8 ms·
One of the coolest sci-fi ideas related to the scale is that of a Dyson Sphere (a megastructure that surronds a star to collect it's energy). I recall personall
by iqster 16y ago
One of the coolest sci-fi ideas related to the scale is that of a Dyson Sphere (a megastructure that surronds a star to collect it's energy). I recall personally encountering the idea for the first time in a Star Trek episode. The wikipedia article mentions it. Sends a chill down my spine.
Edit: Here's a link to the ST-TNG episode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Gen...
- Dn_Ab 16y agoAn even more interesting extrapolation of the genre is the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain.
- nitrogen 16y agoIs a Dyson sphere or swarm even possible? It seems to me that the sun's gravity could collapse the sphere, since it wouldn't actually be orbiting. A swarm has similar problems: is it possible to orbit within an orbital plane that doesn't intersect the center of gravity of the sun?
- amalcon 16y agoDyson's original concept was basically to completely obscure the star in a cloud of satellites. It would be a little inefficient, insofar as some satellites would obscure others at any given time, but it's at least physically possible. There's been some speculation that the integrity of a Dyson shell (the thing most people know as a Dyson sphere) could be maintained by basically running large masses in orbits along the shell. Again, it would be a little inefficient (you're using some of the star's energy to power "not collapsing"), but we don't necessarily know it's impossible.