Or at least that’s what Dr. Michio Kaku, world-renowned theoretical physicist and popularizer of science, believes. And hey, I have no problem going along with any theories proposed by the man who has spent his lifetime continuing Einstein’s work and developing new theories on the creation of the physical universe. But let’s take a step back. We’re talking about TELEPATHY here; the act of communicating with one-another via the use of only our brains, long thought to only be the stuff of pure science fiction (cue Professor X). According to Kaku, however, we’re far closer to this reality than we previously thought.

However, there’s one hiccup to his proposition: he admits that “unassisted” telepathy (without the help of an outside force) is nigh impossible. Yet, he assures us that such an outside force does in fact exist today, in the form of computers and radio waves. While the sheer complexity of intertwining the very fabric of two minds may forever prevent us from telepathic communication without the help of a third party, Dr. Kaku is quite confident in our capacity for telepathy using the very same technologies that we interact with on a daily basis. In fact, breakthroughs on this futuristic front have been made as recently as February of this year, when Scientific Reports published the findings of an experiment done by Duke University neuroscientists. In short, it was found through this particular experiment that two rats were able to communicate using brain waves transmitted through a myriad of electrodes implanted in their brains. Not only were these rats able to relay task-specific information between one-another with a near 70% success rating, but they were able to replicate these successes in a second experiment that spanned the staggering distance between North Carolina and Brazil. A full write-up of the findings can be found here, on The Washington Times‘s website.

So maybe there isn’t as much “fiction” to this science as we’ve always told ourselves. As Kaku explains in one lecture, “already we can take MRI scans, EEG scans of the brain, decipher them using computers…shoot that information to another person. This is called ‘radio-enhanced telepathy’.” For one to send thoughts, conversations, even mental imagery to another individual seems less and less impossible as you continue to delve into the science behind Dr. Kaku’s claims. It is entirely probable that we will see this concept come to fruition within our lifetimes, and I have no doubt that the scientific implications of such a development will be marvelous.

For more information on Dr. Kaku, you can visit his website at www.mkaku.org, and can also find short excerpts from Dr. Kaku’s thoughts on telepathy here and here. In addition, if you are so inclined can pick up his book The Future of the Mind: The scientific quest to understand, enhance, and empower the mind in stores February 2014.