Dyson spheres: How to spot an alien megastructure
Intelligent extraterrestrials may have built vast solar power plants around their host stars. The hunt for their telltale glow is hotting up
Space
27 January 2021
Sam Falconer
THERE comes a point at which any advanced alien civilisation worth its salt has to dismantle a neighbouring planet for spare parts. This isn’t an act of vandalism, you understand, but rather a precursor to building an enormous solar power plant that surrounds its entire host star. What else would an ambitious alien society do to continue its expansion? How else would it meet its ever-increasing demand for energy?