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from the star-wars:-where-combatants-toss-stars-at-each-other dept.
How an Advanced Civilization Could Stop Dark Energy From Preventing Their Future Exploration
For the sake of his study, which recently appeared online under the title "Life Versus Dark Energy: How An Advanced Civilization Could Resist the Accelerating Expansion of the Universe", Dr. Dan Hooper considered how civilizations might be able to reverse the process of cosmic expansion. In addition, he suggests ways in which humanity might looks[sic] for signs of such a civilization.
[...] This harvesting, according to Dr. Hooper, would consist of building unconventional Dyson Spheres that would use the energy they collected from stars to propel them towards the center of the species' civilization. High-mass stars are likely to evolve beyond the main sequence before reaching the destination of the central civilization and low-mass stars would not generate enough energy (and therefore acceleration) to avoid falling beyond the horizon.
For these reasons, Dr. Hooper concludes that stars with masses of between 0.2 and 1 Solar Masses will be the most attractive targets for harvesting. In other words, stars that are like our Sun (G-type, or yellow dwarf), orange dwarfs (K-type), and some M-type (red dwarf) stars would all be suitable for a Type III civilization's purposes.
[...] Based on the assumption that such a civilization could travel at 1 – 10% the speed of light, Dr. Hooper estimates that they would be able to harvest stars out to a co-moving radius of approximately 20 to 50 Megaparsecs (about 65.2 million to 163 million light-years). Depending on their age, 1 to 5 billion years, they would be able to harvest stars within a range of 1 to 4 Megaparsecs (3.3 million to 13 million light-years) or up to several tens of Megaparsecs.
In addition to providing a framework for how a sufficiently-advanced civilization could survive cosmic acceleration, Dr. Hooper's paper also provides new possibilities in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI). While his study primarily addresses the possibility that such a mega-civilization will emerge in the future (perhaps it will even be our own), he also acknowledges the possibility that one could already exist.
Kardashev scale. One parsec is equivalent to a distance of approximately 3.26156 light years. Corrections made above.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday June 22 2018, @09:08PM (5 children)
I've heard that a bright idea of filling the universe by little copies of oneself is not taken lightly by the existing population. A pest extermination ship in the vicinity takes care of the infestation in most cases.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday June 23 2018, @05:32PM (4 children)
> I've heard that a bright idea of filling the universe by little copies of oneself is not taken lightly by the existing population.
Sadly there is no evidence of life outside the confines of this blue dot. When that changes, and I believe it will, I will be giddy at the news. Until then, go forth and multiply. Until evidence points to the contrary we are not wrong in assuming that there is land and sky free for the taking.
> A pest extermination ship in the vicinity takes care of the infestation in most cases.
That is all the more reason for humanity not to stay in one place isn't it? Nature offers one sad reality for alpha predators. When you fill your niche and stop growing, when you plateau, you die. We have an evolutionary mandate to continue growing so our species isn't replaced by another that will.
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday July 02 2018, @03:14PM (3 children)
I tend to agree with what you just said, but I can't help noticing the very man's approach. Females typically respond to the progress by reducing birth rates unless pressed by antiabortion laws and customs.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday July 03 2018, @06:12AM (2 children)
It's evolution I'm worried about. We can cut the birth rate to control growth, that happens naturally as a result of education and prosperity. The trouble is evolution doesn't care about our well laid plans. If we cut our population growth rate to zero our replacement will breed with a fervor we biologically cannot match.
(Score: 2) by legont on Wednesday July 04 2018, @03:08PM (1 child)
Why don't we exterminate our "replacement" well before they have a chance? Seems like a more efficient solution. We do fight rats after all, let alone insects.
That was my original point - the galaxy folks probably divided the space long time ago and control pests wisely.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday July 05 2018, @03:42PM
> Why don't we exterminate our "replacement" well before they have a chance?
We'll certainly try. I'm sure the dinosaurs munched on more than a few little fuzzy crunchy mammals. Then a big space rock came and put a finger on the scale. We're a little more prepared for a giant space rock than the dinosaurs were, but not by much.