Kardashev scale | Hacker News Reader

Kardashev scale

en.wikipedia.org

72 pointstshtf15 comments

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_Gen...

An even more interesting extrapolation of the genre is the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain.

Is 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?

Dyson'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.

I also recommend _Stellar Migration and the Human Experience_, which is chock full of stuff about Dyson spheres, "star lifting" (reducing a star's mass to prolong its life), and discussion of starship design.

That book was a great piece. The information was fantastic, I can't believe I left it behind when I moved country, and even more I regret it because I've seen people trying to sell copies for $150 when I bought it for $5 new.

This scale can be a wonderful focal point to explore different kinds of energy technologies. Once it gets to type I, the mega-structures we think would be required stir the imagination.

Also worth a link: Greydon Square's excellent science-themed hip-hop album of the same name: http://greydonsquare.bandcamp.com/album/the-kardashev-scale

This scale is very cool and all, but speculation about when we will acheive these levels is a guessing game. In the very least it ignores the possibility of a technological singularity, beyond which speculation becomes impossible.

I agree about the guessing game, but games are fun! I spent a good long while reading this site that speculates on all sorts of cool future achievements.

http://www.futuretimeline.net/

Ive just spent the last two hours reading all the links that were posted on here. Future Timeline is an awesome site.

Great link, I've definitely spent much longer than I expected reading these articles.

I think the point of a guessing game like this is to get you thinking.

I first read about Kardashev Scale on Michio Kaku's Parallel worlds. Nice starting point to speculation!!

I love that the example of Type I is a synopsis of Stargate Universe

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