Lindau, July 3, 2008 Utrecht University Gerard ’t Hooft in the 58th Meeting of Nobel Laureates...
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Transcript of Lindau, July 3, 2008 Utrecht University Gerard ’t Hooft in the 58th Meeting of Nobel Laureates...
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Utrecht University
Gerard ’t Hooft
in the
58th Meeting of Nobel Laureates June 29 – July 4, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Figuring things out ...
... using known laws of physics !
- Acknowledgement :
- Excuse :
- Justification :
- Caveats :
Jack’s right ...
It’s fun ...
Knowing the laws of physics,one can really look intothe future ...
You will often be wrong ...often dead wrong ...and there will always bebetter solutions !
Lindau, July 3, 2008
❖ What can we do with modern science, and what will stay out of reach forever ?
❖ Will we solve problems concerning energy, poverty, climate change ?
❖ How far will we prolong human lifetimes? ❖ How will society change ?❖ Will humanity be able to conquer space, and how far will we get ? ❖ Will we outlive planet Earth? ❖ What can modern science say, using things known today ?
Questions
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Book: “Playing with Planets”,
G. ‘t Hooft, World scientific, Singapore, LondonTranslation: S.A. ’t Hooft
This talk: excerpts:
Nanoscience,Intelligent computersRobotsConquering outer space
mental exercise: What can we say about possibilities and restrictions using onlyknown laws of physics?
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Questions on Earth
Lindau, July 3, 2008
LHC, CERN, Geneva, magnets
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Proton
Neutron
Quarks
Atomic Nucleus
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Richard Feynman, 1959, APS CalTech:
“There is plenty of Room at the Bottom!”
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The information era has just started ...
Computer software and hardware can become gigantically faster and better ...
Computers can become intelligent, even surpass humans ...
Robots (automatically moving machines, remotely controlled by computers), can become very small and universally adaptable, however,
if they are small, they can see only very badly ... !
Moore’s Law
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Will NANO TECHNOLOGY determine our future?
Lindau, July 3, 2008
A proteineand DNA
10 nm
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Thehuman
Genome
Genetic engineering offers fantastic possibilities for the future
Food
water
energy
spacecolonization
Lindau, July 3, 2008
All that Earth is made of, is described by modern physics, very accurately !
and furthermore ...
Lindau, July 3, 2008
all visible objects in the entire Universe ...
are described by the same physical laws
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Will humanity conquer the distances in outer space ?
Lindau, July 3, 2008 A black hole
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Black holes can not be used as “wormholes”for transportation !
Why not ?
A black hole generates tremendous tidal forces;only large ones would be gentle enough notto tear us to pieces:
2 BH
c
GM
1: 100,000 secBHM M 10,000 ??BHM M
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The possible role of tethers
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The characteristic factor is the strength of a cable compared to its weight
is expressed inGigaPascal / (weight/ meter), orNewton meter / kg
2
2
Nm / kg
kg m / sec m / kg
(m / sec)
Steel: 154 000 Nm/kg = (392 m/sec) ²
Nano tubes: 48,462,000 Nm/kg= 7 km/sec ²
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Our motives: curiosity ...
Colonization of the Universe only happens if affordable!
SF authors perhaps underestimate:
the Media the Internet
To keep fund providers happy
for essential information
remotely controlled robots
Human colonization ...
... expansion drift
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The tremendous advantages of robots in space
Information technology
Robots remotely controlled by genuinely intelligent computers
- this does not contradict anything we know
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Cassini
▼
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Our first aim: the MOON
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lots of things to do there ...❖ colonization❖ exploration❖ exploitation❖ science:
❖ astronomy: large stable arrays of telescopes;
radio astronomy at
backside❖ ancient rocks from Earth:
early life?❖ low gravity science❖ low temperatures and pressures
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Colonization Step One :Simpler smaller versions of this typeof robots on wheels, equiped with tools, camera’s / webcams !
send dozens of them to the Moon
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Send also: an energy station, a powerful communication channel connecting Earth
All this starts as entertainment
Leasing a cambot is expensive (clients all over the world) It is fun (sight seeing, cambot quidditch, cambot rallies)Cambots are vulnerable and difficult - 3 secondssignal delay !
Glass and ice, to build a lunar hotel , are available ...
Lindau, July 3, 2008
John von Neumann:Robots can reproduce themselves.Robots can become semi-intelligent .
Self-reproduction and robot-intelligence are not possible today
but not forbidden by science !
Neumannbots
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The neumannbots can go well beyond Pluto.
Only after many thousands of years they can reach nearby stars
jumping from asteroid to asteroid - Just the way flora, founa, and human civilizations did,
when they colonized every part of planet Earth -
Neumannbots can colonize the galaxy.
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Travelling to stars takes millions of years
But living organisms can be distributed by Neumannbots.
Humans of flesh and blood don’t last that long. This will not be worth the trouble
To the stars?
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Our science is also the science for intelligentcreatures elsewhere in the Universe.
If these creatures exist at all, they will be subjectto the same limitations.
Therefore, we should not expect visits by creatures of flesh and blood
But their neumannbots might be able to reach us
They haven’t done so yet [?]
▼
E. Fermi: “Where is Everybody ?”
Lindau, July 3, 2008
THE ENDּ
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The elements in computer chips can become a lot smaller – and faster !
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Exclusively carbon atoms,
Young modulus 5 times that of steel;
semi-conducting or metallic, depending on “chirality”
Nanotubes
Lindau, July 3, 2008
After the hotel is finnished, the first humantourists are expected. They pay.
After a certain amount of time, permanent immigrants will come.
The Cambot drivers will:- build roads and power stations- digg- search for water and building material- learn
More difficult steps (next generation cambots):- cultivate plants and animals.- construct the first lunar hotel
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Are neumannbots dangerous ?
Not if we adhere to some fundamental principles. Read Richard Dawkins
All “evolutions” must be orchestrated from one central point (on Earth)
Then all neumannbots will be genetically identical. They behave like termites. The “queen” stays on Earth.
Lindau, July 3, 2008
Lindau, July 3, 2008
The Solar System
Can we go there ?
The Moon: 3 - 4 days Mars: 8 months
Asteroids ~ 1 yearJupiter’s moons ~ 2 years?Saturn’s moons ~ 3 years?
and: Uranus, Neptune, etc.Pluto and beyond ?