does anyone else feel strangely conflicted about michio kaku? it’s irrational i know, almost like the fear of clowns, who want nothing more than to engage your interest, and open your eyes to the greater glory of their balloon animals. he’s a necessary and even admirable quantity. a scientist who seeks above all to popularize science to the “average” person. a latter day carl sagan. i appreciate his mission. and yet this very mission which has him constantly being called upon to consider the science of pop culture (the matrix, the x-men, star trek, alien civilizations, ufo’s, time travel, teleportation, etc) seems to diminish him somehow. the pop culture contexts he chooses to place himself in tangentially put him on par with some of the most laughed at and derided quantities going. par for the course i suppose.

he is a theoretical physicist after all. there are certainly links to the more fantastic ideas of science fiction inherent in that. i mean it’s the most natural avenue of popularizing science available to him. people love star wars, star trek, the matrix, the x-files… quantum leap (wink). these are million dollar franchises. obviously there are large groups of people behind those dollars, just waiting to be enlightened about the “reality” of string theory, the tenth dimension, and wormholes. but then, i can’t help but assume sci-fi heads are already predisposed to being open to science and all it’s seemingly outlandish possibilities. i would contend they are not only open but crave it. are sci-fi heads really “average” people in the intellectual or cultural sense? are these the folks who need to be illuminated?

i have to assume “average” people like their scientists the same way they like their science, distant, silent, and invisible, working behind the scenes as it were. does dr. kaku’s ice skating and pontificating on phasers inspire any confidence in the non-science hungry populous? do they look upon him and think, “hmmmm, well, scientists aren’t so bad! they don’t all cram fetuses into test tubes, worship monkeys, and concoct crazy stories about the globe getting warmer! let’s listen to what this fellow has to say!” or do they look at him and see just another bit of shiny fantasy entertainment fit to be aired snugly between reruns of in search of and ripley’s believe it or not? part of me sympathizes with the desire for unapproachable and impossibly distant scientists, so brilliant and focussed they forget to put on their pants and can barely communicate with “average” people well enough to explain what cold-cuts they need at the deli counter. people so god-damned smart that they inspire some kind of begrudging awe. people who though you can never hope to understand or relate to, you can at very least respect, and who when discussing important issues, you feel compelled to simply “take their word for it.”

i guess in that i’m sympathetic to dr. kaku’s cause, and do myself enjoy a good essay on “the physics of time travel” now and again, the conflict is rooted in my own perception. i guess i’m a victim of preconceptions and pop culture poisoning myself. i have a hard time reconciling a conversation on the merits of minority report’s “precogs” with a discussion about the “stability of fundamental quantum super membranes.” one seems somehow silly, one seems somehow serious. that they both come from the mouth of the same man casts odd shadows in my mind. i’m an “average” person, if there is such a thing, and i for one don’t mind my science reportage being devoid of sci-fi movie references. i don’t tend to look to a single source for my portions of each. but why not? my own stubborn preconceptions i suppose. if i take a moment to really think about it all, these are the facts as stored in my brain:

1) science interests me.
2) science fiction interests me.
3) science fiction is largely fantasy.
4) i suspect advanced theoretical physics is largely fantasy.
5) i would like science to be more popular culturally because it interests me and so-
6) i approve of dr. kaku’s mission of spreading science
7) dr. kaku has lustrous hair but does not seem to wear as many turtlenecks as carl sagan so-
8) i suspect dr. kaku’s method of spreading science will not be effective
9) what i suspect has no effect on science, science fiction, or the “average” persons view on them.
10) i am the only “average” person whose views i need to concern myself with (see #‘s 1 & 2)

so all in all i have no reason to do anything other than enjoy science, enjoy science fiction, and enjoy the points in each where dr. kaku’s mug and lustrous hair intersects them. popularizing science to the “average” person is not

chosen mission so why should i worry about how or if it’s accomplished? i don’t really care about the “average” person, in that i’m extremely doubtful there is such a quantity. so screw it. from here on out i embrace dr. kaku, be he scientist or the hack mo-rocca commentator of science. what’s the difference? it’s all gravy to me.

with that in mind i offer you this kaku-centric list of material:

escape from the universe “the universe is destined to end. before it does, could an advanced civilisation escape via a ‘wormhole’ into a parallel universe?”

the physics of extra terrestrial civilizations “the late carl sagan once asked this question, “what does it mean for a civilization to be a million years old? we have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilization is a few hundred years old… an advanced civilization millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bush baby or a macaque.”

the physics of interstellar travel “some scientists tend to scoff at the idea of interstellar travel because of the enormous distances that separate the stars… similarly, investigations into UFO’s that may originate from another planet are sometimes the “third rail” of someone’s scientific career…”

how to survive the end of the universe (In 7 Steps) stingy discover magazine never put up the full text of this article so i’ll sum up for you-
step 1) find and test a theory of everything
step 2) search for a naturally occurring worm hole
step 3) send a probe through a black hole
step 4) create a black hole in slow motion
step 5) create negative enrgy
step 6) create a baby universe
6a) build a laser implosion machine
6b) build a cosmic atom smasher
step 7) send in the nanobots.

a users guide to time travel “trips to the past were previously seen as preposterous. not anymore. having examined einstein’s equations more closely, physicists now realize that the river of time may be diverted into a whirlpool - called a closed timelike curve - or even a fork leading to a parallel universe.”

paralell universes chat via bbc horizons

borrowed time a lenghty sci am interview with he of the flowing locks mainly about time travel. more time travel here via pbs.

quantum computers that think. from tech tv, includes video.

of course if you are looking specifically for star trek, the matrix, etc, that and much more can be found on mkaku.org.

and finally the explorations radio show. actually this is really good work listening. (expect a full fledged “science on internet radio” post eventually.)

in closing let me say this, perhaps in today’s climate a theoretical physicist is not the best or most useful candidate for science mouthpiece. perhaps a biologist, a nutritionist, a pediatrician, or a hell, a high school earth science teacher, would be more useful to the “average” person of today. in the meantime lets all eat doritos and dig on that crazy kaku. the end.