Advanced Civilizations and Mastery of Galactic Forms of Energy
Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, wrote a fascinating article in COSMOS magazine comparing our current state of knowledge and "level" of civilization with what is possible in the universe.
In a seminal paper published in 1964 in the Journal of Soviet Astronomy, Russian astrophysicist Nicolai Kardashev theorised that advanced civilisations must thus be grouped according to three Types: I, II and III, signifying mastery of, respectively, planetary, stellar and galactic forms of energy usage. He calculated that the energy consumption of these three types of civilisations would be separated by a factor of about 10 billion.
Where are we right now? Not even type I (according to Carl Sagan, we’re at 0.7!), but we’re getting getting there! There are already evidence everywhere of an emerging Type I civilization.
It’s a fascinating read: in the article, Michio speculates about von Neumann probes visiting Earth, the perils of encountering Type III civilization, harnessing the energy equivalent to that of a blackhole, and more!
The colored woodcut above is by Austrian artist Heikenwaelder Hugo, titled Universum (1998). It is inspired by the black and white Flammarian Woodcut (c. 1888).
this post? Please
November 5, 2007 at 11:52 pm by Alex
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