Search for Dyson spheres has yielded no results

Dec 7, 2008 10:31 GMT  ·  By

Assuming that Drake's equation would eventually proven right, and that there might be aliens out there (somewhere), and even that they are at least as smart as (we think) we are, the question still remains – What are the odds that we actually comprehend that we've stumbled upon a proof of alien intelligence? The search for ET proposes many ways of searching for such proofs, such as SETI's radio signal search, or that for "Dyson spheres," suggested by physicist Freeman Dyson back in 1960.

Of course, as far as we know (if we were to cover all the possibilities and include the conspiracy theories into the equation), none of the searching techniques has yielded any results. Involved scientists have indicated that no clear signs of the "Dyson spheres" have been found anywhere within a range of 1,000 light years around our planet. The spheres in question have been envisioned as a result of overpopulation and energy thirst.

They would be fragments of debris from intentionally-dismantled planets, possibly habitable themselves, which would be used to encircle a star and capture its energy (see sample in the article photo). Their shape could be anything, ranging from a simple ring to complicated sphere patterns, and although they would capture most of the ultraviolet light of the respective star, they could still be detected. Still, a retired physicist from the Batavia, Illinois-based Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, by the name of Richard Carrigan, believes he's on to something.

From 10,000 infrared spectra sources provided by Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), he has managed to find 17 possible candidates for "Dyson spheres," although, as he admits, they could just as well be hydrogenous clouds, old stars surrounded by dust, or even asteroids in our solar system. "Many different kinds of astrophysical objects could masquerade as Dyson spheres," shares infrared astronomer Charles Beichman from Caltech, quoted by New Scientist.

"I think the search [...] is looking for a needle in a field of haystacks, when you're not even sure there's a needle there. But he's done a very nice job of working through the available data," adds the expert. However, this is just one of the many proposals related to alien intelligence feats, and not a very valid one, either, considering (as we've shown in a previous article) that playing with stars and planets would trigger chain reactions. So, does this mean that we should look in all of them?

What if aliens did actually learn how to manipulate stars and even larger celestial objects in order to point to their location? Could the finger of the Carina nebula, or other such formations, indicate the approximate location of an extremely intelligent species?

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Example of a (yet elusive) Dyson's sphere
Carina's "finger" may point to the location of an intelligent race
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