Since the dawn of humankind we’ve looked to the stars and wondered, what’s up there? What lies beyond this small blue planet we call home? If only, our ancestors thought, there was a way to bring the night sky closer, to really see the stars. Just how humanity managed to do that is quite a tale. It would take crystals forged inside the Earth, a plant that grows by the sea, a chance alignment of two small pieces of glass, a property boom in New York, and an accident of chemistry and light, to create the device that would reveal the heavens in all their glory: the telescope. Jim Al-Khalili, Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World V: Telescope, BBC 2019
Giant telescopes are being built all over the world which scientists hope will answer some of the oldest and most profound questions humans have ever asked. ibid.
Baghdad (9th century) in this period was like Florence during the Renaissance or Silicon Valley in the age of the Internet. ibid.
The secrets of the spy-glass was unleashed. ibid.
Galileo’s most powerful telescope pushed the limits of our seeing to the moon of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and ultimately to far beyond what had ever been seen with the naked eye. ibid.
Lenses grew bigger and more powerful. ibid.
Penzias & Wilson ... picked up a faint microwave signal apparently coming from empty space. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nova: Origins: Back to the Beginning, PBS 2004
Until recently we believed that the space between the stars and planets was empty – a vacuum. We now know it is teeming with charged particles. We see glowing electric filaments spanning millions of light years. Thunderbolts of the Gods, Wallace Thornhill, 2010
Find other lands beneath another sun. James Thomson, The Seasons, 1746
The planets in their stations listening stood,
While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.
Open, ye everlasting gates, they sung,
Open, ye heavens, your living doors; let in
The great creator from his work returned
Magnificent, his six day’s work, a world. John Milton, Paradise Lost 7:573
How glorious, then, appears the mind of man,
When in it all the stars, and planets, roll.
And what it seems, it is: great objects make
Great minds. Edward Young, Night Thoughts, 1742-5
Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards. Fred Hoyle, cited Observer 9th September 1979
In reality there are atoms and space. Democritus
Control of space means control of the world. From space the masters of infinity would have the power to control the Earth’s weather, to cause draught and flood, to change the tides and raise the levels of the sea, to divert the Gulf Stream and change the climates to frigid. There is something more important than the ultimate weapon. And that is the ultimate position. The position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere in outer space. Lyndon B Johnson
We should be a two-planet species ... Carl Sagan, the great noted astronomer once said, ‘We need to be a two-planet species.’ Michio Kaku
This is still very speculative, but the mathematics seem to indicate that as you fall through a black hole that you don’t simply die, you fall right through a wormhole, which is a gateway, a shortcut through space and time. Michio Kaku, interview How the Universe Works
Leaping across galaxies in a fraction of a second propelled by a form of energy with unimaginable power. Taking mankind beyond the ultimate frontier into the depths of the universe. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e1: How to Explore the Universe, Science 2009
The faster an object travels the more mass it gains. ibid.
There could be a loophole in Einstein’s theory … straight out of Star Trek. ibid.
Energy from nothing: this may be a key component. ibid.
A portal that connects directly to bizarre worlds. It’s a passport to adventure where the craziest fantasy becomes reality. A working gateway to a parallel universe. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e2: How to Travel to a Parallel Universe
Our bubble is not the only one. According to Inflation Theory, multiple Big Bangs created multiple bubble universes. ibid.
What I need is a bridge between bubbles. ibid.
Use remote-controlled probes. ibid.
A planet-buster may be the ultimate weapon in a future galactic arms race. But it may also provide the ultimate protection against an asteroid strike. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e3: How to Blow up a Planet
A teleportation system would change everything ... I’ve got two options: I could break it down to its atoms and somehow try to transport those ... I think Star Trek had a better approach. Covert it into data, a bit like a set of instructions, and beam those up ... Rather than transport the atoms I transport the instructions. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e4: How to Teleport
Scientists here at the Joint Quantum institute have achieved the impossible ... Teleportation really is possible. This is proof of principle: Chris and his team have teleported atoms using nothing but a mysterious connection called Quantum Entanglement. ibid.
Who’s going to hop into an unreliable teleporter? ibid.
Invisibility is possible. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e5: How to Become Invisible
We can now create a substance called Metamaterials that bend microwaves ... Soon we will be able to do the same thing with visible light. ibid.
Time beats at different rates throughout the universe. Time is relative. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e6: How to Travel Through Time
I still think that using the effect of gravity may hold the answer. ibid.
If the Strings can be made to move past each other, they create a unique vortex shape in the fabric of Space/Time ... Cosmic strings are certainly massive enough to manipulate Space & Time, and allow me to travel into the future and the past. But to build a working practical time machine out of cosmic Strings is going to be real tough. ibid.
It’s recently been discovered that most black holes spin. So the black hole collapses not to a single point but to a ring. All the terrifying forces are pushed to the outside. The centre is a far calmer place than we had imagined. Just like the eye of the hurricane. ibid.
Wormholes are formed at the centre of a black hole. They warp the fabric of Space/Time to create a tunnel connecting distant points. They might be ideal for time travel as they would offer a shortcut through Space and Time. ibid.
A journey of trillions of miles to the stars and beyond: engines with unimaginable power hurtling across the galaxy on a mission to build a galactic empire. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e7: How to Build a Starship
In order to survive as a species we have to find a second home among the stars: we must build a starship. ibid.
The crew would have to be multi-generational. ibid.
Beams of light with unimaginable power harnessing the raw energy of the lightning bolt fuelled by a mysterious invisible force: science fiction fantasy or the design for a working light-sabre? Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e8: How to Build a Light-Sabre
A shape-shifting body, atomic computing, powering a brain that might outsmart our own: the rise of the machines may be closer than you think. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e9: How to Build a Sci-Fi Robot
Learning the rules of an unpredictable world – that’s hard. ibid.
The strength of a hundred men, the ability to see through solid walls, and read minds, is every kid’s ultimate dream: superhero powers. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e10: How to Become a Superhero
There are all kinds of problems with this classic flying saucer shape. For a start there aren’t any wings ... It turns out spinning is crucial to keep these discs stable. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e11: How to Build a Flying Saucer
Using super-conductors I should be able to get my saucer to hover in perfect silence. ibid.
A missile-melting laser lattice, carbon tubes stronger than steel, combined into the ultimate armour. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s1e12: How to Build a Force Field
We want to live on a planet: how are we going to do it? Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e1: Earth 2.0
I have to find a nearby planet in our solar system … We have to create Earth-like conditions … We need a planet teeming with life. ibid.
Terraforming another planet is no longer just a dream. ibid.
It’s Sci-Fi’s most inspiring vision: the colonization of the galaxy. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e2: Galactic Colonization
90% of the rocks in space are big enough to destroy civilisation. And it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when. Michio Kaku, Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible s2e3: Deep Impact