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From: jef@LBL-RTSG.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Dyson Spheres
Message-ID: <37378.510167118@lbl-rtsg.arpa>
Date: Sun, 2-Mar-86 12:05:18 EST
Article-I.D.: lbl-rtsg.37378.510167118
Posted: Sun Mar  2 12:05:18 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 4-Mar-86 01:50:45 EST
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    Date:  1 Mar 86 04:17:48 GMT
    From:  brahms!desj@ucbvax.berkeley.edu  (David desJardins)
    Dyson spheres are science fiction (no offense).  Not that they aren't
    theoretically possible (if you're willing to live without gravity),
    but the technology required is incomparably greater than that needed
    for interstellar ships.

The Dyson spheres that have appeared in science fiction are indeed science
fiction (big surprise), and are not even theoretically possible, but they
are not what Dyson was talking about.  All his paper said was that older
intelligent species would eventually need all the solar energy their sun
produces, and so they would enclose it with a sphere of solar power
generators, and if we want to find them we should look for infrared stars.
But note well: the sphere does *not* have to be solid!  The easy (!) way
to build a Dyson sphere is as billions of solar power satellites in
solar orbit.
---
Jef