Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

by Michio Kaku

“The nature of life is not mortality. It’s immortality. DNA is an immortal molecule. That molecule first appeared perhaps 3.5 billion years ago. That selfsame molecule, through duplication, is around today …. It’s true that we run down, but we’ve talked about projecting way into the future the ability to alter that. First to extend our lives two- or threefold. And perhaps, if we understand the brain well enough, to extend both our body and our brain indefinitely. And I don’t think that will be an unnatural process.”

I once read a short story about a genie who offered to grant a man any wish he wanted. He promptly asked to live 1,000 years. The genie granted him his wish and turned him into a tree.)

A combination of biological, mechanical, and nanotechnological therapies may in fact not only increase our life span but also preserve our youth in the process.

Using annual checkups and cleanouts, and some occasional major repairs, your biological age could be restored once a year to the more or less constant physiological age that you select. You might still eventually die of accidental causes, but you’ll live at least ten times longer than you do now.”

The mastery of tools is a crowning achievement that distinguishes humanity from the animals. According to Greek and Roman mythology, this process began when Prometheus, taking pity on the plight of humans, stole the precious gift of fire from Vulcan’s furnace. But this act of thievery enraged the gods.

Today, we are designing revolutionary new machines that are the ultimate tools, forged from individual atoms. But will they unleash the fire of enlightenment and knowledge or the winds of chaos?

“Nanotechnology has the potential to enhance human performance, to bring sustainable development for materials, water, energy, and foods, to protect against unknown bacteria and viruses

Resembling a quivering mass of mercury, it can change shape and slither its way through any obstacle. It can seep through the tiniest cracks and fashion deadly weapons by reshaping its hands and feet. And then it can suddenly re-form into its original shape to carry on its murderous rampage. The T-1000 appeared to be unstoppable, the perfect killing machine.

All philosophies and social systems are ultimately based on scarcity and poverty. Throughout human history, this has been the dominant theme running through society, shaping our culture, philosophy, and religion. In some religions, prosperity is viewed as a divine reward and poverty as just punishment. Buddhism, by contrast, is based on the universal nature of suffering and how we cope with it. In Christianity, the New Testament reads: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

The distribution of wealth also defines the society itself. Feudalism is based on preserving the wealth of a handful of aristocrats against the poverty of the peasants. Capitalism is based on the idea that energetic, productive people are rewarded for their labors by starting companies and getting rich.

The distinctions between the haves and have-nots may disappear, and along with it the notion of status and political power.

But if replicators solve the problem of scarcity, then perhaps utopia is within reach. Art, music, and poetry will flourish, and people will be free to explore their fondest dreams and wishes.

According to the Cave Man Principle, people’s basic personalities have not changed much in the past 100,000 years. Back then, there was no such thing as a job. Anthropologists say that primitive societies were largely communal, sharing goods and hardships equally. Daily rhythms were not governed by a job and pay, since neither of them existed.

Second, people became proud of their work, and even found meaning in their tasks.

First of all, replicators would guarantee that no one starves. But second, most people will probably still continue to work because they are proud of their skills and find meaning in their labor.

by unleashing a revolution in the entrepreneurial spirit. Freed from the fear of plunging into poverty and ruin, the more industrious individuals would have more initiative and take on additional risks to create new industries and new opportunities for others. He foresaw a new renaissance of society, as the creative spirit was unleashed from the fear of bankruptcy.

joy of discovery and innovation.

Once, when Semele, one of Zeus’s numerous mortal lovers, begged to see him in his true form, he reluctantly obliged. The resulting burst of blinding, cosmic energy burned her to a crisp.

float through the air on a cushion of magnetism. Our

I have lectured many times in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East, speaking about science, energy, and the future. On one hand, Saudi Arabia has 267 billion barrels of oil, so this country seems to be floating on a huge underground lake of crude oil. Traveling throughout Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states, I could see an exorbitant waste of energy, with huge fountains gushing in the middle of the desert, creating mammoth artificial ponds and lakes. In Dubai, there is even an indoor ski slope with thousands of tons of artificial snow, in utter defiance of the sweltering heat outside.

I once asked him why he got disillusioned with designing nuclear bombs and switched to working on solar energy. He confided to me that he had a recurring nightmare. His work on nuclear weapons, he felt, was leading to one thing: producing third-generation atomic warheads. (First-generation warheads of the 1950s were huge and difficult to carry to their targets. Second-generation warheads of the 1970s were small, compact, and ten of them could fit into the nose cone of a missile. But third-generation bombs are “designer bombs,” specifically tailored to work in various environments, such as the forest, the desert, even outer space.) One of these third-generation bombs is a miniature atomic bomb, so small that a terrorist could carry it in a suitcase and use it to destroy an entire city. The idea that his life’s work could one day be used by a terrorist haunted him for the rest of his life.

The worst situation is that of Bangladesh, a country regularly flooded by storms even without global warming. Most of the country is flat and at sea level. Although it has made significant gains in the last few decades, it is still one of the poorest nations on earth, with one of the highest population densities. (It has a population of 161 million, comparable to that of Russia, but with 1/120 of the land area.) About 50 percent of the land area will be permanently flooded if sea levels rise by three feet. Natural calamities occur there almost every year, but in September 1998, the world witnessed in horror a preview of what may become commonplace. Massive flooding submerged two-thirds of the nation, leaving 30 million people homeless almost overnight; 1,000 were killed, and 6,000 miles of roads were destroyed. This was one of the worst natural disasters in modern history.

Half the rice in Vietnam is grown in the Mekong Delta, home to 17 million people, and much of it will be flooded permanently by rising sea levels.

“Envision Pakistan, India, and China—all armed with nuclear weapons—skirmishing at their borders over refugees, access to shared rivers, and arable land,” the report said.

By midcentury, we should be in the hydrogen age, where a combination of fusion, solar power, and renewables should give us an economy that is much less dependent on fossil fuel consumption.

fusion power relies on fusing hydrogen atoms with great heat, thereby releasing vastly more energy (with very little waste). Unlike fission power, fusion power unleashes the nuclear energy of the sun. Buried deep inside the hydrogen atom is the energy source of the universe. Fusion power lights up the sun and the heavens. It is the secret of the stars. Anyone who can successfully master fusion power will have unleashed unlimited eternal energy. And the fuel for these fusion plants comes from ordinary seawater. Pound for pound, fusion releases 10 million times more energy than gasoline. An 8-ounce glass of water is equal to the energy content of 500,000 barrels of petroleum. Fusion (not fission) is nature’s preferred way to energize the universe. In star formation, a hydrogen-rich ball of gas is gradually compressed by gravity, until it starts to heat up to enormous temperatures. When the gas reaches around 50 million degrees or so (which varies depending on the specific conditions), the hydrogen nuclei inside the gas are slammed into one another, until they fuse to form helium. In the process, vast amounts of energy are released, which causes the gas to ignite. (More precisely, the compression must satisfy something called Lawson’s criterion, which states that you have to compress hydrogen gas of a certain density to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time. If these three conditions involving density, temperature, and time are met, you have a fusion reaction, wh...