Win a Chance to Meet Me and Take Part in Filming for "SCI-FI Science: Physics of the Impossible" in New York City on July 16th

Cutting-edge physics in all its remarkable strangeness

I'm nearly done filming a second season of "SCI-FI Science: Physics of the Impossible" on The Science Channel. In this exciting new series, I've identified 12 more familiar science-fiction movie, TV and literature notions and technologies. I've been explaining how we can build some of these SCI-FI ideas into science fact and—once again—I want to know what you think of my designs.

The next two episodes will be:

"How to Stop the Rise of the Machines" and "How to Defeat a Cyborg Army"

I'm inviting lucky winners of our competitions to the studio shoots where I will reveal my designs.

For a chance to be invited to the next reveal shoot in New York City, send an email to scifisciencecompetition@mkaku.org with your answers to the questions below.

In less than 250 words tell us:

Should we be afraid of the Technological Singularity?
What could we do to stop computers taking over?
Is there any way to defeat a cyborg army?
If you were to create your own cyborg army, what capabilities would it have?

I will choose a handful of lucky sci-fi fans to take part in the filming. Please include your name, age and contact details. You must be able to travel to New York for the filming on Friday, July 16th!

Please do not enter if you are unable to make this date.

Winners will be contacted on July 10th via e-mail or telephone—so be sure to check both often!

Make sure to get your entries e-mailed to scifisciencecompetition@mkaku.org as quickly as possible!

Good luck!!!

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Russ Chadwell on July 6, 2010, 8:52 PM

Okay. I have my thinking cap on. Will email soon.

marly kolkman on July 6, 2010, 11:13 PM

.we are cyborg.;)

John Michael Powell on July 7, 2010, 1:56 AM

Wow, I can't believe I actually have a chance at meeting this guy! He's basically my hero; one of the few people that makes me think good about humanity. I can't believe how many ignorant people there are on Earth, the ones that only live for media and instant self-gratification.

Susan vandenHam on July 7, 2010, 10:25 AM

I will enter mostly to support the cause ;) but I am a rather simple woman. I love science and even though most ideas and new innovations in our lives probably spring forth from science fiction, I can't say I am "that into" fiction of any kind; not to debase anyone who is. ... Anyway, I was a big Star Trek fan and I did go see Avatar...does that count?!?! :) If I should get picked, I'll get there, come Hell or high water!

Nicholas Moyer on July 7, 2010, 12:57 PM

If artificial intelligence does surpass human intelligence, then we could accomplish more and make greater discoveries because we would not be limited by the human brain. The singularity could benefit us in many ways. We don’t have to be the most intelligent beings on Earth. Everyone could sit back and relax as machines do almost everything for us. To stop computers from taking over, we simply need to build every microchip with a failsafe that will destroy it. The president will have one button and when it is pressed all the microchips will be destroyed if we ever need to be that drastic. We would be able to rebuild our technology learning from our mistakes if they do take over. But, if cyborgs do take over, we can just create more machines to fight them. If we can create machines that can turn evil, then we can create machines that cannot be evil. We need to prepare for the worst case scenario to prevent them from taking over in the first place. I would create a cyborg army that can produce cyborgs with greater intelligence than the previous generation. They would become infinitely intelligence as each generation is created. They would also have to be able to blend in with the rest of society. They would be just like humans and nobody could tell between them and a real person.

R. Garth on July 7, 2010, 3:10 PM

Bless you for encouraging people to THINK!

Brett Etheridge on July 7, 2010, 8:01 PM

by "be able to travel to New York" do you mean you will fly us out or do you mean we must be able to make it there of our own fiscal support? is yooz payin for this?

Brett Etheridge on July 7, 2010, 8:01 PM

by "be able to travel to New York" do you mean you will fly us out or do you mean we must be able to make it there of our own fiscal support? is yooz payin for this?

Doodnauth Harrykissoon on July 7, 2010, 10:07 PM

Dr. Kaku: With all due respect, when will you stop trivializing science, in particular, theoretical physics? I listened to an interview you gave on TV recently in which you showed a map of the universe. How arrogant and misleading! Please take some time to let your thinking go beyond particle physics and Big Bang to get to the secrets of our universe - I know you can get there. If not, my Unified Theory of the Universe will be out in September when all of us will be better informed. Bye-the-way, the birth of the universe was not violent, instead it was a serele event. However, within that event was the process that initiated violent events that made matter - this process started gravity and time and is an endless cycle. There is no end, just an endless, selfpropagating cycle. Go beyond Einstein and Hadron particle physics to get to TUTOTU. With all respect.

Professor D on July 8, 2010, 12:10 AM

Oh brother. This is so lame.

Nick DeBellis on July 8, 2010, 1:22 AM

I'd say that we should be afraid of the Technological Singularity. We can't just go around willy nilly and create incredibly intelligent, perhaps sentient AI. The consequences would be dire, and we may not survive. There can't be a 'fail-safe' in this case. If we create AI more intelligent than us, it could become Seed AI if it were sentient, continually improving the 'species'. It would be far too intelligent for us to create a flawless fail-safe as they would most likely see some way through. The best defense is to not create AI that powerful, hindering science for potentially stabilizing humanities position as top dog of the earth. On the Cyborg Army bit, I don't see how this would work. Cyborgs are us, they are mechanically enhanced humans and as such I would assume that, in the future, this would be mostly common place. If I were to have my own Cyborg Army they would probably just have the generic super strength and intelligence with lack of free will/sentience. Getting rid of the human as to dissolve any threat of rebellion, but I am not an evil mastermind so in all likelihood I would not dare have an army of any type.

Michael Tesh on July 8, 2010, 4:03 PM

If we create AI more advanced than us, then there is nothing to stop it. The question is, should we create it? Sure somewhere inside of us is the will to survive, but if we're going to take that next step perhaps we should question our own arrogance in believing that we should always rule the earth. Perhaps we shouldn't. Of course, this assumes the AI would be negative toward us. It's possible the AI could be apathetic to us. What is to stop it from leaving the earth and ascending into the universe as a whole? I mean why should it remain trapped here dealing with humans? It wouldn't be limited in the same way human beings are limited to our atmosphere. So why would it stick around on earth being mean to humans?

Johnny Carter on July 9, 2010, 6:05 PM

My answer pertains more to question two, personally I think creating AI robots and computing is a very good idea. When we create AI that could be self aware, even in it's infant stages, we should also create a fail-safe inside the coding. Something that would stop it from doing this certain or multiple act(s). A shock collar so to speak in their mainframe. Or a virus that specially can shut down any and/or all defective robots. Biomechanical humans, or cyborgs, I think should be available. Mainly it can have wide range of helpful use. Like in FMA. ;D

Tina Swangard on July 12, 2010, 12:46 AM

So for all of us waiting with bated breath to find out who won (and who didn't get the call/email) will the winning entries be published? I'd like to hear what other people thought.

Susan vandenHam on July 12, 2010, 8:57 AM

I didn't get either either!! But I am curious who did and if it will be anyone we recognize from their comments we've read here in the Big Think section. ...... BTW, with the thousands of followers Dr. Kaku has, why are there relatively so few entries here in this section? I know the FaceBook section has a lot of (usually) "one liners," but the comments here are rather sparce. Anybody got any ideas why? I't driving me nuts!!!

Jose Severiano Lopes de Queiroz Neto on July 16, 2010, 2:33 AM

We would start thinking about what we do understand as being "intelligent". The singularity proposal means that, in a short way, if we start a process that could give the capacity to a machine to "learn" and by herself not only replicate but create new knowledge, ad infinitum, we could have at the end "intelligence" as we know. But the question that remains is what really is to be "intelligent" ? Just to create ? Just to be creative ? Or there is some subjacent understanding the we as human beings doens´t know how to define ? Maybe we should be something afraid with that ! Let us suppose that these creations of us would inherity some bad behaviours, for example a way of competing behaviour that would led to the destruction of ourselves. As somebodyelse told that we could create mechanisms to prevent these things. Would they Work ? Or would they fail ? I saw the last program on SciFi and technology and if I´m not wrong that episode made me think if to be "intelligent" does have to pass through a destructive competition, armies and wars ? To be honest firstly we must answer these questions because sincerely I don´t divise a way to stop computers taking over !!! To let that responsability to a single person or to group, which ? And which criteria we would apply ? We would implant in each computer´s program, maybe the laws from Isaac Asimov ? To defeat a cyborg army ? Now I return to the question above does "intelligence" pass through beligerence or this way of thinking mirrors just the way most of us think and behave ?

Janie Lee, M.Ed. on July 28, 2010, 5:27 PM

I didn't want to study you, nor study under you, I wanted to use a thing I found in a book about you and I have to be sure. So now I know more than I need to know about you, that is distracting me, but it is a pleasure any way.

Heath Dimmack on August 21, 2010, 9:07 AM

My two cents: I have read various articles on the technological singularity and my only question is this, if it is possible for this event to occur within a man-made system why is it not possible or at least considered in a 'natural' system? (If someone has detail of mention of this could you please post a url or such) Another point of interest is the definition of intelligence, I believe we have missed the connection of emotion and intelligence instead seperating them and insisting that one has little bearing on another, which I find incredible, but it is none-the-less generally accepted. Artificial Intelligence has been a major point of interest for myself over the past twelve years, with many failures and successes, however it was not until I realised the connection of the two that I was able to produce a semblance of human comparable intelligence from machine.

jose mendez on August 21, 2010, 1:08 PM

Que pasaría si lo de los sacrificios humanos de la antigüedad era la toma de órganos para los extraterrestres que necesitaban donantes vivos y los sacerdotes solo imitaban lo que habían visto aser a los dioses o extraterrestres What if the human sacrifices of old was making bodies for aliens in need living donors and the priests just imitating what they saw aser to the gods or aliens

jose mendez on August 21, 2010, 1:09 PM

What if the human sacrifices of old was making bodies for aliens in need living donors and the priests just imitating what they saw aser to the gods or aliens Que pasaría si lo de los sacrificios humanos de la antigüedad era la toma de órganos para los extraterrestres que necesitaban donantes vivos y los sacerdotes solo imitaban lo que habían visto aser a los dioses o extraterrestres

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