If you thought the future is a mystery, Gerardus ‘t Hooft made us think again. With a solid foothold in realism and an extraordinary insight into scientific and technological developments, Nobel laureate Professor Gerard ‘t Hooft separated fact from fiction and showed us what our future might really hold, from robots with a sense of irony, space elevators to floating cities.
Gerardus ‘t Hooft started out his presentation stating his daily work is pondering about the most mysterious secrets hidden deep in the atom, which is an important feature of the world according to the theoretical physicist. Transportation of a single atom might be possible, but transportation faster than the speed of light or trasportation of humans is not. So for those hoping to ever say the words “Beam me up Scotty”, it’s not going to happen.
Also, travel space by hopping into back holes is a no go. Gerardus ‘t Hooft shared a useful tip:”Black holes are dangerous, stay away from them. You will not be emerged in another hole, you will be lost forever!”
Space colonization is something that might take place in the future, as there is an entire solar system with many interesting planets. Mars is not the best place but why not start out with building a hotel on the moon? Showing a picture, Gerardus described the hotel, revolving around its axes, including a swimming pool to experience different grades of gravity and just to have a nice time. Reaching the stars however is still a step too far for humans, but our robots can!
‘t Hooft ended his presentation by stating that the information era has just begun, and much more is still to come. With Moore’s law (factor 10 every 6 years) to continue for over 50 years, there are so many exciting possibilities still ahead! Maybe not the way science fiction likes to portrait it, but nevertheless unexpected and groundbreaking.
Gerardus ‘t Hooft is a theoretical physicist at Utrecht University, who was awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Martinus J. G. Veltman “for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions”. Asteroid 9491 Thooft is named in his honor and he has written a constitution for its future inhabitants! Read on for more info on Prof.Dr.’t Hooft.
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