by D. Vogt

Created on: July 13, 2010

A Dyson Sphere is a theoretical mega-structure constructed to collect much or even all of the solar radiation produced by a star, extract energy via solar panels or some similar technology, and then radiate lower-energy infrared radiation out into space. It was first described by Freeman Dyson as a mechanism for a sufficiently advanced civilization, either human or alien, which had grown beyond the energy production capabilities of a single planet.

Dyson, a physicist, devised the sphere as a hypothetical solution to the problem of indefinitely increasing energy requirements. Since the invention of stone tools and then of farming, he observed, every successive civilization had been dependent upon greater energy production than those which came before. (Today, similarly, we rely on much more power from electricity, petroleum, and nuclear fission than all previous eras in human history.) Assuming that technological progress and therefore energy demands continued to increase indefinitely in the future, it followed that humanity would sooner or later reach a point where we were no longer capable of satisfying our energy demands using only the production capacity of a single planet like Earth.

Furthermore, Dyson observed, there was reason to believe that intelligent life on other planets, elsewhere in the galaxy and the universe, would, given sufficient inspiration and natural resources, follow a similar ladder of increasing energy consumption as we have on Earth. They, too, would eventually turn to energy sources off their native planet. If these alien species were older than humanity, then they might already have done so.

The next step after harnessing the energy capacity of a planet would be to harness the capacity of the Sun. Dyson theorized that a sufficiently advanced intelligent civilization, potentially even future humans, could launch a vast network of solar power collection satellites into stellar or solar orbit, forming a ring around its sun. This approach is now known as a Dyson Swarm. A much more ambitious and powerful solar power collection system, known as the Dyson Sphere, would see an incredibly advanced civilization construct an entire shell around their star, perhaps at the distance of Earth's orbit or more, so that the entire solar output of the star could be harnessed.

For obvious reasons, a Dyson Swarm is a much more plausible construct than a Dyson Sphere. Not only are the material requirements far less breathtaking in scope, but the swarm

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>