Webb Telescope Rules Out Two New Dyson Sphere Candidates(www.universetoday.com)

15 pointsby root-parent4 hours ago1 comment

metalman2 hours ago
this is a silly projection of our technological state, but our capacity to capture and "upgrade" slow photons is already improving, and the notion that a technological civilisation that considers a star as a convienient fusion energy source is wildly unlikly to have missed any possible way to control, direct, store and transmit energy or matter that physics will allow for. the other thing is that creatures that controll stellar output energy units, cant be fractios squabling things like us, there actions are epic and vast in ways we cant grasp, and the only thing we practice at that scale is the hubris to "rule out" things of which we can know nothing. better science, please.
- nancyminusone2 hours ago
  Sure, but we know in theory that a dyson swarm should work, and what that might look like, so when we see something like that, it's worth a look.
  Where are you going to look for something you have no idea what it looks like and how do you know when you've seen it? Doesn't sound very scientific to me.
- schiffern36 minutes ago
  These are good questions, I don't think it deserved the downvotes.
  >our capacity to capture and "upgrade" slow photons is already improving
  Due to annoyingly inescapable thermodynamics, that would require putting all the energy back that you extracted with the Dyson sphere.
  How about "Sisyphus Sphere?" :)
  >a technological civilisation that considers a star as a convienient fusion energy source is wildly unlikly to have missed any possible way to control, direct, store and transmit energy or matter that physics will allow for
  Yeah that makes sense.
  It's still possible they tried all those, and leeching off a convenient pre-existing natural fusor (with no build or repair expenses, for that subsystem at least) is simply the cheapest option.
  I can already hear the obvious reply: "But who cares!! If they're so advanced who cares about money??"
  Even (especially?) for an advanced technological civilization, you still want to choose the cheaper of two options, because some resource will always be limiting. You don't get smart by making dumb decisions. ;)
  TL;DR No Free Lunch defeats Indistinguishable From Magic