4. Would you have your brain "downloaded" into a computer? Could it mean eternal life? Or would it be like being one of the heads in bell jars in Futurama?
A. Living in a bell jar is not my idea of "living." However, in the far future, merging with our robot creations may be a better alternative. In this case, we could have superhuman powers, live forever and explore the universe in near-invulnerable bodies. There is no law of physics preventing this. In fact, if we ever make contact with an advanced civilization in space, we should not be surprised if they have already altered their genetics and biological organs. In fact, I would be surprised if a civilization a million years more advanced than us has not modified their bodies genetically and mechanically. Just to live on distant worlds and harsh environments, they may have to alter their bodies in this way. And also remember that we must leave the Earth in the far future, due to ice ages (perhaps 10,000 years in the future), meteor impacts (perhaps 10 million years in the future) and the death of the sun itself (5 billion years from now). And when we do, it will be absolutely essential that we modify ourselves, or perish. There is no other choice.
5. What is the first thing you would make if you had your own matter-fabricator?
A. Some people may ask for diamonds, gold bullions or truckloads of cash. However, I have never desired to be wealthy. Money does not interest me. I've always wanted something that a replicator can never create: ideas. Wealth is something that corrupts and dies with you. But ideas can live forever and change the world.
6. Are there any TV series or films that you feel got it right in terms of portraying the future, or time travel?
A. The movie 2001 was off in terms of a timetable by perhaps a century, but it was the most realistic portrayal of an encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization. An advanced civilization is not going to send Capt. Kirk in a huge, expensive star ship. This is inefficient. More likely, they will send robot probes, which land on distant moons. (Moons are stable over billions of years.) They will then create a robot factory capable of reproducing themselves by the millions. Then they will shoot off to distant moons, and create even more robot factories. Starting with just one robot, eventually there is a sphere of trillions of these robots, expanding at near the speed of light, exploring the galaxy. This may sound fantastic, but it is happening in your body.
This probe can be a virus, which can colonize trillions of your cells in a matter of two weeks, giving you a cold. In the same way, these robot probes can explore the entire galaxy in just 100,000 years. Then they will wait until an intelligent species rises from the primeval swamp. This is the basic plot line behind 2001, the most realistic encounter with ET.
In fact, Kubrick originally interviewed scientists for the beginning of his movie, explaining all of this. But then he cut these interviews from his film at the last minute.
7. What was your homemade atom-crasher made from?
A. When I was 16, I went to Westinghouse, got 22 miles of copper wire and 400 pounds of transformer steel, and built a 2.3 million-electron-volt atom smasher in my mom's garage. The magnets produced 10,000 gauss of magnetism (which is enough to pull the fillings out of your teeth if you get too close). When I plugged it in, it consumed 6,000 watts of power, so I blew out all the circuit breakers in the house. My mom would ask herself, "why couldn't I have a kid who plays basketball? or baseball?" But I never regretted building an atom smasher, because it helped me to get a scholarship to Harvard, where I could fulfill my dreams.
