Michio Kaku

[[File:Michio_Kaku_in_2012.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Michio Kaku in 2012.]]{{Physics|1}}
'''Michio Kaku''' {{lived|1947|}} is a noted [[United States|American]]  theoretical [[physicist]], best-selling author, [[Popular science|popularizer of science]] and media personality. He is a co-founder of string field theory (a branch of [[string theory]]). Although he remains the Semat Professor of Physics at the City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center,<ref>[https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/profiles/michio-kaku His profile]</ref> he seems to have stopped publishing technical work in the early 2000s. His most cited papers date back to the 1970s and '80s.<ref>[http://inspirehep.net/search?p=exactauthor%3AM.Kaku.1&sf=earliestdate Michio Kaku's publications on INSPIRE-HEP]</ref> Kaku is popular in [[mainstream media]] because of his knowledge and his accessible approach to presenting complex subjects in science. Unfortunately, when talking about a subject outside of his expertise, he tends to make [[Ultracrepidarianism|authoritative yet ill-informed comments]]. While his technical writings are confined to theoretical physics, his public speaking and media appearances cover a broad range of topics, from wormholes and [[time travel]] to more esoteric subjects such as the Kardashev scale.

He also hosts the show ''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'' (based on his book of the same name) on the [[Science (TV channel)|Science Channel]] which debates the likelihood of [[science fiction]] tropes coming into reality.  In doing so, he displays his [[Inverse stopped clock|ignorance of almost all branches of science outside of physics]]. He also hosts a public [[radio]] show (''Exploration'') which follows the same lines, with a smattering of [[geopolitics]] thrown in.

==Unorthodox views==
Though Kaku ''is'' a qualified physicist who has worked on reconciling [[quantum mechanics]] and [[relativity]] through string theory, he tends to be a bit of a [[crank]] who, somehow, has managed in recent years to appear as an "expert" on nearly ''every'' [[scientific]] documentary ranging from [[cosmology]] to the [[environment]].

When he isn't deciding what he is an expert on (and it does make one wonder how much time he spends on it), he is busy with his ''Science of the Impossible'' aimed at ''[[Star Trek]]'' fans who want to know how phasers "work,"<ref group=note>According to the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual'', a hand phaser contains a [[Technobabble|sarium krellide power cell]].  Aren't you glad you asked?</ref> his cameo appearances on random [[History Channel]] shows, and the Science Channel series based on one of his [[science woo|woo-istic]] books (which he flogs heavily on his radio show).

===UFOs===
In August 2010, during a TV interview,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pw13F7ahjY Michio Kaku: UFOs Are Real], MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show</ref> Kaku has some unorthodox opinions about [[UFO]]s. He said that 95% can be easily identified, but the remaining 5% are truly unidentified and "can't be dismissed." He also implied that witnesses in positions of authority are somehow more reliable, which doesn't stand up to scrutiny.<ref group=note>See for example [http://cosmoquest.org/forum/showthread.php/107111-Michio-Kaku this thread] in the [[BAUT]] forum.</ref>  He also stated that [[Astrobiology|aliens]] might come from a different dimension but is more sensible than [[David Icke]] generally.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw8dcb8iKSM Michio Kaku On Aliens On Physics]</ref>

In September 2019 Kaku gave a TV interview <ref>[https://video.foxnews.com/v/6088215683001 September 2019 Interview with Fox News]</ref> regarding UFOs saying "[...] now the burden of proof has shifted to the government and the military to prove they're not real." and that the "evidence is overwhelming" for the existence of unidentified objects.

===Nuclear energy===
Kaku has a history of spreading [[anti-nuclear]] falsehoods based mainly on fear. In the '90s, he spread [[myth]]s about [[plutonium]] toxicity and organized protests against the launch of the Cassini probe on the grounds that it was powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator containing [[plutonium]]. He predicted dire consequences for launch failure, which obviously didn't happen.<ref>[http://www.lovearth.org/mkaku.htm Dr. Michio Kaku's Speech on Cassini]</ref> These predictions did not take into account the fact that several accidents involving spacecraft carrying [[nuclear power]] sources happened in the past and none of them had significant impact.

After the [[Fukushima One|nuclear accident at Fukushima]], he appeared on CBS's ''60 Minutes'', where he claimed that the accident would "impact all of humanity" and has "unspeakable consequences," and made a number of other overblown predictions. The program called him a "leading nuclear scientist."<ref>[http://squeeze-box.ca/?p=873 A perfect lover has no memory: Michio Kaku rant]</ref> However, his predicting the accident's legacy has a grain of truth in that it undermines public confidence in nuclear power and delaying planned development. He also made blatantly false claims about the core of [[Chernobyl]]'s Unit 4 core still being molten.{{cn}}

However, Kaku is only opposed to nuclear fission power. He expressed his fondness of fusion power in a recent book titled ''The Future of Humanity''.

==Books==
*''The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth'' (2018) [[Special:Booksources/978-0-525-58953-2|ISBN 978-0-525-58953-2]]
*''Physics of the Future'' (2011) [[Special:Booksources/978-0-385-53080-4|ISBN 978-0-385-53080-4]]
*''Physics of the Impossible'' (2008) [[Special:Booksources/978-0-385-52069-0|ISBN 978-0-385-52069-0]]
*''Parallel Worlds'' (2004) [[Special:Booksources/978-0385509862|ISBN 978-0385509862]]
*''Einstein’s Cosmos'' (2005) [[Special:Booksources/0-297-84755-4|ISBN 0-297-84755-4]]
*''Visions'' (1999) [[Special:Booksources/0-19-288018-7|ISBN 0-19-288018-7]]
*''Beyond Einstein'' (1995) [[Special:Booksources/0-19-286196-4|ISBN 0-19-286196-4]]
*''Hyperspace'' (1994) [[Special:Booksources/0-19-286189-1|ISBN 0-19-286189-1]]
*''Quantum Field Theory: A Modern Introduction'' (1993) [[Special:Booksources/978-0-195-07652-3|ISBN 978-0-195-07652-3]]

==See also==
*[[Stephen Hawking]]
*[[Carl Sagan]]
*[[Neil deGrasse Tyson]] 

==External links==
*Episodes [http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/182 #182] and [http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/451 #451] of the [[Skeptics Guide to the Universe]] contains an interview with Michio Kaku, while episode [http://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/452 #452] bashes him a little bit
*[http://bigthink.com/michiokaku The Big Think] collection of questions for Michio Kaku
==Notes==
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==References==
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Categories: Authors, Living people, Media, Pseudoscience promoters, Radio, Shysters