Human beings have reached the top of the food chain step by step through continuous efforts and development with their intelligent brains and established human civilization. After more than 5,000 years of development, human civilization finally entered the road of scientific and technological development hundreds of years ago and became a scientific and technological civilization.
Technology has not only improved people’s quality of life and changed people’s way of life, but also greatly increased human ambitions. We are no longer reconciled to dwell on a small earth and begin to target the starry sky beyond the earth. With the help of science and technology, mankind realized the dream of flying in a short period of time and stepped out of the earth to explore the universe.
When we stand outside the earth and see the vastness and mystery of the universe, an eternal exploration plan emerges, that is, searching for extraterrestrial civilizations. Theoretically speaking, from the various data of the universe, the probability of the existence of alien civilization is almost 100%, and every astronomer will not doubt the existence of alien civilization.
If there are a large number of alien civilizations in the universe, then the strength of different civilizations will inevitably be different. So how do we divide which stage of development the different civilizations are in? In this regard, in the 1960s, the former Soviet Union astronomer Kardashev proposed a classification standard for civilization levels. He divided the cosmic civilization into three levels, and the basis of this division standard is determined by the amount of energy that can be controlled and used.
The first-level civilization is also called planetary civilization, which refers to the ability to use all the energy and resources of one’s home planet. The second-level civilization is a constant-star civilization, which means that it can use all the resources and energy of the local star system, while the third-level civilization can use all the energy and resources of the major galaxy. For human beings, when we can make full use of the earth’s resources and energy, it is a first-class civilization.
When we can use all the energy and resources of the solar system, then humanity will be upgraded to a second-level civilization, and when we can use all the energy and resources of the galaxy, then humanity will be upgraded to a third-level civilization. According to this standard of energy division, human beings can only be regarded as a level 0.7 civilization, not even a level one civilization. According to the energy level, only when human beings can achieve controllable nuclear fusion and mature applications can we be able to upgrade to a first-class civilization. Scientists estimate that it will take another 200 years.
When we enter the process of upgrading from the first level civilization to the second level civilization, the demand for energy will be very huge. I believe many friends know that the materials used in nuclear fusion are actually very simple. The raw materials needed for mature nuclear fusion technology only need water, and the earth has a lot of water resources. Therefore, some people would think that the earth’s water resources can support the development of human nuclear fusion for many years. Is this really the case?
In fact, this cognition is wrong. When human beings become a first-class civilization and move toward a second-class civilization, the nuclear fusion energy that this little water of the earth can provide is insignificant for human development. At this time, even if all the water resources on other planets in the solar system are used, it is far from being able to satisfy humanity’s pace of advancing to a secondary civilization.
Without a huge energy supply, human civilization cannot be upgraded. What should we do at this time? Some scientists thought of the stellar sun. We must know that the most powerful energy body in the solar system is actually the sun. If we want to become a secondary civilization, we need to make full use of the sun’s energy. How to use its energy? Some scientists put forward the concept of Dyson ball.
The so-called Dyson Ball is a hypothetical theory proposed by a scientist named Freeman Dyson in 1960 of the last century. The essence of this theory is that in order to solve the energy required for the upgrading of human civilization, a sphere structure must be built around the sun. The radius of this sphere is about the size of the sun to the earth, which is 150 million kilometers. Through this structure, solar energy can be collected and utilized to the maximum.
We all know that the diameter of the sun is very huge, and its mass accounts for 98.86% of the total mass of the solar system, so its energy is inexhaustible for human development. As long as most of the solar energy sources can be used, most of the energy needed for human beings to upgrade to the second-class civilization and move toward the third-class has already been solved.
Therefore, this Dyson sphere is a huge structure that mankind will inevitably build in the future. Is there any hope for mankind to build it in the future? To build such a Dyson ball, two problems need to be solved. One problem is technology. To know a solar energy structure surrounding the sun, the technical requirements are very high. With the current technology of mankind, it is a technology that is completely unimaginable.
Only when human beings become the pinnacle of the first-class civilization and move towards the second-class civilization, will it be possible to have the various technologies to build the Dyson ball. With technology, the second problem is materials. We have to understand that Dyson spheres are man-made buildings that can surround the sun, and the materials needed must also be a huge number.
According to scientists’ simulation calculations, to build a Dyson sphere, even a simpler Dyson sphere may require the resources of all other planets in the solar system except the sun. In other words, if we want to build the Dyson sphere, we need to crush all the planets in the solar system into resources, including the earth.
Some people may say, without the earth, where would human beings live? In fact, we don’t have to worry about this at all. When we become a first-class civilization, we are actually considered a primary interstellar civilization. The earth is only one of the homes of mankind, and galaxies near the solar system may also be colonized by humans. People on the original earth can migrate to live on the Dyson ball.
You know, the Dyson Sphere is a building that is so huge that we can’t imagine it. In addition to absorbing the energy of the sun, it can also construct a residential area, and the area of this residential area is much larger than the earth. After all, this was constructed after consuming the resources of each planet in the solar system.
With the Dyson Sphere, we will have enough energy to meet the road of civilization upgrade, and we can upgrade to the second-class civilization, and the energy required for the development of the second-class civilization mainly comes from stars. Therefore, the Dyson sphere may be a standard configuration of the second-level civilization. Dyson inferred that any civilization that has developed to a certain stage will use the stellar energy that the current-level civilization relies on. The best way is to wrap its own stars and let the stellar energy All or most of them are used. This method is to build the Dyson sphere. For human beings to reach the second level of civilization, they must build the Dyson sphere that wraps the sun.
After the advent of the Dyson sphere theory, it has been widely recognized by the scientific community. Since that time, when astronomers are searching for extraterrestrial civilization, the Dyson sphere theory has become an important reference. If there is a star in the distant sky that has a significant light-dark change, then there may be a Dyson sphere near the star.
It is necessary to know that when a planet revolves around a star, the most obvious change in light and darkness will not exceed 5%. Even if there is a large amount of dust around, the amplitude of this change in light and darkness will not be too great. So has the astronomical telescope found such a special star? The answer is yes,
In the sky survey activities of the last century, among millions of stars, scientists have discovered several stars with suspected Dyson sphere structures. In particular, NASA’s Kepler mission observed hundreds of thousands of stars, and found a star numbered KIC 8462852, with strange brightness changes, and the pits appearing in light changes were very deep, sometimes reaching 22%.
This star is also called Tabby star by scientists. Its light and dark variation range is very large, which is obviously not caused by the obstruction of planets. Scientists once thought that it might be caused by a large amount of cosmic dust, but later, after observation and research, it was considered unlikely.
Cosmic dust is not generated for no reason. It is generally the product of large-scale celestial events, such as supernova explosions and celestial collisions. However, according to the observation of scientists, there are no traces of these celestial events in its surroundings. Therefore, many scientists believe that there is a high probability that there will be solar absorption devices similar to Dyson spheres around Tabby.
Of course, we are only guessing at this point. Since Tabby is 1,500 light-years away from us, although this distance is not a big deal on a cosmic scale, it is an insurmountable gap for current human technology. Only when human beings reach the pinnacle of the first-class civilization or enter the second-class civilization, may they have the ability to explore this goal. At that time, we can know whether there is a Dyson ball here, and if there is, then there is no doubt about the existence of alien civilization.
Although the Dyson ball is only a hypothetical concept proposed by scientists, it can be widely recognized by the scientific community, which shows that the probability of it becoming a reality in the future is very high. However, it may take a long time for humans to realize such great interests. According to scientists’ speculation, if humans do not have major disasters in the future and continue to develop steadily, humans will be able to upgrade after about 5000 years. It is a second-class civilization.
