from the " Stargate SG - 1 / Stargate Atlantis " series - some of these concepts would never leave the pages of a science fiction book or tv / movie script, much less wind up on an engineer's drawing board or computer screen.

[knoxvilledaniel]

I seem to remember a theory for a star drive that drew energy from presumably empty space, I believe it was in an Arthur C. Clarke novel, but even then, a singularity not unlike a black hole had to be " created " & stabilized 1st. The effect was similar to the Stargate ZPM.

If someone has any ideas about this, post them. My knowledge & grasp of quantum physics isn't the best in the world.

[Marty Ferguson]

MK is good at making us believe in the latest batch of impossibili-ties, but if any of his theories and concepts ever come to pass, I hope that we (or SOME lifeform) would have also developed a method of regenerating dead body cells so that millenia-long-dead people (like me)could wake up some day (via DUNE's gholas or STARMAN's hair-follicle cloning)and experience these new sciences firsthand. Oh yes; can't forget Arthur C. Clarke's 3001:THE FINAL ODYSSEY. Imagine being reanimated after 1,000 years and what you would wake up to!

[Jeff]

I voted for MK for president! Seriously, I did... And it was a pleasure. Contemplative reactionary coinsciousness is a must regarding the journeys we all travel and interactions we collectively have..