Dyson sphere

English Etymology en American theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson =, who originally described the concept in 1960.en Freeman J. Dyson Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation Science 1667–1668 1960-06-03 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.131.3414.1667 131 3414 0036-8075 10.1126/science.131.3414.1667 https://web.archive.org/web/20260430013211/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.131.3414.1667 30 April 2026 Noun A hypothetical system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture its entire energy output. en-US Katie Mack Freeman Dyson’s Quest for Eternal Life The New York Times 2020-03-02 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/opinion/contributors/freeman-dyson.html 0362-4331 To the public, he’s more famous for giving science fiction the “Dyson Sphere,” a hypothetical structure a future civilization could build to harness the entire power of its sun. https://web.archive.org/web/20250713211947/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/opinion/contributors/freeman-dyson.html 13 July 2025 en science fiction A solid shell of matter enclosing a star. en w:Ringworld w:Larry Niven 1970 October 106 https://books.google.com/books?id=uv4vqKYsyawC&pg=PA106 0345333926 "But there's more to a Dyson sphere than collecting solar power."Say you make the sphere one astronomical unit in radius. You've got to clear out the solar system anyway, so you use all the solar planets in the construction. That gives you a shell of, say, chrome steel a few yards thick. Now you put gravity generators all over the shell. You'd have a surface area a billion times as big as the Earth's surface. A trillion people could wander all their lives without ever meeting one another." en October 12, 1992 Star Trek: The Next Generation Relics 7 4 w:Ronald D. Moore w:James Doohan Scotty Aye, an actual Dyson sphere. Can you imagine the engineering skills needed to even design such a structure? en http://www.sl4.org/archive/0508/11798.html BAY103-F40D2C8C3B70C9EB8A834EACAB50@phx.gbl Re: Paperclip monster, demise of. SL4 Mitchell Porter Aug 19 2005 You could even extend the argument to say why, on purely selfish grounds, a benign intelligence might remain benevolently engaged with the rest of the universe, rather than hiding away in a Dyson sphere and literally wireheading itself - because the payoff for expansive engagement will necessarily eventually exceed any possible payoff accompanying solitary self-reconstruction. en w:BioWare Mass Effect: Andromeda Science Fiction Redwood City Electronic Arts 2017 PC Meridian Codex entry 1261299044 Meridian is a construct akin to a Dyson sphere: a vast, hollow shell encompassing a power source that provides heat and light to lush green biomes in the interior. en Synonyms en Dyson shell system of satellites en Dyson swarm Hypernyms en megastructure Coordinate terms en Niven ring, Dyson ring en Alderson disc / Alderson disk References en Energy Megastructures Space colonization