Michio Kaku

Dr. Michio Kaku is an internationally recognized authority in theoretical physics and the envi- ronment. He holds the Henry Semat Professorship in Theoretical Physics at the City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He has lectured around the world and his Ph.D. level textbooks are required reading at many of the top physics laboratories. Dr. Kaku graduated from Harvard in 1968, summa cum laude, and number one in his physics class. He received a Ph.D. from the University. of California at Berkeley Radiation Laboratory in 1972. He held a lectureship at Princeton University in 1973. He then joined the faculty at the City University of New York, where he has been a professor of theoretical physics for 25 years. His goal is to help complete Einstein’s dream of a “theory of everything, “ a single equation, perhaps no more than one inch long, which will unify all the fundamental forces in the universe.

Unlike the point particles in quantum field theories like the standard model of particle physics, strings interact in a way that is almost uniquely specified by mathematical self-consistency, forming an apparently valid quantum theory of gravity. Newtonianism is the doctrine of following the principles and making use of the methods of the natural philosopher Isaac Newton. Newtonianism was an enormously influential intellectual program during the 18th-century Enlightenment, and arguably continues to be so to this day. According to string theory, absolutely everything in the universe—all of the particles that make up matter and forces—is comprised of tiny vibrating fundamental strings. Moreover, every one of these strings is identical. The only difference between one string and another, whether it's a heavy particle that is part of an atom or a massless particle that carries light, is its resonant pattern, or how it vibrates. All objects, not just fundamental strings, have resonant patterns associated with them. Pluck the string of a violin and you hear mainly one tone. This is the string's fundamental resonant pattern, or frequency. And the instrument's resonance doesn't stop there. The body of the violin has resonant frequencies, which work to amplify the sound created by the vibrating string. There's resonance in objects that aren't musical, too. Your desk has resonant frequencies, and so does a flagpole, and so does the Earth.

With some objects, it's easy to determine a fundamental resonant frequency. Take the everyday, cotton string displayed on the left side of the activity above. Using the up and down arrows to the right, you can view four resonant patterns. The string expresses its fundamental pattern, or its first harmonic, when the degree of motion applied to it causes it to vibrate at its "natural frequency." At this frequency, the movement of the string is such that when the vibrational wave bounces off of the fixed end on the left, the reflected wave adds to the motion of the incoming wave. At slightly higher or lower frequencies, the reflected wave works against the incoming wave, canceling out its motion and reducing the overall energy of the wave. Each resonant pattern is a multiple of the fundamental frequency: The fundamental is half of a complete wave, the second harmonic is a complete wave, the third harmonic is one and a half waves, and the fourth harmonic is two waves. This pattern continues as the speed of the motion being applied to the string increases, theoretically to infinity.

Just like the cotton string, the line of energy that forms the "fundamental string" in string theory also has resonant vibrations, as illustrated on the right side of the screen above. With the strings in string theory, however, the vibrational pattern determines what kind of particle the string is. One resonant pattern makes it a photon, for example, while another makes it a heavy particle found within the nucleus of an atom. What determines the type of particle is the movement of the string and the energy associated with this movement. According to Einstein's famous equation E=mc2, energy and mass are equivalent—that is, the more energy something contains, the more mass it has, and vice versa. In string theory, this equivalence accounts for the different masses of different particles: a lower-energy string is lighter (less massive) than a higher-energy string.

Is time travel possible? In this fascinating short documentary, director Jay Cheel explores the real-life theories behind the science of time travel and the strange subculture of enthusiasts who are obessed with it. Meet Michio Kaku, world-renowned theoretical physicist and author of the book Hyperspace. Meet Rob Niosi, a hobbyist building his own full-scale home replica of H.G. Wells' time machine. Meet Larry Haber, the entertainment lawyer representing the family of John Titor, an alleged time traveller from the year 2036. Do these people know something about the world that the rest of us don't? Obessed & Scientific is a quirky look at the intersection of science-fact and science-fiction. In 2005 Kaku appeared in the short documentary Obsessed & Scientific. The film is about the possibility of time travel and the people who dream about it. It has appeared at the Montreal World Film Festival and is in developmental talks about becoming a feature. He also appeared in the ABC documentary "UFOs: Seeing Is Believing" where he suggested that while it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials have ever actually visited Earth, there is no telling what form such a visitation might take so all cases deserve investigation and, considering the importance of the matter, more study should be done.

Take it easy: that's Michio Kaku's motto. Given the extraordinary advances science has thrown up in time for the millennium, the only way you could possibly fit them into a single volume is by a correspondingly massive simplification. Subtitled How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century and Beyond, Visions assumes that, by and large, scientists get to do whatever they like, that all technologies are consumer technologies, and that consumers welcome anything and everything science throws at them. Kaku gets away with this frankly dodgy strategy by dint of sheer hard work. He has based his predictions on interviews with more than 150 renowned working scientists; he integrates these interviews with a huge body of original journalistic material; and, above all, he roots that mass of information on an entirely reasonable model of what the purpose of science will be in the third millennium. Up until now, science has expended its efforts on decoding most of the fundamental natural processes--"the dance," as Kaku puts it, of elementary particles deep inside stars and the rhythms of DNA molecules coiling and uncoiling within our bodies. Science's task now, Kaku believes, is to cross-pollinate advances thrown up by the study of matter, biology, and mind--modern science's three main theaters of endeavor. "We are now making the transition from amateur chess players to grand masters," he writes, "from observers to choreographers of nature." Then again, he also believes that "the Internet ... will eventually become a 'Magic Mirror' that appears in fairy tales, able to speak with the wisdom of the human race." Kaku, in short, deserves a good slapping--but he also deserves to be read. Here's another entry in the game of predicting what science and technology will come up with after the turn of the millennium, this one from a theoretical physicist. Kaku, author of Hyperspace (1994), defines his central thesis in a few words: We humans are about to make the transition ``from being passive observers of Nature to active choreographers of Nature.'' He forecasts major breakthroughs in three specific areas: computer science, molecular biology, and quantum physics. While all three of these disciplines have already had a significant impact on our daily lives, Kaku finds a broad consensus among scientists, many of whom believe that everything we have seen so far is merely a prelude to what lies in store. In particular, while the development to date of these areas of science has been marked by extreme specialization, the 21st century is likely to be an age of synergy, in which each area builds on the discoveries of the others. On a 20-year time frame, computer chips will become smaller, cheaper, and almost ubiquitous; genetic therapy will have cured many diseases, possibly including most cancers. But beyond that point, it appears that fundamental bottlenecks in both computer science and molecular biology will necessitate new breakthroughs, many of which will derive from quantum physics. This may fuel a new round of technological innovations, among them artificial intelligence (a robot in every home), tailor-made organisms (new foods and medicines), nanotechnology, and new energy sources. Kaku does not ignore the potential downside of these developments, examining such nightmare scenarios as robot killing machines fighting future wars and a revived eugenics movement. But if all goes well, says Kaku, we may well develop into a true planetary society, the first step toward making the entire universe our home. With this fascinating volume, Kaku positions himself as a worthy successor to the late Carl Sagan as a spokesman for the potential of science to revolutionize our lives.

Beyond Einstein is a book that tries to explain the basics of superstring theory. Michio Kaku analyzes the history of theoretical physics and the struggle to unite a unified field theory. He explained that the superstring theory might be the only theory that can unite quantum mechanics and general relativity in one theory. Kaku's exploration's of the principles of superstring theory are lucid, lively, and full ... as thought-provoking as Stephen Hawking. Recently, the "superstring" theory, which asserts that all physical matter consists of extraordinarily minute vibrating strings, has been touted as the route to the long-sought unified theory of forces; some proponents call it a "theory of the universe" that will bring fundamental physics research to a closure. The first author of the present book is a researcher in the field who offers here one of the earliest superstring presentations for lay readers. The beginning chapters offer a not-very-good history of early 20th century physics, but the remainder of the work becomes livelier and more convincing as it approaches Dr. Kaku's own area of expertise. On the whole this is a fairly successful introduction to a new and exciting scientific area. Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib.

`He does a pretty decent job of explaining some of the truly mind-boggling ideas now being kicked around by physicists: eleven-dimensional superstrings, membranes in sub-sub-atomic space, mathematical super-symmetry ... But by managing to tie up all this heavy stuff to the real-life people who dream it up, Kaku and Thompson make it an absorbing read ... after reading this book, you should be able to impress your mates by having an opinion of your very own.' Robert Matthews, Focus

Time travel, death stars and invisibility cloaks - writer and noted scientist, Michio Kaku, believes they could all be possible in the not to distant future. To the skeptics he points out that aeroplanes, lasers, televisions and atomic bombs were all considered impossible by scientists in the past. On Wednesday's Riz Khan we speak with noted scientist Michio Kaku author of Physics of the Impossible. The book explores the technologies and devices of science fiction that are deemed impossible today but that might become commonplace in the future. In this latest effort to popularize the sciences, City University of New York professor and media star Kaku (Hyperspace) ponders topics that many people regard as impossible, ranging from psychokinesis and telepathy to time travel and teleportation. His Class I impossibilities include force fields, telepathy and antiuniverses, which don't violate the known laws of science and may become realities in the next century. Those in Class II await realization farther in the future and include faster-than-light travel and discovery of parallel universes. Kaku discusses only perpetual motion machines and precognition in Class III, things that aren't possible according to our current understanding of science. He explains how what many consider to be flights of fancy are being made tangible by recent scientific discoveries ranging from rudimentary advances in teleportation to the creation of small quantities of antimatter and transmissions faster than the speed of light. Science and science fiction buffs can easily follow Kaku's explanations as he shows that in the wonderful worlds of science, impossible things are happening every day. Kaku (Parallel Worlds, Beyond Einstein, Hyperspace) introduces complex theories of physics to general readers. As The Economist notes, Kaku makes a good stab at explaining difficult physics. But his grasp of his subject is perhaps trumped by his knowledge of science fiction. While Kaku writes in language designed to captivate nonscience readers, its his references to pop culture "from Star Trek to Terminator 3â€"that clarify his fringe physics. (Those wishing to explore the topic further can refer to Kaku''s detailed footnotes.) To critics delight, Kaku also investigates the moral issues of futuristic technology that SF does so well and asks provoking questions about the fate of humankind. The only complaints? Kaku omits a few obvious SF parallels, and, more seriously, readers who dont enjoy that genre may find less of interest here.

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