The book lets readers know why Sheldon Cooper is so fascinated with physics. A very well written book that speaks to the layman about things Einstein, Tesla, Schopenhauer, Hawking, Asimov and the world of the Science elite were and are involved in monitoring the state of the planet while monitoring the skies and whether life may exist beyond the earth. Kaku keeps it so easy to follow along it is like an introduction to the universe, with a dollop of global warming thrown in mixed well together then served up to tell the reader where from a scientific, geological, meteorological, astronomical, engineering sector where it is that humanity finds itself in the scheme of life on earth and given all the factors how long we can expect life to continue as we know it and what must be done to save the human race from the impending meltdown path the earth is currently on. Given the tracking of global warming and the rise in temperature of the earth’s core, Kaku tells in great detail many of the programs currently underway by the government and private funding sector, exploring the potential of other planets, moons (not just our moon but also those circling the other planets in our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy, even beyond) that could be habitable as it becomes necessary for the continuation of the human civilization to carry on living that with overpopulation, the gravitational pull between earth, moon and even that of the galaxy stretching itself into a flatter shape, the looming black hole found at the outermost reaches of the Milky Way show that things are going to have to change and within the next century. Billionaires are investing in plans to work out interstellar travel. Scientists are working on ways to make the atmospheres on other planets workable for colonization. It will blow your mind to learn all that is going on that the public generally doesn’t hear much about. Colonization training, is real. It will take many years to send up exploration vehicles, robots to test the terrain, even robots built to replicate themselves on another planet for the purpose of doing the necessary work – building factories on other planets to produce the materials necessary for putting up homes, biodomes, hydroponics for sustaining life once the limited supplies taken there run out, etc. Kaku tells the reader what is currently being discussed, planned, alternatives being researched, it is mind boggling all that is going on throughout the countries of the world to make sure that in the event of massive trauma to the earth there are viable alternatives to continue the human race so that we don’t go the way of the dinosaur if a huge asteroid were to plummet into the earth and bring on another ice age. There are even plans and research going on that go out 1,000 years to future generations continuing colonizing as technology advances even further into space so that the human race, if it were to evolve into many colonies (replicating the move from Africa into Europe and the poles on this planet) that in the event humans living on a myriad of planets might begin to think of themselves as something other than Earthlings and splinter off into differing groups as they move further and further away from one another. It is wild. The book discusses how mankind might have to eventually become hybrid into cyborg like states in order to stay strong enough to meet the demands put on human bodies living in vastly different environments given the state of the atmosphere on other planets (Searing heat, lethal gases, etc.) not to mention making communication remain stable and fast. Aging is another field being worked on and it is thought that one day it might be possible to halt the aging process and Kaku outlines several areas of research currently going on and what their initial and long-term goals are. He discusses research being done currently on lab animals to install microchips that would allow humans to communicate with their minds through whatever the internet becomes. Though it sounds sci-fi and too much to believe scientists have already been able to capture memories of mice. The stuff of Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury and others is nothing compared to the actual true programs currently in place. This book will floor you. Seriously.
