[ExI] Von Neumann Probes

[John Clark]

On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 9:17 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

*>> From the Earth a Dyson sphere (or swarm) would look like a point source
>> of extremely intense infrared radiation caused by waste heat, and if
>> anything like that existed in the Milky Way we would've noticed it by now,
>> but we have seen nothing like it. And because of the theoretical
>> possibility of Von Neumann probes, I wouldn't expect to see just one Dyson
>> Sphere, I would expect to see either lots and lots of them or none at
>> all. Also, astronomers have scanned about 100,000 nearby galaxies looking
>> for aKardashev Type III civilization, one that has Dyson Spheres around
>> every star in their galaxy, but we have never seen the slightest sign of
>> such a thing. We might not be able to detect a Type III if the galaxy was
>> very very distant, but remember the more distant a galaxy we're looking at
>> is, the closer to the Big Bang it is, and the less time Evolution would
>> have to produce even primitive life, much less intelligent life capable of
>> building a Dyson Sphere around every star in a galaxy. And the very early
>> universe was made up of nothing but hydrogen, helium and a tiny trace of
>> lithium, and you can't make much with just that. That's why I think that,
>> although life may be common, we are almost certainly the only intelligent
>> life in the observable universe. John K Clark*
>
>
> *> Gemini makes the point that once a civ develops controlled fusion
> power, there will be no requirement to build a Dyson swarm. *
>

*If ET is using fusion reactors to produce as much power as a sun does and
for as long (I don't see how that would be possible, but never mind) then
according to the Second Law Of Thermodynamics it's going to produces much
waste energy, in the form of infrared radiation, that a Dyson Swarm would,
and we would be able to see that. But we see nothing. *

*> no Dyson swarms does not necessarily mean no advanced civs anywhere.*


*I think it does.  *

*  John K Clark*
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