4 ms·

Probably not. Energy is (at least to a high approximation) a conserved resource and stars are the most massive objects around besides black holes.

• TaylorAlexander 5y ago
  Based on our understanding of science. But 200 years ago the idea of having a conversation with someone 1000 miles away seemed quite impossible. Is it so hard to imagine that out of the possibly hundreds of millions of civilizations in the Milky Way, someone has found a way to extract energy from the universe in a way which seems physically impossible to us? I’m always very open to the idea that there could be a lot of physics we don’t understand yet. We could be at 0.1% of an understanding of the basic laws of the universe. I’m not saying I think that is likely or unlikely, but I do think it is possible.
  • gerikson 5y ago
    > But 200 years ago the idea of having a conversation with someone 1000 miles away seemed quite impossible In 1822 the Chappe optical telegraph had been in use since the Revolution, and the electric telegraph was ~20 years away. You'd have had to be singularly unimaginative not to envision an eventual extension to instantaneous voice.
    • TaylorAlexander 5y ago
      Ah, I guess I was referring specifically to radio transmission. You could say 400 years ago if that matters. A distant civilization could be 1 million years ahead of us.