[ExI] Von Neumann Probes

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 26/01/2026 00:19, John K Clark wrote:
>
> On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 11:18 AM Jason Resch via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> > Why do we think a Dyson swarm is the most efficient or most practical source of power?
>   Stars only convert 0.7% of a stars mass into energy, and it takes 5 billion years or longer to get it. A black hole engine, on the other hand, can convert 100% of mass into energy via hawking radiation
>
>
> It makes no difference how the energy is produced, according to the Second Law Of Thermodynamics if you make a vast amount of energy then you're going to make a vast amount of waste energy in the form of infrared radiation, and to us that will look like a very intense point source. 

If you have a black hole, can't that be used to dispose of the waste heat?


> But we have seen nothing that looks like that.

Not yet, we haven't. That doesn't mean they don't exist.

--
Ben