What are Dyson Spheres And When will humans advance enough to build one?
Imagine the future where human civilization builds gigantic Dyson spheres around the Sun that will capture most of its output power. The possibility of this would enable our civilization to use our star’s great solar power output to advance technologically and commence with interstellar crewed space travel to conquer other stars.
Suppose we were able to build Dyson spheres around other stars like our sun within the Milky Way Galaxy. In that case, we might become powerful enough to attempt Intergalactic space travel to other nearby galaxies.
Hence, building a Dyson Sphere around the Sun will give humankind a new power to explore distant worlds and progress technologically toward a fascinating future that we have been dreaming of. If you are a fan of science fiction, you must have heard about Dyson Spheres before.
While most people will still think that this concept will remain science fiction forever, some scientists are already exploring the idea of humans bringing it into reality. Before we discuss the possibilities of humans building a Dyson sphere around the Sun, let’s first understand the concept and then discuss the possibilities of humans bringing it into a reality.
What are Dyson Spheres?
Dyson spheres are gigantic megastructures built around a massive star by a civilization to capture most of its output solar power. For a civilization to advance enough to think of bringing this futuristic technology into a reality, that civilization must conquer every source of energy within their planetary of birth.
However, the futuristic technologies that they will be developing will require more solar power for effective operations. Hence, the civilization developing this fascinating powerful technologies will see the need to build a gigantic Dyson sphere around the Sun to trap most of its solar output power.
Note that building a Dyson sphere around any star is actually a complex task. This implies that any civilization attempting to attain such a feat must have become a spacefaring civilization.
Why Would A Civilization Consider Building Dyson Spheres Around A Star
The solar output power reaching the surface of a planet is always not as powerful as the solar output power near the Sun. Hence, a civilization that has conquered every renewable energy within its home planet, will consider building a Dyson sphere around the Sun to meet the energy requirements of its futuristic sophisticated technologies.
There would be a need for additional powerful energy requirements before any civilization would consider building such technology around its host Star. NASA reveals that about 342 watts of solar energy reaches every square meter of Earth over a year.
If this powerful amount of energy is converted, it is exactly 44 quadrillion (4.4 x 1016) watts of power. However, the total amount of power released directly by the Sun every second is 3.86 x 1026 watts. If our civilization could advance enough to build a Dyson Sphere around the sun, it means that we would be getting a tremendous amount of solar power output from the Sun.
When will Humans Advance Enough to Build Dyson Spheres Around The Sun?
For humans to advance enough to build a Dyson Sphere around the sun, we need to become a space-faring civilization. Futurists like Michio Kaku have predicted that humans will likely become a space-faring species in the next 100 to 200 years after becoming a type 1 civilization.
Becoming a type 1 civilization implies that we have advanced enough to conquer every planetary power within Earth, giving us the ability to explore other distant planets within the solar system. However, as a type 1 civilization, we are still not powerful enough to build a Dyson sphere around our star.
This implies that we must accelerate to type II civilization before attaining such a milestone. Astrophysicist Nikolai Semenovich Kardashev, a Russian scientist and futurist developed the Kardashev scale in 1964 to show the technological advancement of a civilization based on their level of energy consumption.
Kardashev revealed that humans will become a type 2 civilization in the next 3200 years and a type 3 civilization in the next 5800 years. This implies that we are still centuries away from attempting to build a Dyson Sphere around the Sun.
How Will Humans Build Dyson Spheres Around the Sun?
The concept of the Dyson Sphere was first coined by Freeman Dyson, a physicist, and mathematician in his 1960 research paper, “Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infra-Red Radiation”. Dyson derived his inspiration from the science fiction novel Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon.
The physicist envisioned a future where a civilization would have to build an advanced technological system around its host star to trap most of its output solar power. He noted that the advanced civilization could actualize this fascinating future by constructing a strong system of structures around the star.
Dyson revealed that the structure would guarantee massive conversion of the light coming from the star into infrared radiation which will be used to power a civilization. Despite coming up with such a futuristic concept, Dyson only suggested future generations would construct the structure around the star as a shell or biosphere.
He did not go into detail to reveal the materials it would be built with or how the construction would be put in place. However, Dyson later revealed that it would be mechanically impossible to surround a star like our sun with a solid shell or a ring.
He noted that the type of biosphere he envisioned would consist of a loose group of powerful objects moving on different orbits around the Star. The physicist referred to these collections of objects as Dyson swarm.
While many scientists disagree with Freeman Dyson on his futuristic concepts, many others are beginning to see reasons to believe with the futurist. The exact type of material for constructing the megastructures around the star still remains unknown to humans. But as humans continue to advance technologically, we will definitely get to the future where today’s science fiction will become a reality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Dyson Spheres Possible?
As of today, most scientists strongly believe that Dyson Spheres are theoretically possible. However, building a gigantic megastructure around the Sun to trap most of its energy will require an advanced civilization with a greater understanding of technology. Hence, constructing a Dyson sphere with today’s technology is practically not possible. But we should never underestimate the potential of future humans.
Is the Dyson sphere found?
Until today, we have not discovered any star system with a Dyson sphere around it. Such a discovery would answer the question if we are alone in the universe. However, astronomers are still searching to know if they can find one in the future. Even if we don’t find one, human civilization will surely advance to a future where we will likely build a Dyson Sphere around our Sun. But that is centuries away from now.