Dyson Spheres & Space Megastructures – Inhabiting Space with Isaac Arthur

Mind & Machine Show

My guest today is Isaac Arthur. He's a theoretical space scientist, physicist, futurist and bold visionary of human expansion. His channel, "Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur" is a remarkable source of education and inspiration of what we could ultimately achieve in the universe. He brings a mind-blowing level of research and storytelling to the series. While the subject matter sounds like science fiction and is certainly inspired by it, his exploration is framed within the known laws of physics.

Today we will focus on space megastructures, a form of future world-building on a scale that's almost unimaginable. From Dyson Spheres and Ringworlds to Shell Worlds and Artificial Planets. Imagine a swarm of up to *trillions* of manmade (or alien made) space cylinders, each rotating to replicate gravity, with natural landscapes built along their inner walls inhabited by diverse life forms and enclosed in a controlled atmosphere — all in synchronized orbit around a sun. This the idea behind a Dyson Swarm.

Beyond inhabitation, we explore Matryoshka Brain supercomputers built around suns to harness energy. We look at the viable possibility of focussing energy beams from a sun for "Death Star"-like destruction capabilities. And we get into other tools like Shkadov Thrusters enabling the deliberate movement and steering of an entire solar system through a galaxy. We touch on all this and more, all within known physics and largely within known technology, albeit at a mind-bending scale.

Podcast Audio version at: http://mindandmachine.libsyn.com