Science Fiction to Become Reality?

This article has been contributed by Rose Jensen

http://www.onlinecollege.org

Science Fiction to Become Reality?

Captain Kirk’s transporter machine may be more feasible than we initially thought. By the 23rd century, which is when the events of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek took place, there may actually be a Scotty beaming Enterprise crew members to the moon’s surface. Physicist Dr. Michio Kaku told the BBC that many phenomena of science fiction, including time travel and invisibility, have sound scientific roots.

Teleportation

Kaku, a theoretical physicist and co-founder the string field theory, recently published Physics of the Impossible, a book where he explored science fiction technology in relation to modern technology and the known laws of physics. He found that the only thing standing between humans and the time travel and invisibility devices made popular by science fiction novels and films is time. Within the next few decades and centuries, those technological fantasies will become tangible realities.

Time travel

Teleportation is already a real phenomenon, though only at an atomic level. Teleportation researchers have successfully teleported light particles, called photons, over a distance of 600 meters, and also across the Danube River. Molecule transportation should only be about a decade away, Kaku told the BBC, and by the time the 23rd century comes, human teleportation should be ready for action.

Invisibility, which had long been deemed as impossible because of the behavior of light, has also shown promising feasibility despite what physics had declared. Advancements in science has allowed for the possible construction of devices that can redirect the light around them, rendering them invisible. The only thing that can’t be done with invisibility thus far is a recreation of Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. In order to see, eye holes must be cut out of the cloak, meaning that while the rest of the body would be “invisible,” the eyes will not. Then again, Harry Potter’s cloak is a thing of magic and wizardry, not science fiction.

Invisibility

The only thing humankind needs to work on is robot intelligence, Kaku states in his book. As of now, the possibility of a near future containing smart and sentient robots is not looking bright.

“Robots are nothing but tape-recorders, pre-scripted moves ahead of time,” Kaku told the BBC. “Digital computers have a hard time learning, and that’s the fundamental problem. They don’t learn new skills.”

So while we may not see a C3P0 or R2D2 in the next couple of years, the possibility of invisibility devices should be more than enough to tide us over.

This post was contributed by Rose Jensen, who writes about the online college.

She welcomes your feedback at Rose.Jensen28@yahoo.com