According to Kaku, he was inspired to pursue a career in physics after seeing a photograph ofAlbert Einstein's desk at the time of his death. Kaku was fascinated to learn that Einstein had been unable to complete hisunified field theory and resolved to dedicate his life to solving this theory.[7] For a high school science fair, Kaku built a 2.3 MeV “atom smasher” in his parents' garage. Using scrap metal and 22 miles (35 km) of wire, the device was powerful enough to produceantimatter.[8] It was at this National Science Fair inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, that he attracted the attention of physicistEdward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the HertzEngineering Scholarship.
Kaku is most widely known as a popularizer of science[21] andphysics outreach specialist. He has written books and appeared on many television programs as well as film. He also hosts a weekly radio program.
Kaku is the host of the weekly one-hour radio programExploration, produced by the Pacifica Foundation'sWBAI in New York.Exploration is syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the program's website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace, and the environment.
In April 2006, Kaku began broadcastingScience Fantastic on 90 commercial radio stations in the United States. It is syndicated byTalk Radio Network and now reaches 130 radio stations andAmerica's Talk onXM and was the only nationally syndicated science radio program. When Kaku is busy filming for television,Science Fantastic goes on hiatus, sometimes for several months.[citation needed]
Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs. As a guest on the programCoast to Coast AM on November 30, 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that the existence of extraterrestrial life is a certainty.[22][non-primary source needed]
In February 2006, Kaku appeared as presenter in the BBC-TV four-part documentaryTime which discussed the nature of time.
On January 28, 2007, Kaku hosted the Discovery Channel series2057. This three-hour program discussed how medicine, cities, and energy could change over the next 50 years.
In 2008, Kaku hosted the three-hour BBC-TV documentaryVisions of the Future, on the future of computers, medicine, and quantum physics, and he appeared in several episodes of the History Channel'sUniverse andAncient Aliens series.
On December 1, 2009, he began hosting a 12-episode weekly television series for the Science Channel at 10 pm, calledSci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible, based on the book of the same name. Each 30-minute episode discusses the scientific basis behind imaginative schemes, such as time travel, parallel universes, warp drive, and similar. Each episode includes interviews with other scientists working on prototypes of these technologies, interviews with science fiction fans, and clips from relevant science fiction movies.[citation needed]
In January 2007, Kaku visited Oman. While there, he talked at length to select members of that country's decision makers. In an interview with local media, Kaku elaborated on his vision of the future of humans. Kaku considersclimate change and terrorism as serious threats in human evolution from a Type 0 civilization to Type 1 on the Kardashev scale.[23]
Kaku, protesting at Cape Canaveral demonstration, 1987
Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over matters including people denying theanthropogenic cause ofglobal warming,nuclear armament,nuclear power, and what he believes to be the general misuse of science.[24] He was critical of theCassini–Huygensspace probe because of the 72 pounds (33 kg) ofplutonium contained in the craft for use by itsradioisotope thermoelectric generator. Conscious of the possibility of casualties if the probe's fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a"sling-shot" maneuver aroundEarth, Kaku publicly criticized NASA's risk assessment.[25] He has spoken on thedangers ofspace junk and called for more and better monitoring. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of theexploration of space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie inextrasolar planets, but he is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods ofNASA.[citation needed]
Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to information he learned via programs he heard on thePacifica Radio network during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation ofnuclear weapons in association with his mentor,Edward Teller, and instead focused on research, teaching, writing, and accepting media opportunities to educate.[citation needed]
Kaku was a board member ofPeace Action and of radio stationWBAI-FM in New York City, where he originated his long-running program,Exploration, that focuses on the issues of science, war, peace, and the environment.[citation needed]
His remark from an interview in support ofSETI, "We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation... and we wouldn't evenknow", is used in the thirdSymphony of Science installment "Our Place in the Cosmos". Kaku is also a member of theCuriosityStream advisory board.[26]
^Futurism, Futurism (January 9, 2016) [January 9, 2016]."Know Your Scientist: Michio Kaku".Futurism.Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024.
^"Michio Kaku".Distinguished Speaker Series. November 4, 2024. RetrievedNovember 5, 2024.
^Physicist Dr. Michio Kaku captivates student audience BY SANDHIYA KANNAN / March 27, 2014. "Then, by '69, '70, the war was beginning to wind down, and then my doctor found that I had too much sugar in my blood – I said, why didn't you find that before? So I wrote a letter to my draft board saying that I'm 'not fit' to be part of the infantry because there's too much sugar in my blood, I'm borderline, not really diabetic. All of a sudden, it was as if a voice up there said, 'I'm going to give you back your life. You were destined to die on some unnamed hill in Vietnam; unsung, just buried in mud, forgotten by everybody. That was your destiny.' But something happened; somebody up there changed their mind."
^Kaku, Michio. "Ghost-free formulation of quantum gravity in the light-cone gauge."Nuclear Physics B 91.1 (1975): 99–108.
^Kaku, M., P. K. Townsend, and P. Van Nieuwenhuizen. "Gauge theory of the conformal and superconformal group".Physics Letters B 69.3 (1977): 304–308.
^"Physics Faculty".CCNY Physics Department Faculty. 11 September 2019. Retrieved17 August 2024.
^Michio Kaku (November 30, 2007)."Universe, Energy & SETI".Coast to Coast AM (Interview). Interviewed byArt Bell. Archived fromthe original on February 12, 2008. RetrievedFebruary 27, 2008.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
