Questions tagged [megastructure]

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6 votes
0 answers
161 views

Blowing UV-cured foam in space

Continuous hollow beams (usually called “booms”) have been proposed as useful components of space structures such as solar sails and arrays. One possible way to build booms in space is to extrude foam ...
Woody's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Would we be able to tell if another civilisation built a Dyson sphere (or similar) around a distant star if we were looking for it?

A list of my thoughts/assumptions we have a good understanding of how stars live and die, so a "healthy" star (I assume you would only build a Dyson sphere around a star that's going to ...
Sam Dean's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why can't buoyancy of air be used to support a mega structure as an alternative to a space elevator?

The reason for asking this question stems from recent articles about large loss of strength of carbon nano tubes with even single atom movement, tested samples showing high vulnerability to space ...
stringue's user avatar
24 votes
9 answers
11k views

If someone built a vacuum tunnel through the atmosphere, could you have an orbit with a sea level perigee?

This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. My initial estimates for the structure were based on people's estimates for an O'Neil cylinder, but assuming you can make the structure a ...
brysgo's user avatar
  • 567
-6 votes
1 answer
412 views

Why are scientists considering the ETI explanation for Tabby's star?

When Yale astronomer Tabetha Boyajian located star KIC 8462852 ("Tabby’s star"), some U.S. scientists proposed artificial megastructure(s), such as a Dyson sphere/swarm, instead of discussing more ...
Ubi.B's user avatar
  • 482
0 votes
1 answer
89 views

Can an Earth like planet support life by building a Dyson Sphere across a White Dwarf? [closed]

(Hypothetical Concept) But is it possible to depend on a white dwarf as our power source? Provided we harness its 99% of energy? Can life be sustained?(If it is possible we can easily colonize an ...
Paran's user avatar
  • 965
3 votes
1 answer
252 views

Space Mega-structure Feasability

I was reading a lot about the hypothetical orbital mega-structures that could potentially exist in the future if technology and manpower advances enough. A few of the more notable ones are the ...
Magic Octopus Urn's user avatar
22 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is it possible to build a Dyson sphere or its variant in our solar system based on our current technology?

Dyson sphere, a concept coined by the physicist Freeman Dyson, is a solar megastructure built around our Sun to harvests most of the radiated energy from it. While this sounds impossible for now, ...
Shuhao Cao's user avatar