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Originally Posted by monkeyfishturds
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Yeah three years ago Michio called the reactors a ticking time bomb. Unfortunately time bombs have a limitation.... time.
Times linear, it ticks by, and time bombs have to explode in a timely manner to be time bombs. Simply put what he predicted did not happen and we have not heard much from him on this issue since then.
Science celebrities and the role they play in public life is very different from what scientists really do professionally. Academics train for years to develop expertise on very specific topics, and they stick to their expertise because they want credit for their ideas. Scientists on television often comment on areas way outside of their specific training, because it's not the realm of academia and they will not be held to the same standards. This is particularly the case for well-known figures like Micho Kaku. He is often called upon to interpret all things scientific, but he would no doubt be the last person a real scientist would go to as an "expert" on some of the topics he discusses on TV.
Though Kaku
is a renowned physicist, his expertise is string theory, which has nothing to do with the type of real on the ground physics involved here. Being able to eloquently talk about some obscure math that may suggest the entire universe is constructed of string like tiny things vibrate and change and even work outside of linear time does not make you an expert on particle physics. I'll admit here that I think string theory for all it's theoretical eloquence is bunk, and there are a lot of physicists that say the same. String theory looks good on paper but it's probably dead wrong on some things, but I guess you could say time will tell, because it's ideas are still being considered even though some are likely going to be eclipsed in the near future.
Anyway on CBS's
60 Minutes and elsewhere, he did claim that this accident would "impact all of humanity" and has "unspeakable consequences." but unfortunately much of what he said turned out to be just hype and never came true. Those TV programs may of called him a "leading nuclear scientist" , but the truth is there's almost no connection between his specific field of theoretical physics and nuclear power.
Oh and by the way Kaku actually has a history of hysteric or perhaps hysterical views. For instance he's suggested that UFOs are driven by Alien life forms from other dimensions. (string theory guys tend to be way out there especially when it comes to dimensions) In the 90s, he spread a bunch of almost mythical lies about plutonium toxicity, and then organized protests against the launch of NASA's Cassini probe on the grounds that it was powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator containing plutonium, was going to self destruct and poison the whole atmosphere.
He predicted dire consequences for launch failure, which Duh!!! Never Happened!! Cassini is currently orbiting Saturn and photographing Titan, and it's launch did not poison the planet.
I mean I get it. You watch TV. There is this guy they put on TV. They say he's smart. They say he knows something about physics and you believe him.
That said you might want to take in account that vid is three years old, much of what he said would happen never happened, and the truth is he's just a talking head, and there's almost no connection between his field of theoretical physics and nuclear power.