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just hypothetically speaking: wouldn't a dyson array need to beam energy to the planet where those aliens live? we should be able to pick up that high energy s

just hypothetically speaking: wouldn't a dyson array need to beam energy to the planet where those aliens live? we should be able to pick up that high energy stream with current technology, but we'd need first to guess at which frequency it transmits to (if it's there) edit: ok scratch that I stand corrected I was still thinking in earthling terms

Filligree 11y ago
Not if the aliens in question live in computers being run by said dyson array.
david-given 11y ago
They wouldn't necessarily live on a planet --- planets are a really inefficient may to make real estate. Much easier to live on the collectors themselves. Assuming that 'live' is a useful term; thing about aliens is that they're going to be alien. Star Trek has conditioned us to think of aliens as humans in rubber suits, but real aliens are going to be anything but. We don't even know if it's a 'they'; it could be an 'it'. If this is an artifact, then all it tells us is that they (or it) builds tools and likes energy. This suggests an inner-solar-system species like us, as living where things are fast and hot. But that's not necessarily a given. It could be a cold and slow outer-solar-system species doing something uncharacteristic. Or a plasma-based solar species. Or maybe it's something that's actually weird. I know this is going to turn out to be rocks moving oddly, just like everything else, but I'm still really interested to see what the results of the radio telescope survey's going to be...
- xlm1717 11y ago
  I don't think a planet would be an inefficient way to make real estate. Look at the benefits we get from living on a planet: free gravity, free protection from UV radiation, free life support, huge storage of water. I would assume that a civilization capable of constructing huge light collectors would also have no problem escaping the gravity field of a planet.
  - theandrewbailey 11y ago
    A planet is (one of?) the worst celestial objects in terms of usable area to mass. The benefits you listed may not be valid for planets other than Earth. In fact, most of Earth's surface isn't easily usable by us, due to large oceans and ice caps.
  - jonathankolber 11y ago
    The benefits you cite for planetary living could also be enjoyed living inside an O'Neill space colony, including controlled gravity (from centrifugal force generated by spin).
  - yarou 11y ago
    That assumes that these hypothetical beings are made of matter and not pure energy. It could be that these beings are energy "parasites" that consume energy directly from stars. They may even be an artificial intelligence that seeks to saturate the known universe, in which case a planet is unnecessary and even inefficient for their real estate. Maybe they just want to construct more interstellar data centers to propagate ;)
    - nitrogen 11y ago
      What would it mean for something to be made of "pure energy" in scientific terms?
the8472 11y ago
you could use the energy on-site for whatever you would use it anyway.
vectorjohn 11y ago
Others have pointed out they probably wouldn't live on a planet, but if they did, don't you think they could (and would have to, to be useful) focus the beams tightly enough to actually hit the planet / receivers? And even if not, they'd have to be pointed at us for us to see them.

Filligree 11y ago

Not if the aliens in question live in computers being run by said dyson array.

david-given 11y ago

They wouldn't necessarily live on a planet --- planets are a really inefficient may to make real estate. Much easier to live on the collectors themselves. Assuming that 'live' is a useful term; thing about aliens is that they're going to be alien. Star Trek has conditioned us to think of aliens as humans in rubber suits, but real aliens are going to be anything but. We don't even know if it's a 'they'; it could be an 'it'. If this is an artifact, then all it tells us is that they (or it) builds tools and likes energy. This suggests an inner-solar-system species like us, as living where things are fast and hot. But that's not necessarily a given. It could be a cold and slow outer-solar-system species doing something uncharacteristic. Or a plasma-based solar species. Or maybe it's something that's actually weird. I know this is going to turn out to be rocks moving oddly, just like everything else, but I'm still really interested to see what the results of the radio telescope survey's going to be...

xlm1717 11y ago
I don't think a planet would be an inefficient way to make real estate. Look at the benefits we get from living on a planet: free gravity, free protection from UV radiation, free life support, huge storage of water. I would assume that a civilization capable of constructing huge light collectors would also have no problem escaping the gravity field of a planet.
- theandrewbailey 11y ago
  A planet is (one of?) the worst celestial objects in terms of usable area to mass. The benefits you listed may not be valid for planets other than Earth. In fact, most of Earth's surface isn't easily usable by us, due to large oceans and ice caps.
- jonathankolber 11y ago
  The benefits you cite for planetary living could also be enjoyed living inside an O'Neill space colony, including controlled gravity (from centrifugal force generated by spin).
- yarou 11y ago
  That assumes that these hypothetical beings are made of matter and not pure energy. It could be that these beings are energy "parasites" that consume energy directly from stars. They may even be an artificial intelligence that seeks to saturate the known universe, in which case a planet is unnecessary and even inefficient for their real estate. Maybe they just want to construct more interstellar data centers to propagate ;)
  - nitrogen 11y ago
    What would it mean for something to be made of "pure energy" in scientific terms?

the8472 11y ago

you could use the energy on-site for whatever you would use it anyway.

vectorjohn 11y ago

Others have pointed out they probably wouldn't live on a planet, but if they did, don't you think they could (and would have to, to be useful) focus the beams tightly enough to actually hit the planet / receivers? And even if not, they'd have to be pointed at us for us to see them.