Keynote "Physics of the Future" - Dr Michio Kaku

One of the 100 smartest people ont he planet...so ready for this,...

As far as predictions go, he cites that years ago, a prediction was made that the Internet would be a center of culture and enrichment. Today it's 5% porn. He cites that that's because it's young boys and men logging on. Just wait - when it's grandma and grandpa logging on, it'll be 50% porn...funny stuff.

"Sometimes we scientists have to know when to keep their mouths shut..."

Education hasn't changed much in 2,000 years...

College costs rise faster than inflation because machines and automation have reduced costs everywhere, except in education.

Moore's Law comes into play: Computer power doubles every 18 months. At this point, the future can be reasonably predicted out to 2020. Example: Birthday cards that, when you open, play music? The chip in that card would have had more computing power than all the Allied Forces from World War II.

Whoa.

By 2020, chips may cost a penny. Millions of chips will be scattered into our world. The computer, in 2020, will be everywhere and nowhere. After 2020, post-silicon era - Quantum computing, Artifical Intelligence, Jobs, and Society. The computer will disappear...

Same as electricity...no one uses that word anymore. And yet, it's everywhere, and nowhere.

The Internet will be everywhere, and nowhere. The Internet will be in your glasses. Facial recognition with profile information based on a person's face. How many times have you forgotten who someone is...unbelievable. The glasses will span the language barrier, as well, translating to and from communicator to communicator.

Technology disappears when it becomes most prevalent. Unbelievably deep...

In the future, when you want to get on the internet, you will blink. This is Augmented Reality.


Augmented Reality
Everytime you see something, with augmented reality, you will also see an explanation (think Terminator). Information in all shapes and sizes will soon appear. In the future, there will be a continuum from wristwatch to wall screen. Cell phones will have scroll out flexible intelligent screens, so that paper will even be interactive. Wallpaper will be intelligent - don't like it? Reprogram it!

It's the future of medical care, as well - Walk up to a wall, say you want to see a doctor, and eDoctor will appear on your wallpaper. Answers 99% of questions about medical care. eDoctor, eLawyer, and so on...it is the future for ALL things...

In the future, your Living room walls will be living. It will be the entertainment center...literally a 360 degree entertainment system, that is completely interactive. You say "I want to watch Casablanca, but remove Bogart's face and replace it with my own". Done.

And the holodeck...the matrix...it's coming. 3 dimensional simulations of a cyber environment. We will be immersed, completely and absolutely.

(Just as an aside, I'm zoning out here and there listening to him, so some content from his speech has been left out. This may very well be one of the most amazing addresses I've ever listened to...)

Back to the future of medicine - there is now a pill form of a colonoscopy...

I repeat: A pill form colonoscopy.

Camera shrunk down, placed in a chip. Chip is placed in a capsule, and swallowed. You can do so in your very living room. Nano-particles the size of molecules today can locate and even kill cancer cells, in lab experiments. It's been tested!

Diagnosis-wise, your bathroom will have more computer power than today's university computer systems. Your toilet will contain DNA chips 0 able to rapidly scan for cancer from your bathroom. Within minutes you can scan your body for cancer colonies, 10 years before they become a tumor.

Physicists will cure cancer.


Brain-Computer Interface
Stroke victims, rendered completely vegetative, are now able to read email, write email, play video games, and so on...all thanks to brain-computer interface. By wiring computers to the neurologic gateways of the brain, we will be able to control robots with our minds.


Conclusion
- Basic education hasn't changed much in 2,000 years, causing costs to explode.
- Chips will cost a penny by 2020.
- The Internet will be everywhere (even our contact lenses).
- Augmented reality (3D TV, Holodecks, etc.) will revolutionize the classroom.
- Even medicine (surgery, scans, diagnoses) will be done electronically.


Summary
What do I even say? This was absolutely unbelievable...