Fisica de lo imposible

Other books by Michio Kaku

PARALLEL EINSTEIN'S VISIONS

WORLDS COSMOS

HYPERSPACE BEYOND EINSTEIN

A

SCIENTIFIC

EXPLORATION

INTO THE W O R L D OF PHASERS, FORCE FIELDS, T E L E P O R T A T I O N , AND T I M E TRAVEL

Doubleday
N E W YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND

PUBLISHED

BY

DOUBLEDAY

Copyright © 2008 by Michio Kaku All Rights Reserved Published in theUnited States by Doubleday, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY

and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kaku, Michio. Physics of the impossible : a scientific exploration into the world of phasers,force fields, teleportation, and time travel / Michio Kaku. -1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Physics-Miscellanea. 2. Science-Miscellanea. 3. Mathematical physicsMiscellanea. 4. Physics in literature. 5. Human-machine systems. I. Title. QC75.K18 2008 530-dc25 2007030290 ISBN 978-0-385-52069-0
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 FirstEdition

To my loving wife, Shizue, and to Michelle and Alyson

CONTENTS
Preface Acknowledgments ix xix

Part I: Class I Impossibilities
1: Force Fields 2: Invisibility 3: Phasers and Death Stars 4: Teleportation 5: Telepathy 6: Psychokinesis 7: Robots 8: Extraterrestrials and UFOs 9: Starships 10: Antimatter and Anti-universes 3 16 34 53 70 88 103 126 154 179

Part II: Class IIImpossibilities
11: Faster Than Light 12: Time Travel 13: Parallel Universes 197 216 229

Part III: Class III Impossibilities
14: Perpetual Motion Machines 15: Precognition Epilogue: The Future of the Impossible Notes Bibliography Index 257 272 284 305 317 319

If at first an idea does not sound absurd, then there is no hope for it.
-ALBERT EINSTEIN

One day, would it be possible to walk throughwalls? To build starships that can travel faster than the speed of light? To read other people's minds? To become invisible? To move objects with the power of our minds? To transport our bodies instantly through outer space? Since I was a child, I've always been fascinated by these questions. Like many physicists, when I was growing up, I was mesmerized by the possibility of time travel, ray guns,force fields, parallel universes, and the like. Magic, fantasy, science fiction were all a gigantic playground for my imagination. They began my lifelong love affair with the impossible. I remember watching the old Flash Gordon reruns on TV. Every Saturday, I was glued to the TV set, marveling at the adventures of Flash, Dr. Zarkov, and Dale Arden and their dazzling array of futuristic technology:the rocket ships, invisibility shields, ray guns, and cities in the sky. I never missed a week. The program opened up an entirely new world for me. I was thrilled by the thought of one day rocketing to an alien planet and exploring its strange terrain. Being pulled into the orbit of these fantastic inventions I knew that my own destiny was

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promised.

PREFACE

somehow wrapped up with themarvels of the science that the show As it turns out, I was not alone. Many highly accomplished scientists originally became interested in science through exposure to science fiction. The great astronomer Edwin Hubble was fascinated by the works of Jules Verne. As a result of reading Verne's work, Hubble abandoned a promising career in law, and, disobeying his father's wishes, set off on a careerin science. He eventually became the greatest astronomer of the twentieth century. Carl Sagan, noted astronomer and bestselling author, found his imagination set afire by reading Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars novels. Like John Carter, he dreamed of one day exploring the sands of Mars. I was just a child the day when Albert Einstein died, but I remember people talking about his...