4 ms·

Wow, did nobody watch Star Trek TNG? I learned about them when I was about 10 watching the Relics episode (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_

by jcbeard 10y ago

Wow, did nobody watch Star Trek TNG? I learned about them when I was about 10 watching the Relics episode (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Ge..., or amazon prime: https://www.amazon.com/Relics/dp/B00R143VHC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470789546&sr=8-1&keywords=star+trek%2C+tng%2C+relics https://www.amazon.com/Relics/dp/B00R143VHC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT...). Very cool concept.

morganvachon 10y ago
Yep, that was an awesome episode for what it was, and the novel that served as a sequel was great as well. Unfortunately the version of a Dyson sphere depicted in both is completely untenable, according to Freeman Dyson himself. He reportedly enjoyed the episode as "a piece of cinema" but denounced the science involved as 100% fiction and not possible. As others have said, perhaps building something like that around a dwarf star would be within the realm of possibility, but you still have issues such as radiation, constant daylight, gravity, and drift (the sphere would eventually drift into the star since it's not actually orbiting and is much more massive than even a large planet). Still, it's a really cool idea and a fun thought experiment.
- jcbeard 10y ago
  Exactly, most science fiction representations fail on the engineering test. That' snot to say that some future change in our understanding of physics might not change what is in fact possible. One reason I love scifi is that the authors/readers/watchers are free to drop the need to be fully grounded and go for something truly cool. I suspect what we view as totally impossible today, might be within the realm of possible 2-3k years from now.
  - morganvachon 10y ago
    Yep, how does the saying go? Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic when presented to a less advanced society.
- deleted 10y ago
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by jcbeard 10y ago

morganvachon 10y ago

Yep, that was an awesome episode for what it was, and the novel that served as a sequel was great as well. Unfortunately the version of a Dyson sphere depicted in both is completely untenable, according to Freeman Dyson himself. He reportedly enjoyed the episode as "a piece of cinema" but denounced the science involved as 100% fiction and not possible. As others have said, perhaps building something like that around a dwarf star would be within the realm of possibility, but you still have issues such as radiation, constant daylight, gravity, and drift (the sphere would eventually drift into the star since it's not actually orbiting and is much more massive than even a large planet). Still, it's a really cool idea and a fun thought experiment.

jcbeard 10y ago
Exactly, most science fiction representations fail on the engineering test. That' snot to say that some future change in our understanding of physics might not change what is in fact possible. One reason I love scifi is that the authors/readers/watchers are free to drop the need to be fully grounded and go for something truly cool. I suspect what we view as totally impossible today, might be within the realm of possible 2-3k years from now.
- morganvachon 10y ago
  Yep, how does the saying go? Any sufficiently advanced technology will be indistinguishable from magic when presented to a less advanced society.
deleted 10y ago
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