Dark matter: Michio Kaku explains hypothetical substance
Dr Michio Kaku, 73, is no stranger to the weird and wonderful world of science-fiction and cutting-edge technology. As a theoretical physicist and futurist, he has written multiple best-selling books on the world of tomorrow and has hosted many TV series, including the three-hour BBC documentary Visions of the Future. The City College of New York Professor believes driverless cars, artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of virtual currencies are just around the corner.
Even more incredibly, he believes the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) will make contact with alien life before the century is over.
Similarly, he argued humanity needs to focus its efforts on moving off-planet should cataclysm ever strike Earth.
He said: “We need an insurance policy, a backup plan. The dinosaurs didn’t have a space programme, and that’s why they’re not here today.
“No one’s saying we should leave the Earth and go to Mars, but a settlement on Mars is a definite possibility.”
In a video for Big Think, Dr Kaku has now revealed his three most mind-blowing predictions about the future.
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1. Humanity will become a spacefaring civilisation
The sheer distances between planets and stars have prevented humans from calling worlds other than Earth home.
Even colonising nearby bodies like the Moon and Mars is a major challenge we are yet to overcome.
Dr Kaku is, however, positive humanity is on the path towards becoming a space-faring species.
He said: “We are entering what I call the next golden era of space exploration.”
The physicist fears it is inevitable that Earth will one day suffer a major cataclysm like the asteroid that wiped out most life on Earth 66 million years ago.
And although no such “planet buster” is headed our way any time soon, he believes it would be prudent to spread humanity across the stars.
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Dr Kaku added: “As an insurance policy we have to make sure that humans become a two-planet species. These are the words of Carl Sagan.
“And now, of course, Elon Musk has revived this vision by talking about a multi-planet species.”
However, the laws of physics are in the way as space travel is a costly and inefficient business.
Dr Kaku looks forward to the use of spaceflight technology that uses ground-based lasers to propel spacecraft up to 20 percent of the speed of light.
Such technology already exists and can only be improved upon, and in time, the physicist believes, will allow us to reach one of our closest stars, Proxima Centauri.
To aid us in this goal, Dr Kaku said humans will need to build fleets of robots and machines that will construct our shelters and colonies from the materials already present on these newly explored worlds.
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2. Humans will expand the brain’s capabilities
A common trope in science fiction is that humans only utilise a very small proportion of their brainpower.
Although scientists have thoroughly debunked this claim, Dr Kaku believes technology will allow us to expand our horizons.
In particular, he said computers will connect our minds to the internet and allow us to exchange memories and directly share our emotions with others.
Dr Kaku dubbed this incredible new technology the “brain net”.
He said: “So we’re entering a new era where the internet itself could become ‘brain net’. Brain net could replace digital internet.
“Instead of zeros and ones, you’ll send emotions, feelings, memories on the internet. And, of course, teenagers will love it.”
3. Humans will eradicate cancer once and for all
Dr Kaku believes humanity is entering “the fourth wave of scientific innovation” that will involve the merging of biotechnology and AI for the betterment of mankind.
In time, the physicist believes we will find cures for ailments like cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
He said: “We’re going to have a magic bullet against cancer using nanomedicine.
“That is individual molecules in the cells that can target individual cancer cells using nanotechnology.”
Other technological developments will help people spot diseases at home by detecting tumour cells in our bodily fluids.
Eventually, Dr Kaku believes medicine will become non-invasive with technologies that will analyse symptoms straight from DNA chips – a technology he dubbed “liquid biopsies”.
The physicist said: “We will have years of warning that there is a colony of cancer cells growing in our body.
“And our descendants will wonder how could we fear cancer so much?”
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