[ExI] More Tabby's Star news

[Keith Henson]

Replied on Gizmodo

Interesting thoughts. I kind of suspect that nobody can ever do FTL
spaceflight. It’s a big universe, but if someone had that, they would
be all over. _Subjective_ warp drive is another matter, you just slow
down your clock. 10^-8 slowdown would let you cross the galaxy in a
subjective day.

However, it may be worth considering that it isn’t an F type star,
just some lower temperature star that has been largely englobed by a
couple of hemespheres of light sails. What we are seeing could be a
heated up star between the gap on the local ecliptic to illuminate
planets.

Now we only need a plausible reason for aliens to want a hotter star!

Keith

PS. This idea came up back in the late 70s or early 80s when Eric
Drexler proposed to use a hemesphere of light sails to turn a star
into a fusion-photon drive.

PPS. Another question, can you think of any way to tell the difference
between a real F star and one heated up by reflectors?

-- 
Best wishes,

Keith