tavis: good evening from los angeles. another powerful aftershock struck japan earlier today on this one month anniversary. first up, a conversation about the dangers facing japan and questions about nuclear safety in this country with renowned physicist michio kaku. also, a conversation about the state of the nfl and the ongoing labor issues with ray lewis. he is a driving force behind an initiative to raise awareness about kidney disease. we are glad you joined us. michio kaku and michio kaku

coming up. >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] tavis: michio kaku is a

renowned physicist and best- selling author and professor cuny. his new text has been published. he is drawing us from chicago. let me start with news of the day about japan and so we have another aftershock on the anniversary of the initial earthquake and tsunami. you have argued we need to entomb the reactor that is concerning some money in japan and around the world. >> first, the reactor in -- the reactors are stable in the same way a ticking time bomb is stable. it would not take much to light the fuse. a 6.6 earthquake, and over

pressurized containment vessel, anything could set it off in which case we would have another chernobyl. three times the magnitude of a chernobyl accident. that is why i say we should as a last resort prepared to entomb the reactor in concrete, sand, and boric acid. >> there are folks who say that is too risky. your response? >> it is risky to allow creation to constantly go up into the atmosphere. the main criticism of this approach of entombing is it would cost too much and involve too many resources and people but think of the costs of having the milk being thrown into the river, people's livelihood destroyed, every day, more radiation seeps out, causing panic in china and korea and the united states.

the ultimate damage could be billions of dollars extra when entombing the reactor would involve a few hundred million dollars. tavis: to your point, how concerned should we be about radioactive water? we keep reading about this activity in the ocean. >> radioactive milk has been found in the united states at the level of three peoplecuries per liter. that is roughly the legal limit but it is low. no need for panic. all of us have a piece of chernobyl in our bodies going back to 1986. back then, we had an accident much larger than the fukushima reactor. cesium and iodine went around the world three times and everyone has a piece of trouble in their bodies but it is to small to cause much damage.

tavis: how has this impacted the debate about nuclear power and nuclear safety in this country? have we against the conversation conversation and have we taken this seriously enough? >> this is a game changer. in germany, the canceled a series of nuclear power plants and basically have thrown in the towel with regard to nuclear. in the u.s., president barack obama is poised to initiate a new generation of nuclear power plants in the united states and the debate is starting in congress. in japan, they have made the faustian bargain. faust was a mythical figure who sold his soul to the double for a limited power. they have made that are good because they did not have coal, oil, or hydropower. the u.s. has a choice and this is going to spend the conversation and the debate as

we grapple with what could happen in the united states. we have reactors on earthquake faults. we have the indian point nuclear power plant north of new york city where i live. it is near the fault and the nrc calls it one of the most hazardous reactors in terms of earthquake damage. california has two nuclear power plants near the san andreas fault. diablo canyon near los angeles and also the reactor between san diego and los angeles. tavis: let me connect this conversation to your new book about the physics of the future. i have a chance to go through this and i was stunned and fascinated and scared at the same time. i was excited by some parts of the book about what you predict will be the kind of lives will be living in this country and

the world by 2100. just a list i got my attention. you argue life expectancy at 150 years. cars that will drive themselves, courtesy of gps. how will physics define our future? >> take a look at the internet. by the next 10 years, computers should cost a penny. that is the cost of scrap paper. it will be basically free and inside our contact lens will leave blank. we will go on line. when we see someone that we do not recognize, it will identify who they are and print out their biography in your contact lens and translate if they're speaking chinese into english what subtitles' as they speak. but demand for these contact lenses will be enormous. the first people in line will be college students taking final examinations. they will be able to blink and see the answers in their contact

lens. artists will be able to create fantastic works of art by moving their hands. we will have the whole deck -- holodeck. architects will be able to rearrange towers and architectural wonders in their contact lens and the military will love it because soldiers can see the battlefield in your contact lens. tourists will love it because they will be able to see the ancient ruins of the roman empire resurrected for them in their contacts lands as they walk the streets of rome. this is a game changer. tavis: tell me more about your look into the future through physics. >> when we look at the mid century, not just 10 years into the future but maybe 40 or 50 years, we will have direct mind contact with computers. we know that the brain is a

transmitter of radio. we have computers that can decipher much of this river is coming from our brain and we can use that to control computers. we can take stroke of victims who are paralyzed and cannot communicate and hook them up to a laptop and they can surf the web, do crossword puzzles, do video games and write and answer e-mails. by 2100, we will have the power usually reserved for the god of greek mythology. we will be able to move objects around mentally. we're making this possible in the laboratory. this is not science fiction. this is something we physicists are doing now. like a venus, we will have near- perfect bodies coming ageless bodies. right now, scientists are beginning to regrow organs of

the body as they wear out. we can already grow bladders adnd windpipes. alcoholics can take note. we can regrow a liver from your own cells. we will have chariots that take us in the sky and we will have flying cars finally between -- before the year 2100. like pegasus, we will recreate life forms that do not walk on the surface of the earth. we will have zoos of extinct animals resurrected by using genetics. all this by 2100. tavis: it is exciting and scary and fascinating. you mentioned a word a moment ago. the word power came up once in your response to my question. i am reminded that power corrupts.

all these things, as exciting as they may be toward the future as we get toward 2100, someone will use this for ill, someone will use this power to corrupt communities. what is the negative or the danger you see? >> i have interviewed over 300 of the world's top scientists to get the most authentic picture of what 2100 me look like. these scientists tell me there are two trends in the world today. one trend is toward more democracy and no two democracies have warred with each other. think of every single war you have learned about senger were in grade school. not a single one was between two democracies. the internet spread democracy. take a look at what is happening in the middle east, for example. there is another trend that you

pointed out. it is toward chaos. you have the trend toward nuclear proliferation, biogerms. what happens if the government vulcanizes the aids virus and makes it airborne? airborne aids could wipe out 99% of the human population, including the people who created it. we have to realize that science is a double-edged sword. one eds can cut against poverty, illness, disease, and give us more democracy and democracy never wars with democracy. one could give us nuclear proliferation and biogerms and terrace can get hold of this technology. -- terrorists can get hold of this technology. tavis: are you were frightened

by the future or more optimistic? >> i tend to be more optimistic. some people are more afraid because you see all these gadgets and gizmos coming down the pike and they think they are too old to learn all this new stuff. eventually, they began to realize, some of this stuff is useful. growing new organs in the body as they wear out, extending a human life span, what is not to like? in the last phase of this transition, people realize, i thought of it already. this is something that everyone can enjoy. there are dangers but only dangers if people do not understand where technology is taking yes. that is why i wrote this book. i am not a science fiction writer. i may physicist. these are scientists were making the future in their laboratories and this book consists of interviews i have done with 300 of the world's top scientists who are inventing the

future now in their laboratories. tavis: to make sure i read this correctly, i am told that you had two heroes when you were growing up. one, albert einstein, i think i get that. the other is flash gordon. >> i had two passions. to learn about einstein's theory and help him complete his dream of a unified theory of everything. that is my day job. i work in something called string theory and i am one of the founders of the subject. we hope to complete his dream of a theory of everything. i also love the future. watching flash gordon and watching science fiction. i began to realize something. to understand the future, you have to understand physics. physics of the last century gave as television, radio, microwaves, gave us the internet, lasers, transistors,

computers. all that from physics. the next century will be even greater. that is why if you understand physics, you understand computers, you also understand biotechnology, nanotechnology, and they will be the engines of wealth and prosperity in to the next century. tavis: we can think flash gordon for all this brilliant intellect. michio kaku, author of "physics of the future". good to have you on the program. next, nfl great ray lewis. stay with us. ray lewis is the 12th time nfl pro bowler. he is chairman of a foundation

raising awareness about kidney disease. good to have you. this must be the longest amount of free time you have had in a while. >> i tell you what is it for me. i started playing football in 1985. it has been 25 years since i had a break. so i kind of have got a different approach. tavis: how weird does it feel to have this extended downtime? >> i do not want to: weird for me. for other people, you can call it weird. i call it relief. i work out and beat my body up and now you take a break and it has been two or three years. it is kind of an uplifting thing. wow, i get this time to focus on me. you are in training camps and minicams and doing too much.

sometimes you do so much you get pulled away from taking care of you. tavis: it is hard to follow the story but the word as we sit here now is that the judge is mandating both sides, the players and nfl and apply and mediation. is that a good decision? isthe goothing we can do speak about it and keep our mouth closed. i will say i will tell more athletes in my position to have more things going on than just football. that is the opportunity that i have created. also the ro 52 group. creating opportunities and all the different things and opportunities i have created just to keep myself busy and energized on what business is

like in football and life after football. that is what has me excited. i can actually see life after football clearly and not be in mini-camps in and out. this is a great opportunity. tavis: i hear your point and i understand why the players are tight-lipped about this. unless they're focused and unified. i totally get that. let me ask you to tell me how you think the fans, that you can talk about. how to the fans process this work stoppage? >> i think the fans and i was speaking to someone about this. if you want to learn about this, you have to go where more intricate than when you see on tv. that is what you want to report but there is so much going on. when you talk about being in our world, where individuals. we're not just athletes. we're fathers, where sons. when you put this through a job

service, you take away everything we have built. we have this program for our kids. from the fans' perspective, it is almost the way i live. i do not speak on nothing i do not directly know about. that is what i would tell fans. if you want to know, you have to get into detail to understand what is going on. tavis: one last question that you can talk about. it came up before a work stoppage happen. this is you talk about the fact you are putting two or three years on your life. adding two or three more years on this frame. what about the notion of adding a couple games on the schedule? >> i do not agree. you are talking about unless you are doing it, unless you have been in the game and you go through, nobody sees what we do off the field. no one sees what your family and

your kids have to go through some days that you cannot pick them up. you have to keep ice on your shoulders and knees and all these different things. the fun is taken away. you are in camps and training and all these different things. you are adding two more games to make it 18 for the regular season. sooner or later, you will be playing with machines. you are losing too many athletes. you have this artificial turf that does not go right with our bodies. the pounding of that and the rigorous summer workouts that we have, that is too much. it can become too much. tavis: do you ever get scared, do you take the time to think about what your body will be like when you stop playing? >> yes. that is where take care of it and that is why i eat the way ied and my education process is you, there is nothing i am

doing to my body that a regular person is not doing to theirs. tavis: what you did this morning i did not do with my trainer. we have a different training regimen, i do believe. i digress. you have an athlete's foundation. what is it? >> it is a foundation that was created that we're able to gather up all the resources that we have learned and not -- and take back to our communities. the that is what we can do together. we have other 150 athletes in different sports. right now, together as a vehicle, we can push back and educate about this one which is kidney disease. i am directly affected because of my grandmother has kidney disease and she is on dialysis. the first partnership is we -- who is on dialysis as we speak.

he is a war hero when it comes to getting out there and doing it. that is what we're trying to bring back to our community. you are talking about 27 million people have kidney disease. another 21 million walking around who do not know they have it. when you look at these numbers, we're the ones who are affected outside of a group of people. when you understand these things, building these athletes and putting them together, that is the goal. and if we can keep this thing together, we can go back to our communities. tavis: when you can pull together athletes from different sports to focus on a. secular problem, when you can pull that off, -- you have a different perspective. how do you feel when you hear

people criticize the athletes? >> i think a lot of people have never sat with us. you can talk about what you see from the outside. it is hard to tell me who i am. that is a totally different person. that is my job. that is it. once i leave here, most of us are totally different people than we are on the field and that is where -- with the foundation is about. we have to feel part of change. not just everyone is doing so much individually. if i bring hank aaron with me, we win together because we go back to our communities and rebuild in the way we rebuilt. tavis: that is a heck of fun an autograph signing session. so, i would assume that over time, the issues might change.

right now it is kidney disease and you want to focus on that. after you do this for a couple years, you might find another issue. >> there is no cause we cannot hit. everybody will be affected by something else. that is our goal is to go around unit and code change. -- go change. god created us to work together. when we start going separately and figure things out, we lose. that is why i love the process of what we're doing. we're telling people across the world, you have to be part of this because this is change for everybody. not just this one we're saying believe in this cause. this is the first step and we have more on down until we solve some of the

world's issues. tavis: there is this notion that this underscores for athletes to have to have something you believe in that is bigger than the game you play. how much does that reinforce this for you? >> do not walk through life being an athlete or just playing football. carry the integrity and make an impact on someone else's life. that is the ultimate goal. good to have you won. i hope this thing and send you can get back to doing what you do. that is our show. until next time, keep the faith. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org tavis: joye and me next time with -- join me ne lelyveld andn

gandhi.lnday - >> all i know is his name is james, and he needs extra help with his reading. >> i am james. >> yes. >> to everyone making a difference -- >> thank you. >> you help us all live better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment, one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. >> be more.