Finding a Dyson sphere could be our first contact with alien life 

Recently, according to Live Science, the results of two scientific studies have been released that could, if verified, prove the existence of advanced alien civilizations elsewhere in the universe capable of building megastructures called Dyson spheres. Such a confirmation would be the most significant in the history of the world.

A Space.com story outlines how Freeman Dyson first postulated the concept of Dyson spheres, consisting of a spherical shell that would enclose a star. An alien civilization would live on the inside of the shell, harvesting the star’s light for energy. The energy resources and surface area for living space, for all practical purposes, would be unlimited. Dyson postulated that an alien civilization with advanced technology would dismantle a Jupiter-sized planet to construct the sphere.

A Dyson swarm is a variant of a Dyson sphere. According to RealClear Science, it “would be composed of living habitats, satellites and solar energy collectors orbiting like a net around a star. Energy would be transferred wirelessly between the individual components and the Earth. Alternatively, millions of mirrors could be used to focus light onto a fewer number of collectors.”

Dyson spheres, at least to this point, have only been the subject of science fiction, most notably the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Relics”.

The two studies, one published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and the other by Cornell University, have discovered several Dyson sphere candidates, the first in seven solar systems, the latter in 53. Each study looked at past images of other solar systems taken by a variety of telescopes for indications of a Dyson sphere and the presence of infrared radiation. A Dyson sphere would emit that kind of radiation as the star heats the sphere’s interior.

The next step will be to closely examine these candidate solar systems with telescopes such as the James Webb, which observes in the infrared. The scientists conducting the studies attempted to rule out alternate explanations for their findings. However, for example, a debris field surrounding the candidate stars could also have caused the infrared radiation that suggests the presence of Dyson spheres.

The survey will also search for other signs of intelligent life in the candidate solar systems, radio or TV signals, for example. The hope is that one or more of these targets will be found to be the abode of an advanced civilization, capable of building a Dyson sphere.

The possibility exists that a survey will not find a Dyson sphere or any other alien artifact in the target star systems. On the other hand, what if it does? What if, at long last, scientists discover evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?

The effects on human civilization of an announcement that we are not alone in the universe will be widespread, touching all aspects of society. Organized religion, which tends to be Earth-centric, will certainly have to adjust to the reality of aliens living in another solar system.

A more important way that the announcement of an advanced alien civilization will affect our civilization will be to incite a sense of optimism about our future. Such a development would be a welcome change to the pessimism many people harbor about the long-term prospects of the human race.

Ever since the end of World War II, the number of ways that civilization might end has proliferated in the minds of many. Nuclear war, environmental catastrophe, worldwide pandemics, overpopulation, resource depletion and even an asteroid strike of the sort that killed the dinosaurs are among the civilization-ending events that might end everything. 

Science fiction is filled with such scenarios designed to scare people out of their minds. Politicians regularly pontificate about those problems, demanding solutions, some sound, many dubious.

The discovery of a Dyson sphere, built by an alien intelligence, will prove that it is possible to avoid those calamities. A civilization grew and thrived long enough to build such an artifact, using technology that we will not likely possess for thousands of years.

Wouldn’t be interesting to contact such a civilization and ask them how they survived? We’re not likely to be able to do so, absent the development of Star Trek technology, such as warp drives — which some serious people are actually working on — for a very long time.

However, a Dyson sphere cannot be built without access to space resources. That fact would be a hint about how its builders survived. If a civilization expands into space and taps its limitless resources it can solve the problems that threaten it and thus endure forever.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.