Rapid Fire
Dyson Spheres
- 22 Jul 2024
- 2 min read
Dyson spheres are hypothetical megastructures built around a star to harness its entire energy output.
- Named after physicist Freeman Dyson, these structures would collect all of a star's radiant energy.
- Detecting a Dyson sphere could indicate a technologically advanced alien civilization that prefers not to communicate.
- Earth receives 1,361 watts per square meter from the sun, a tiny fraction of the sun’s total energy output of 380 billion quadrillion watts per second.
- A Dyson sphere would capture all this energy that otherwise radiates into space.
- The Kardashev Scale is a theoretical framework to measure a civilization's level of technological advancement based on its energy consumption.
- Humanity is currently at Kardashev Type 0.7449, not fully utilising the energy available on Earth.
| Kardashev Type | Energy Consumption (Watts/second) | Description |
| Type I | 10^16 | Harnesses all energy available on its planet |
| Type II | 10^26 | Harnesses all energy from its star |
| Type III | 10^36 | Harnesses energy on a galactic scale |
- While theoretically possible, constructing a Dyson sphere presents immense challenges in terms of resources, engineering, and time.
- Various projects, such as Project Hephaistos, have sought Dyson swarms using data from infrared surveys. While several objects have been identified, most have been ruled out as natural objects.
Read more: Planetary Instability in Twin Star Systems
