Do you know what a Dyson Sphere is?
I’m not talking about the little ball in your vacuum cleaner. I’m referring to a hypothetical massive structure that could be constructed sometime in the very near future.
Or maybe it’s already being constructed.
Allow me to clarify. A Dyson sphere is, in theory, an enormous technological entity that would, again in theory, surround a planet’s sun for the purpose of extreme energy absorption. Such an entity would be comprised of thousands of smaller units that are collectively referred to as a “Dyson swarm."
You with me so far? Good.
Why does this affect you, you ask? Excellent question.
Civilizations are rated according to advancement on a scale known as the Kardashev scale. In order for Earth to reach II on this scale, we would need to construct a Dyson sphere and use it to harness the majority of our energy.
Of course, this is easier said than done.
Utilizing the sun as a source of energy for our planet is environmentally safe and forward-thinking. But what about the risks? Undertaking a project on an enormous scale would inevitably require a huge amount of resources, both human and material, and could introduce much bigger problems as a result.
You may say that solar energy is an inherently good thing, and that being able to harness more of the sun’s power than we are currently able to is a huge leap away from fossil fuels and the burning of other nonrenewable energy sources. Great idea, right?
Turns out, maybe not so much.
In order to construct a massive structure big enough to completely surround the sun in a sort of exo-skeletal shell, we would require a huge amount of material. And there’s no doubt about it, we do not have enough resources to construct one.
Well, not on Earth, anyway.
That’s where the title of this article comes in. If we really want to go forward with this plan, we would need to completely disassemble our friendly neighborhood planet Mercury, along with probably most of Venus and some other bordering planetary masses.
Sorry, elementary school children. You’re going to have to learn an entirely new lineup of planets, a lineup that hasn’t changed since those planets were discovered.
Not to mention that such a project cannot be completed overnight. No, complete construction of a megastructure needs to be carried out in stages, likely by the decade, so it could easily be half a lifetime or more for execution of the Dyson sphere.
So, to reiterate, pro: renewable, sustaining energy for the advancement of our civilization. Con: Dismantling of major planets in the solar system.
Alas, no plan is without its flaws.
But what a plan it is. Totally sustainable energy, a civilization advanced to the point of technological boom. Power and invention would increase exponentially, innovation would skyrocket, and we would be able to energize our civilization for feasibly centuries to come.
That is, if we actually go through with it. There’s no guarantee on any of this and even if there was a plan in action, we really couldn’t be sure it would actually work.
Well, if nothing else, the thought of physically taking apart neighboring planets should be enough to momentarily lure your thoughts away from the results of the election.
