Ask HN: Dyson Sphere
People have proposed the idea of building a Dyson Sphere around a star. What's the proposal to transmit the energy to somewhere we can use it? How would we do this?
People have proposed the idea of building a Dyson Sphere around a star. What's the proposal to transmit the energy to somewhere we can use it? How would we do this?
Comments
The most modern idea seems to be a Dyson swarm, which is not solid and consists of solar panels and habitats orbiting at a comfortable distance. Power is relayed using microwave transmitters and receivers and conceptually a large portion would be fed into particle accelerators for the manufacture of Anti-Matter on industrial scale.
I thought you'd build a sphere or swarm at a radius from the sun that got enough solar radiation to be at a comfortable temperature. Then you'd live on the inside surface.
What about gravity? Rotate the sphere?
If you make each sail in the swarm light enough and self-adjusting, radiation from the star could keep them in place... here's a detailed writeup (not mine): https://canmom.art/physics/dyson-spheres
I see, thanks! But they didn’t explore the idea of orbiting sails. The rotational momentum would counteract gravity, and allow for heavier objects.
I don't know enough astrophysics to say anything insightful, but... makes sense to me!
Pewpew it as lasers?
That YouTube K-animation channel I can't spell (Kurdurkistan?) has an episode on it: https://youtu.be/pP44EPBMb8A?si=b8qssNFtMDAqUyE_
There's also the great engineering/factory game Dyson Sphere Program: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366540/Dyson_Sphere_Prog...