4 ms·

One thing the article didn't talk about in relation to the dyson swarm is that if each unit is self-contained and collecting energy, how does it then transmit t

One thing the article didn't talk about in relation to the dyson swarm is that if each unit is self-contained and collecting energy, how does it then transmit that energy to ... somewhere else (presumably one of the habitation units)? Are there obvious answers I'm not thinking about for energy transmission when you don't have a physical grid of wires to move it through?

gnoway 12y ago
The article suggests lasers.
lutusp 12y ago
A Dyson sphere is a very large embodiment of a simple idea -- inside the sphere you have a low-entropy high-temperature energy source. Outside the sphere you have the ultimate heat sink -- space. All you need to do is harvest the energy from the heat source, and allow the waste heat to radiate into space. Imagine a Dyson sphere surface, every square meter of which would have more than enough potential energy available for virtually any purpose. Imagine something crude like a steam-driven power plant. A facility at the sphere surface would heat water to steam below the surface, then drive a piston or turbine, then recondense the steam to water above the surface by radiating the waste energy into space. Or one could use a thermocouple, not very efficient, but very reliable. There's a thermocouple power supply on the moon right now, it's been there for about 45 years and it's still going strong. The Curiosity Mars rover has a thermocouple power supply also. These devices exploit a temperature difference to generate electricity. Again, not very efficient, but reliable -- no moving parts. > Are there obvious answers I'm not thinking about for energy transmission when you don't have a physical grid of wires to move it through? Well, there's no reason not to have wires if that's desired. Just generate electricity in one of many ways as above, then transmit it to where it's more useful. An alternative would be to live on a moon orbiting the sphere, and radiate the power up to the moon in the form of microwaves or laser beams.
Karellen 12y ago
Or you can use the energy directly at the point you collect it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain

gnoway 12y ago

The article suggests lasers.

lutusp 12y ago

A Dyson sphere is a very large embodiment of a simple idea -- inside the sphere you have a low-entropy high-temperature energy source. Outside the sphere you have the ultimate heat sink -- space. All you need to do is harvest the energy from the heat source, and allow the waste heat to radiate into space. Imagine a Dyson sphere surface, every square meter of which would have more than enough potential energy available for virtually any purpose. Imagine something crude like a steam-driven power plant. A facility at the sphere surface would heat water to steam below the surface, then drive a piston or turbine, then recondense the steam to water above the surface by radiating the waste energy into space. Or one could use a thermocouple, not very efficient, but very reliable. There's a thermocouple power supply on the moon right now, it's been there for about 45 years and it's still going strong. The Curiosity Mars rover has a thermocouple power supply also. These devices exploit a temperature difference to generate electricity. Again, not very efficient, but reliable -- no moving parts. > Are there obvious answers I'm not thinking about for energy transmission when you don't have a physical grid of wires to move it through? Well, there's no reason not to have wires if that's desired. Just generate electricity in one of many ways as above, then transmit it to where it's more useful. An alternative would be to live on a moon orbiting the sphere, and radiate the power up to the moon in the form of microwaves or laser beams.

Karellen 12y ago

Or you can use the energy directly at the point you collect it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain