The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

by Ray Kurzweil

In 1959 astrophysicist Freeman Dyson proposed a concept of curved shells around a star as a way to provide both energy and habitats for an advanced civilization. One conception of the Dyson Sphere is quite literally a thin sphere around a star to gather energy.76 The civilization lives in the sphere, and gives off heat (infrared energy) outside the sphere (away from the star). Another (and more practical) version of the Dyson Sphere is a series of curved shells, each of which blocks only a portion of the star’s radiation. In this way Dyson Shells can be designed to have no effect on existing planets, particularly those, like the Earth, that harbor an ecology that needs to be protected.