The Future of Humanity Read online

  ALSO BY MICHIO KAKU

  The Future of the Mind

  Physics of the Future

  Physics of the Impossible

  Parallel Worlds

  Hyperspace

  Visions

  Einstein’s Cosmos

  Beyond Einstein

  Copyright © 2018 by Michio Kaku

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  www.doubleday.com

  DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  This page constitutes an extension of this copyright page.

  Cover design by Michael J. Windsor

  Cover images: galaxy © sripfoto / Shutterstock, spaceship © DM7 / Shutterstock, planet surface © Kjpargeter / Shutterstock, UFO © Coneyl Jay / Stone / Getty Images

  ISBN 9780385542760

  Ebook ISBN 9780385542777

  LCCN 2017046597

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress.

  v5.2

  a

  To my loving wife Shizue,

        and my daughters Michelle and Alyson

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Also by Michio Kaku

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  PROLOGUE

  INTRODUCTION: TOWARD A MULTIPLANET SPECIES

  PART I: LEAVING THE EARTH

  1 PREPARING FOR LIFTOFF

  2 NEW GOLDEN AGE OF SPACE TRAVEL

  3 MINING THE HEAVENS

  4 MARS OR BUST

  5 MARS: THE GARDEN PLANET

  6 GAS GIANTS, COMETS, AND BEYOND

  PART II: VOYAGE TO THE STARS

  7 ROBOTS IN SPACE

  8 BUILDING A STARSHIP

  9 KEPLER AND A UNIVERSE OF PLANETS

  PART III: LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

  10 IMMORTALITY

  11 TRANSHUMANISM AND TECHNOLOGY

  12 SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE

  13 ADVANCED CIVILIZATIONS

  14 LEAVING THE UNIVERSE

  NOTES

  SUGGESTED READING

  ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

  About the Author

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    I would like to thank the following scientists and experts who have generously given their time and expertise to be interviewed for this book and for my national radio and TV programs. Their knowledge and keen insights into science have helped to make this book possible.

  I would also like to thank my agent, Stuart Krichevsky, who has, over all these years, helped to make my books a success. I owe him a great debt of gratitude for all his tireless work. He is always the first person I turn to for sound advice.

  I would also like to thank Edward Kastenmeier, my editor at Penguin Random House, for his guidance and comments, which have helped to keep the book focused. As always, his advice has considerably improved the manuscript. His sure hand in editing this book is apparent throughout.

  I would like to thank the following pioneers and trailblazers:

  Peter Doherty, Nobel laureate, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

  Gerald Edelman, Nobel laureate, Scripps Research Institute

  Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel laureate, Santa Fe Institute and Caltech

  Walter Gilbert, Nobel laureate, Harvard University

  David Gross, Nobel laureate, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

  Henry Kendall, Nobel laureate, MIT

  Leon Lederman, Nobel laureate, Illinois Institute of Technology

  Yoichiro Nambu, Nobel laureate, University of Chicago

  Henry Pollack, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nobel Peace Prize

  Joseph Rotblat, Nobel laureate, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital

  Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate, University of Texas at Austin

  Frank Wilczek, Nobel laureate, MIT

  Amir Aczel, author of Uranium Wars

  Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, NASA, second man to walk on the moon

  Geoff Andersen, U.S. Air Force Academy, author of The Telescope

  David Archer, geophysical scientist, University of Chicago, author of The Long Thaw

  Jay Barbree, coauthor of Moon Shot

  John Barrow, physicist, Cambridge University, author of Impossibility

  Marcia Bartusiak, author of Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony

  Jim Bell, astronomer, Cornell University

  Gregory Benford, physicist, University of California, Irvine

  James Benford, physicist, president of Microwave Sciences

  Jeffrey Bennett, author of Beyond UFOs

  Bob Berman, astronomer, author of Secrets of the Night Sky

  Leslie Biesecker, senior investigator, medical genomics, National Institutes of Health

  Piers Bizony, author of How to Build Your Own Spaceship

  Michael Blaese, senior investigator, National Institutes of Health

  Alex Boese, founder of Museum of Hoaxes

  Nick Bostrom, transhumanist, Oxford University

  Lt. Col. Robert Bowman, director, Institute for Space and Security Studies

  Travis Bradford, author of Solar Revolution

  Cynthia Breazeal, codirector, Center for Future Storytelling, MIT Media Laboratory

  Lawrence Brody, senior investigator, medical genomics, National Institutes of Health

  Rodney Brooks, former director, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

  Lester Brown, founder and president of Earth Policy Institute

  Michael Brown, astronomer, Caltech

  James Canton, author of The Extreme Future

  Arthur Caplan, founder of Division of Medical Ethics, NYU School of Medicine

  Fritjof Capra, author of The Science of Leonardo

  Sean Carroll, cosmologist, Caltech

  Andrew Chaikin, author of A Man on the Moon

  Leroy Chiao, astronaut, NASA

  Eric Chivian, physician, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

  Deepak Chopra, author of Super Brain

  George Church, professor of genetics, Harvard Medical School

  Thomas Cochran, physicist, Natural Resources Defense Council

  Christopher Cokinos, astronomer, author of The Fallen Sky

  Francis Collins, director, National Institutes of Health

  Vicki Colvin, chemist, Rice University

  Neil Comins, physicist, University of Maine, author of The Hazards of Space Travel

  Steve Cook, Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA spokesperson

  Christine Cosgrove, coauthor of Normal at Any Cost

  Steve Cousins, Willow Garage Personal Robots Program

  Philip Coyle, former U.S. assistant secretary of defense

  Daniel Crevier, computer scientist, CEO of Coreco Imaging

  Ken Croswell, astronomer, author of Magnificent Universe

  Steven Cummer, computer scientist, Duke University

  Mark Cutkosky, mechanical engineer, Stanford University

  Paul Davies, physicist, author of Superforce

  Daniel Dennett, codirector, Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University

  Michael Dertouzos, computer scientist, MIT

  Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner, UCLA

  Mariette DiChristina, editor in chief, Scientific American

  Peter Dilworth, research scientist, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

  John Donoghue, creator of BrainGate, Brown University

  Ann Druyan, writer and producer, Cosmos Studios

  Freeman Dy
son, physicist, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

  David Eagleman, neuroscientist, Stanford University

  Paul Ehrlich, environmentalist, Stanford University

  John Ellis, physicist, CERN

  Daniel Fairbanks, geneticist, Utah Valley University, author of Relics of Eden

  Timothy Ferris, writer and producer, author of Coming of Age in the Milky Way

  Maria Finitzo, filmmaker, stem cell expert, Peabody Award winner

  Robert Finkelstein, robotics and computer science, Robotic Technology, Inc.

  Christopher Flavin, senior fellow, Worldwatch Institute

  Louis Friedman, cofounder, Planetary Society

  Jack Gallant, neuroscientist, University of California, Berkeley

  James Garvin, chief scientist, NASA

  Evalyn Gates, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, author of Einstein’s Telescope

  Michael Gazzaniga, neurologist, University of California, Santa Barbara

  Jack Geiger, cofounder, Physicians for Social Responsibility

  David Gelernter, computer scientist, Yale University

  Neil Gershenfeld, director, Center for Bits and Atoms, MIT Media Laboratory

  Paul Gilster, author of Centauri Dreams

  Rebecca Goldburg, environmentalist, Pew Charitable Trusts

  Don Goldsmith, astronomer, author of The Runaway Universe

  David Goodstein, former vice provost, Caltech

  J. Richard Gott III, physicist, Princeton University, author of Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe

  Stephen Jay Gould, biologist, Harvard University

  Ambassador Thomas Graham, arms control and nonproliferation expert under six presidents

  John Grant, author of Corrupted Science

  Eric Green, director, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health

  Ronald Green, genomics and bioethics, Dartmouth College, author of Babies by Design

  Brian Greene, physicist, Columbia University, author of The Elegant Universe

  Alan Guth, physicist, MIT, author of The Inflationary Universe

  William Hanson, author of The Edge of Medicine

  Chris Hadfield, astronaut, CSA

  Leonard Hayflick, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

  Donald Hillebrand, director, Argonne National Laboratory’s Energy Systems Division

  Allan Hobson, psychiatrist, Harvard University

  Jeffrey Hoffman, astronaut, NASA, MIT

  Douglas Hofstadter, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach

  John Horgan, journalist, Stevens Institute of Technology, author of The End of Science

  Jamie Hyneman, host of MythBusters

  Chris Impey, astronomer, University of Arizona, author of The Living Cosmos

  Robert Irie, computer scientist, the Cog Project, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

  P. J. Jacobowitz, journalist, PC Magazine

  Jay Jaroslav, Human Intelligence Enterprise, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

  Donald Johanson, paleoanthropologist, Institute of Human Origins, discoverer of Lucy

  George Johnson, science journalist, New York Times

  Tom Jones, astronaut, NASA

  Steve Kates, astronomer, TV host

  Jack Kessler, professor of medicine, Northwestern Medical Group

  Robert Kirshner, astronomer, Harvard University

  Kris Koenig, astronomer, filmmaker

  Lawrence Krauss, physicist, Arizona State University, author of The Physics of Star Trek

  Lawrence Kuhn, filmmaker, Closer to Truth

  Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist, author of The Age of Spiritual Machines

  Geoffrey Landis, physicist, NASA

  Robert Lanza, biotechnology expert, head of Astellas Global Regenerative Medicine

  Roger Launius, coauthor of Robots in Space

  Stan Lee, creator of Marvel Comics and Spider-Man

  Michael Lemonick, former senior science editor, Time magazine

  Arthur Lerner-Lam, geologist and volcanist, Earth Institute

  Simon LeVay, author of When Science Goes Wrong

  John Lewis, astronomer, University of Arizona

  Alan Lightman, physicist, MIT, author of Einstein’s Dreams

  Dan Linehan, author of SpaceShipOne

  Seth Lloyd, mechanical engineer and physicist, MIT, author of Programming the Universe

  Werner R. Loewenstein, former director of Cell Physics Laboratory, Columbia University

  Joseph Lykken, physicist, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

  Pattie Maes, professor of media arts and sciences, MIT Media Laboratory

  Robert Mann, author of Forensic Detective

  Michael Paul Mason, author of Head Cases

  W. Patrick McCray, author of Keep Watching the Skies!

  Glenn McGee, author of The Perfect Baby

  James McLurkin, computer scientist, Rice University

  Paul McMillan, director, Space Watch

  Fulvio Melia, astrophysicist, University of Arizona

  William Meller, author of Evolution ℞

  Paul Meltzer, Center for Cancer Research, National Institutes of Health

  Marvin Minsky, computer scientist, MIT, author of The Society of Mind

  Hans Moravec, Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, author of Robot

  Philip Morrison, physicist, MIT

  Richard Muller, astrophysicist, University of California, Berkeley

  David Nahamoo, IBM Fellow, IBM Human Language Technologies Group

  Christina Neal, volcanist, U.S. Geological Survey

  Michael Neufeld, author of Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War

  Miguel Nicolelis, neuroscientist, Duke University

  Shinji Nishimoto, neurologist, University of California, Berkeley

  Michael Novacek, paleontology, American Museum of Natural History

  S. Jay Olshansky, biogerontology, University of Illinois at Chicago, coauthor of The Quest for Immortality

  Michael Oppenheimer, environmentalist, Princeton University

  Dean Ornish, clinical professor of medicine, University of California at San Francisco

  Peter Palese, virologist, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

  Charles Pellerin, former director of astrophysics, NASA

  Sidney Perkowitz, author of Hollywood Science

  John Pike, director, GlobalSecurity.org

  Jena Pincott, author of Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?

  Steven Pinker, psychologist, Harvard University

  Tomaso Poggio, cognitive scientist, MIT

  Corey Powell, editor in chief, Discover

  John Powell, founder, JP Aerospace

  Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer

  Raman Prinja, astronomer, University College London

  David Quammen, evolutionary biologist, author of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin

  Katherine Ramsland, forensic scientist, DeSales University

  Lisa Randall, physicist, Harvard University, author of Warped Passages

  Sir Martin Rees, astronomer, Cambridge University, author of Before the Beginning

  Jeremy Rifkin, founder, Foundation on Economic Trends

  David Riquier, writing instructor/teaching assistant, Harvard University

  Jane Rissler, former senior scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists

  Joseph Romm, Senior Fellow at Center for American Progress, author of Hell and High Water

  Steven Rosenberg, head of Tumor Immunology Section, National Institutes of Health

  Oliver Sacks, neurologist, Columbia University

  Paul Saffo, futurist, Stanford University and Institute for the Future

  Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell University, author of Cosmos

  Nick Sagan, coauthor of You Call This the Future?

  Michael H. Salamon, NASA’s Discipline Scientist for Fundamental Physics and Beyond Einstein program
/>   Adam Savage, host of MythBusters

  Peter Schwartz, futurist, founder of Global Business Network

  Sara Seager, astronomer, MIT

  Charles Seife, author of Sun in a Bottle

  Michael Shermer, founder, Skeptic Society and Skeptic magazine

  Donna Shirley, former manager, NASA Mars Exploration Program

  Seth Shostak, astronomer, SETI Institute

  Neil Shubin, evolutionary biologist, University of Chicago, author of Your Inner Fish

  Paul Shuch, aerospace engineer, executive director emeritus, SETI League

  Peter Singer, author of Wired for War

  Simon Singh, writer and producer, author of Big Bang

  Gary Small, coauthor of iBrain

  Paul Spudis, geologist and lunar scientist, author of The Value of the Moon

  Steven Squyres, astronomer, Cornell University

  Paul Steinhardt, physicist, Princeton University, coauthor of Endless Universe

  Jack Stern, stem cell surgeon, clinical professor of neurosurgery, Yale University

  Gregory Stock, UCLA, author of Redesigning Humans

  Richard Stone, science journalist, Discover Magazine

  Brian Sullivan, astronomer, Hayden Planetarium

  Michael Summers, astronomer, coauthor of Exoplanets

  Leonard Susskind, physicist, Stanford University

  Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day

  Geoffrey Taylor, physicist, University of Melbourne

  Ted Taylor, physicist, designer of U.S. nuclear warheads

  Max Tegmark, cosmologist, MIT

  Alvin Toffler, futurist, author of The Third Wave

  Patrick Tucker, futurist, World Future Society

  Chris Turney, climatologist, University of Wollongong, author of Ice, Mud and Blood

  Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronomer, director, Hayden Planetarium

  Sesh Velamoor, futurist, Foundation for the Future

  Frank von Hippel, physicist, Princeton University

  Robert Wallace, coauthor of Spycraft

  Peter Ward, coauthor of Rare Earth

  Kevin Warwick, human cyborg expert, University of Reading

  Fred Watson, astronomer, author of Stargazer

  Mark Weiser, research scientist, Xerox PARC

  Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us

  Spencer Wells, geneticist and producer, author of The Journey of Man

  Daniel Werthheimer, astronomer, SETI@home, University of California, Berkeley

  Mike Wessler, Cog Project, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory