The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond

304 Pages·2018·7.76 MB·English

by  Michio Kaku

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

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
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 Dyson, 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