Michio Kaku: Are We Sitting Ducks for Solar Flares? | Big Think

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  • Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
  • Michio Kaku: Are We Sitting Ducks for Solar Flares?
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    Dr. Michio Kaku answers the question "What is the biggest disaster of 2012, if you had a crystal ball?"
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    MICHIO KAKU:
    Dr. Michio Kaku is the co-founder of string field theory, and is one of the most widely recognized scientists in the world today. He has written 4 New York Times Best Sellers, is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning and has hosted numerous science specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery/Science Channel. His radio show broadcasts to 100 radio stations every week. Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York (CUNY), where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study as well as New York University (NYU).
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    TRANSCRIPT:
    Michio Kaku: Some people ask the question, “What is the biggest disaster of 2012, if we had a crystal ball?” Well, first of all, let me tell you what’s probably not going to happen in 2012. We’re probably not going to see Armageddon, doomsday, the end of the world, the apocalypse, even if you look at the Mayan calendar. Now, if you look at the calendars of many indigenous peoples, you realize that their calendars were cyclic because they were very close to Mother Nature, very close to the cycles of the weather, the cycles of the planet, and, therefore, one cycle ends and another cycle begins. Unfortunately, I think westerners, westerners saw something, hijacked it, realized they could make bestselling books by talking about the end of the world, and the thing began to have a life of its own.
    So let’s take a look at some of these prophecies. One says that perhaps another planet from outer space will come near the earth, disrupt the whole solar system. Well, let’s be blunt about this. We don’t see anything out there at all. In fact, you have to go way beyond Pluto before you find objects that are the size of Pluto, and they are billions upon billions of miles in outer space, so we’re not going to expect to see that happen. Another group of people say that perhaps the earth aligns with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where there’s a black hole. Well, just remember that that happens once a year, and the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is tens of thousands of light years away from us and we simply orbit in a stable orbit around the black hole.
    Now one danger, however, that we have to look at more carefully than before is the question of catastrophic solar flares. That’s something that has been pooh-poohed, but we now realize it’s actually more dangerous than we previously thought. If you take a look at the record, if you go back to 1859, that is the famous Carrington event. Carrington was an astronomer. He noticed unusual activity on the sun, and then all hell broke loose on the planet earth with regards to telecommunications, specifically telegraph wires. All of a sudden, telegraph wires that were dormant sprung to life and would transmit signals all by themselves. Some places fires got started because telegraph wires were overloaded. The Aurora Borealis usually seen near the North Pole was seen over Cuba, for God sake, and it turns out that you could read the newspaper at night in Cuba by the light of the northern lights.
    Well, I'm a physicist. We can then use these bits of information to go backwards and calculate the intensity of that solar flare, and the corolla mass ejection was incredible. In fact, if it were to happen today, which it won’t, but if it were to happen today, it would wipe out most of our satellites, short circuit their machinery. We would blackout our weather satellites, GPS systems, telecommunications, the internet. Power stations would be vulnerable. They would also be short circuited and wiped out, not just in one city where other cities come to the rescue, but in cities simultaneously across the entire planet earth. Refrigeration would be knocked out for perhaps weeks at a time. There could be food riots as a consequence. Ordinary, simple business transactions would be halted because you can’t make a credit card transaction because the telephone wires are out. Society as we know it would be thrown back perhaps a hundred years into the past...
    Read the full transcript at bigthink.com/videos/we-are-si...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 786

  • @bigthink
    @bigthink  4 роки тому +2

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  • @Redant23
    @Redant23 6 років тому +19

    I love listening to smart people. Unfortantely us humans have no control over outer space or anything outside of that. Scary stuff!

    • @mz.6109
      @mz.6109 4 роки тому +1

      Redant23 Very true and I agree with you☺

  • @someone5781
    @someone5781 12 років тому +6

    1:48 - 1:52 "poo poo but we now realize its actually more dangerous than we previously thought" This made my day.

  • @t-yu
    @t-yu 12 років тому +7

    Impossible. He's so awesome it's literally impossible in every way for him to die.

  • @Shimus36
    @Shimus36 4 роки тому +4

    *OUTERSPLACE INTENSIFIES*
    Good catch though. Nice recovery. I also do the slight choke and clear my throat too.

  • @michaelmcgarrity3092
    @michaelmcgarrity3092 5 років тому +10

    Eventually, when the Solar Heliosphere expands to Earth Orbit, were going to have the funnest BarbQ Party the Universe has ever seen. Be There or B Square!

  • @Sbc-rp9fc
    @Sbc-rp9fc 4 роки тому +2

    Such a great scientist. Thank you Mr Kaku for enlightening us to your theories and science. It's hard for people to put these ideas into words but you do it very well.

  • @blackness1023
    @blackness1023 12 років тому +1

    I been asking myself this exact question! Thanks Michio for reading my mind

  • @HunterBidensLaptop69
    @HunterBidensLaptop69 11 років тому +6

    :57 "splace" even the smartest man on earth makes mistakes

  • @notsogrand2837
    @notsogrand2837 8 років тому +3

    Great talking! about the "predictions" Glad i found you :D Also another great idea! Reinforce the grid and stuff :O

    • @lyrimetacurl0
      @lyrimetacurl0 5 років тому

      Interestingly a Carrington scale event happened in 2012, a few months after this video. But it missed the Earth.

  • @scorpion4z
    @scorpion4z 12 років тому

    I like this guy the most on this channel. So calm and collective. Gets you to pay attention.

  • @lukejtmulder
    @lukejtmulder 12 років тому +2

    Haha, I just learned all of this in astronomy class a few weeks ago. The estimated damage from a super flare is ~3.5 trillion dollars.

  • @FlCl3000
    @FlCl3000 12 років тому

    reminds me of the flare not long ago
    saw the aurora in georgia.
    beautiful

  • @slan7
    @slan7 11 років тому

    This guy's great. I was never interested in science when I was in school but listening to Kaku makes me want to go back to school and try harder in science.

  • @Runeclaw
    @Runeclaw 12 років тому

    I find his info interesting and fun to listen to. And his voice is very calm and relaxing.

  • @mz.6109
    @mz.6109 4 роки тому +1

    Intelligence is always refreshing! Especially when it is this brilliant man.🤗

  • @krap247
    @krap247 12 років тому

    Michio is the only reason why i subbed this channel. im glad i made that choice

  • @NikolaosSkordilis
    @NikolaosSkordilis 9 років тому +9

    Dr Kaku contradicts himself in this video. At 2:54 he says "If it were to happen today, *which it won't*.." and then he presents the possibilities of a Carringhton - level event in the next few years and saying that "we are sitting ducks". That "which it won't" came out a bit too strong, like an absolute conviction, although no-one having any knowledge of CME everts can rule that out. I do not think that "today" is meant as the present day but rather as the current era, so this is clearly a contradiction.

    • @Danieledva
      @Danieledva 9 років тому +8

      Becouse it won't happen untill solar poles switch.

    • @QuilavaKing
      @QuilavaKing 9 років тому

      I think the problem is that he's speaking to people who really don't understand any of this. I agree, some of what he said wasn't really 100% true, or was too blunt, but to get the point across to the average person without making them panic, that's more or less what you have to do.

    • @Danieledva
      @Danieledva 9 років тому

      That is very often the truth, yea.

    • @jasonlast7091
      @jasonlast7091 9 років тому

      What he was talking about was a general probability of the next year, it was unlikely to happen in 2012 (so unlikely that in general terms you could just say "it won't") but it will probably happen eventually.

    • @thesuperpierre59
      @thesuperpierre59 9 років тому

      he was saying that to say
      "hold on the phone : it won’t happen today or tomorrow"
      but there is a RISK each time the solar poles switches

  • @dtripakis
    @dtripakis 10 років тому +1

    Is there some website where you can post questions to Michio Kaku ? Where do all those questions come from ?

  • @Chengmaster
    @Chengmaster 10 років тому +1

    i think the Mayans were just like ahhh fck it... we dont wanna make anymore and there's no more room to write more calendars

  • @Scytherene122190
    @Scytherene122190 10 років тому +1

    How humbling.

  • @DK12322
    @DK12322 12 років тому

    @House3272 so would then the electricity come back or would you have to start at the bottom with the invention of the lightbulb and such

  • @cameronadel19
    @cameronadel19 9 років тому +3

    I like how he said "spend a...few...hundred...million dollars"

  • @89ozack
    @89ozack 12 років тому

    Michio Kaku keep it coming Sr.
    I enjoy listening :)

  • @Evidince
    @Evidince 12 років тому

    great man

  • @NATIK001
    @NATIK001 12 років тому

    @kroovyandcal That depends on what your perspective is on what alignment is is, but yes it will always be "aligned" from some sort of perspective.

  • @-Tokay-
    @-Tokay- 12 років тому

    I agree, Michio Kaku is the only person worth listening to on here. He is able to describe things so pretty much anyone can understand.

  • @darkeyedgirl005
    @darkeyedgirl005 10 років тому +1

    If he did these interviews and spoke to the camera the same way he does to his colleagues, we would hear a language unlike any most of us could conceive - unless you text a LOT. I would imagine a lot of abbreviations and shorthand to get his point across, but I might be mistaken.

  • @cjancortes3674
    @cjancortes3674 12 років тому

    Brilliant!!!

  • @Fummy007
    @Fummy007 3 роки тому +1

    A big solar flare literally did happen in 2012, but it was facing away from Earth. Could have been another Carrington.

  • @EDC-od5nq
    @EDC-od5nq 9 років тому +2

    In 2012 there was an X28 solar flare. If the sun had been a week further into its rotation it would've hit us.

  • @darkeyedgirl005
    @darkeyedgirl005 10 років тому +2

    When he said "doo-doo," I realized he was talking to the camera as if he spoke to a child. Explaining theoretical physics to people far outside his field must have been incredibly difficult for him when he began his career - imagine trying to explain calculus to your dog. We're not dogs, but we would probably have the same level of accreditation. Thankfully, he has had much practice speaking to those of us who are willing to understand and he does so in an only mildly insulting way.

    • @runs_through_the_forest
      @runs_through_the_forest 3 роки тому

      what he's saying are concepts anyone with a brain can understand and if he spoke normally it would show basic respect .. i hate it when anyone does that, like we all are idiots.. news anchors tend to do that to when they are telling you lies and half truths..
      he does have a fantastical mind for dreaming cool stories, and yeah m and x class flares are serious stuff, it can reshape the earth by discharge, its if you would ask me the greatest know of but not openly spoken of secret in science today. Anthony Peratt wrote some papers on it and as a thanks for it academics will say he's a liar and a fraud. yeah a liar and fraud with a life of nuclear physics research and classified high energy density plasma physics research at los alamos nat lab.. there's one lecture on youtube by him and free papers online somewhere, his book is unreadable unless you studied physics and even then.. :p

  • @Levon9404
    @Levon9404 10 років тому +1

    I agree about the danger of the solar flares 100%, I also disagree how solar flares happens, & is not the way they way Michio Kaku explained. Black hole have no effect on the any planets, the ones trap in solar systems. No planet with energy in it can possible penetrate into our solar system cause all the rings are occupied already, I have to clarify how that works in one of my future video clips.

  • @politicritique7850
    @politicritique7850 11 років тому

    now that's interesting and good to know!

  • @passimeow
    @passimeow 11 років тому

    Im from Wisconsin where we had a huge snow storm, I was over at my buddy's house and power lines went nuts and we all lost power in my city. clearly, 2012's doing lol

  • @bemanos12345
    @bemanos12345 12 років тому

    YOU MADE MY DAY!

  • @JKPieGuy
    @JKPieGuy 10 років тому +1

    Since Electro-Magnetic-Frequency's are conducted by metals with conductive properties, wouldn't encasing a circuit in some type of metal and grounding it to the ground itself, bypass the excess electricity and distribute it into the ground where it's dissipated? I don't know really, but it seems like a more plausible idea than doing nothing. (Though I have heard that incasing things in LEAD helps too.) One downside is that the idea wouldn't work for any object not on the ground.

  • @thebritishgeek
    @thebritishgeek 10 років тому +1

    that sounds like a bad ass prog rock album. black hole moving at the speed of light.

  • @VinayakaHalemane
    @VinayakaHalemane 12 років тому

    @mrikuma Exactly what I was thinking, but if you think practically, you'll see how much panic there'll be and that's not something you'd want.

  • @shkotay
    @shkotay 11 років тому

    Yah I looked it up earlier. Some ppl just love to be hated for attention I guess. Any point we can give for kaku is a plus, though. Spot on there.

  • @martakadziolka7182
    @martakadziolka7182 2 дні тому

    Um...sounds a little scary given recent events.

  • @dinomash379
    @dinomash379 12 років тому +1

    Kaku's videos are my favorite....oh!!! And Pen's too.

  • @Ferman123
    @Ferman123 12 років тому

    I wish Dr. Micho Kaku was younger he knows so much for his current age that he could help shape the world

  • @HAranzaleZ
    @HAranzaleZ 12 років тому

    Mr. Kaku is so amazingly smart.

  • @DittyDafku
    @DittyDafku 12 років тому

    Ive seen every video there is to see with Michiu Kaki in it!

  • @GoBIGclan
    @GoBIGclan 12 років тому

    @UtterlyMoot whats a pacemaker?

  • @SouravTechLabs
    @SouravTechLabs 7 років тому +3

    Whoo! 2017!

  • @gtakiwa
    @gtakiwa 12 років тому

    He mentioned the chances of our planet becoming fried from solar flares from the sun is less likely due to the size of our planet equal to the vastness of space, yet last year when he said this phenomena just grazed our planet and not to worry??? what a DUDE !

  • @kaosgoblin
    @kaosgoblin 12 років тому

    Ive been telling people of this danger for years, it was the subject of a sci-fi book I wrote a number of years ago.

  • @St37One
    @St37One 8 років тому +44

    The Big Difference between Michio Kaku and Bill Nye is that Michio Kaku actually knows what he is talking about most of the time.

    • @LordSpongy
      @LordSpongy 8 років тому +3

      +St37One Actually the big difference is one is an engineer and the other is a theoretical physicist....
      And Bill has to know exactly what he is talking about most of the time. Indeed he does. The man designed aircraft for a living, you know. You need exact calculations or things don't fly.
      Also, what does Nye have to do with this?

    • @St37One
      @St37One 8 років тому +2

      +LordSpongy Bill Nye is similar in that he is treated as an "authority" on science and he also does "Big Think" talks. Bill Nye really does spew BS most of the time. I have debunked one of his "Big Think" videos on my channel. Have a look.

    • @LordSpongy
      @LordSpongy 8 років тому

      St37One Cute. You think you and your opinions are worth more time than the 20 seconds it takes to make this response. No thanks.

    • @St37One
      @St37One 8 років тому +3

      +LordSpongy you have just demonstrated with your actions that they are worth 20 seconds

    • @Benjamin-1776-
      @Benjamin-1776- 6 років тому

      Thanks, Prof. Feces!

  • @respatsde
    @respatsde 12 років тому

    i read in the readers digest once that power lines can be''protected' from solar flares but most of them(power lines) are not...............................except in Finland( in europe at least don't really know about anywhere else) so yeah i'm happy that i live in finland:) ( so i can still have electricity)

  • @mastertue369
    @mastertue369 11 років тому +2

    The Mayan had never said the world will end. It was the government and media trying to make an profit that input that idea into people.

  • @TheJunFeng
    @TheJunFeng 12 років тому

    He's Back.

  • @TheBentastic
    @TheBentastic 12 років тому

    In 2012 the Flaring Ducks will be shitting solar beams.
    that's how it ends

  • @TheAreo0420
    @TheAreo0420 11 років тому

    something he doesn't point out is that CMEs travel incredibly fast. If a CME were to come at us from the sun right now, 8 minutes would pass before traces began to show on our sensory equipment
    and the CME would also be here in 8 minutes... No warning, just utter chaos.

  • @BG139D
    @BG139D 12 років тому

    I could listen to this man all day

  • @ScrewedMentality
    @ScrewedMentality 11 років тому

    True, wish they were more sci teachers in school like this guy !

  • @Jambas1177
    @Jambas1177 11 років тому +1

    Oh my gawd! I KEEP THINKING THERE IS A SPIDER ON MAI SCREEN. BWAAAHHHHHHH!!!

  • @luderudecrude
    @luderudecrude 11 років тому

    Their calendar didn't take leap years into account, but the scientists that converted it to Gregorian did. That being said, the Mayan calendar doesn't end in 2012, it starts a new year.

  • @heymrhimr
    @heymrhimr 12 років тому

    @falubii True, but he's extremely smart and could give a good speech and solution to so many of our problems.

  • @jrdubois112277
    @jrdubois112277 11 років тому

    nah, That would be a waste of brains. The government just needs to listen to more people like this, instead of dismissing them.

  • @Leftmarket
    @Leftmarket 12 років тому

    "Like a Leper" - The Joker
    "Like a Rifle" - Michio Kaku (4:12)

  • @sachoslks
    @sachoslks 12 років тому

    Oh man, i should be sleeping now, but im trapped, seeing all of Michio´s videos lol

  • @MZZenyl
    @MZZenyl 12 років тому

    Anything with Dr. M. Kaku deserves an instant "like".

  • @wexa89
    @wexa89 12 років тому

    @MrTrollzorr How do you charge your mobile phones battery without electricity ?
    :D

  • @KingNefiiria
    @KingNefiiria 11 років тому

    I love that-- "People say the Earth is going to align with the black hole in the center of the galaxy. Well...that happens once a year." xD This guy's humor is great.

  • @DasNandoTr0n
    @DasNandoTr0n 11 років тому

    @1:47 POOPOO
    LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

  • @cloudydog12594
    @cloudydog12594 12 років тому

    3:46, where i got lost.

  • @agfdsa123
    @agfdsa123 2 роки тому

    Thx.

  • @WaryWizard
    @WaryWizard 12 років тому

    @DoctorStalker1 that is if you go in a 2d format. If you include the Z-axis it isn't always true. The earth,sun, and the black hole would need to be on the same Z-axis for them to be aligned.

  • @Mosgaard
    @Mosgaard 12 років тому

    He is so good!

  • @InsaneAlphaBeta
    @InsaneAlphaBeta 6 років тому

    Outer Splace is the best Space :D
    0:55

  • @kurtilein3
    @kurtilein3 12 років тому

    @MrFWard86
    All sattelites do have protection against different kinds of electromagnetic radiation and particle radiation. So only some would fail, those with the weakest protection. If a solar flare is on its way, you can also shut down the sattelites with the weakest protection, wait until the flare is over, and re-boot, this also increases the chance of the sattelite surviving.

  • @jorge10928
    @jorge10928 12 років тому

    Back in 2008, I wrote a paper and made a presentation about this to my classmates in college. They looked at me like I was some crazy person. I don't seem so crazy now!

  • @DebateMeTheists
    @DebateMeTheists 12 років тому

    @LeonShepard most science books are pretty easy to read. i mean if u don't understand a word punch it in google.
    You will norm see especially in science papers. a lot of the confusing stuff first then a nice easy to read result and a conclusion. Those are the parts you read the most.

  • @ShiskoProduction
    @ShiskoProduction 10 років тому +1

    Well we better hurry befo...*UA-cam was shut off by Solar Flare*

  • @Ladyranger
    @Ladyranger 11 років тому

    great!

  • @qalenanka
    @qalenanka 12 років тому

    It was Michio Kaku who taught Chuck Norris how to make a roundhouse kick so powerful!

  • @KedViper
    @KedViper 12 років тому

    Exactly what I was wondering when I heard about them.

  • @billbrady2805
    @billbrady2805 11 років тому

    Bill
    Wow !!!!! What a mind !!!!!!

  • @7pulford
    @7pulford 12 років тому

    Yes I do have a pretty good reason, Mainly the fact that I don't really care so much about the little things in life, y'know? Yes, I misspelt "exciting" as "exiting". Thank you for correcting me.
    Well that and the fact that I was actually just joking in that last message :)

  • @TheInglorioustaco
    @TheInglorioustaco 11 років тому

    It may be based on days, but the collective days can be calculated into groups of 365, which WE didn't take into account. The leap year theory is used correctly, but interpreted wrong.

  • @cherrybubben
    @cherrybubben 11 років тому

    My legs do not have a brain, so therefore that can not be an insult.

  • @powerofanime1
    @powerofanime1 7 років тому +6

    Electromagnetic shielding. NASA did it, we can use it here.

    • @JACOB1556
      @JACOB1556 7 років тому +2

      powerofanime1 Yeah but would NASA give it to the public no the elite wants everyone to die so they can rule the world.

    • @powerofanime1
      @powerofanime1 7 років тому

      The technology exists. That's all I was saying. If an independent company like SpaceX looks into reproducing the tech we wouldn't even have to deal with the Government. Even so, I don't think NASA is quite as into the whole Bureaucrat-supremacy deal as the rest of it.

  • @LordRayken
    @LordRayken 11 років тому

    Pluto is a dwarf planet and its still there. Theres nothing to miss.

  • @dblemn
    @dblemn 11 років тому

    This is one person that deserves to see the Star Trek era...

  • @Sulphurd
    @Sulphurd 11 років тому

    lol, he always makes it look simple, poo poo, doo doo. brilliant, i love him

  • @BrianD428
    @BrianD428 12 років тому

    @mallocate You mean 5.516666 (repeating, of course) of your minutes?

  • @AntiGravityC9
    @AntiGravityC9 12 років тому

    London Elektricity - All Hell is Breaking Loose

  • @Lugia1337
    @Lugia1337 12 років тому

    @bibabuzze uhm, that what you said there (C2O) is dicarbon monoxide, an extremely reactive molecule. I guess what you were trying to say was CO2.

  • @adam78180
    @adam78180 12 років тому

    Machio Kaku is my inspiration!

  • @chris12344573
    @chris12344573 11 років тому +1

    He looks like an older version of Mike from sixpackshortcuts

  • @Player5xx
    @Player5xx 12 років тому

    a day and a date are different. a date is a way to measure when a certain day is. days do not change, but the day that references them can. a winters solstice is not a specific date each year it is the day of each year that which has the least sunlight. not matter how you measure the date the day with the least sunlight happens at the same time, maybe a different date on a different calender but the same time. i know its hard to get and i didnt at first but i assure you the 13th baktoon is on

  • @kurtilein3
    @kurtilein3 12 років тому

    glass fiber wont be affected, underground powerlines wont be affected, and much of the stuff that gets affected can be fixed quickly.
    So i dont think it would be as serious as Micho describes it.

  • @zero00tolerance
    @zero00tolerance 12 років тому

    More Michio Kaku !!!!!!!!!

  • @mynamejermo
    @mynamejermo 11 років тому

    I've seen solar flares up close. They are very pretty.

  • @airsoft2100
    @airsoft2100 12 років тому

    the greatest disasters are the ones you cant see coming, you may think of them but they can hit any time without warning

  • @btat16
    @btat16 11 років тому

    The end of the world is when Michio Kaku says outer "Splace" instead of "Space".XD

  • @TuckerWooldridge
    @TuckerWooldridge 12 років тому

    4:10.... lol

  • @badzo54321
    @badzo54321 12 років тому

    2:40 well im a.... he repeats that so often, when he wants to talk about another subject :D funny