What are Dyson Spheres, and why does that mean aliens exist?

Recently, there have been a lot of articles on the internet and mentions in the news about possible evidence of aliens in the form of Dyson Spheres. Let me be upfront in saying that while I don't necessarily disbelieve in the existence of aliens, I don't think we would ever find them, even if they do exist, simply because of the massive, incomprehensible scale of the universe.

There was apparently evidence of massive structures called Dyson Spheres out there in the wild of space. I had to check what a Dyson Sphere was because I thought it was interesting how we had a name for something aliens produced that we haven't. This sphere is a hypothesised way of potentially harnessing power from a star, like our Sun. The sphere would encompass the Sun and take in energy through solar panels. The idea is that this enclosure would minimise wasted energy dispersed from the Sun in all directions.

I think it's an exciting idea, but what would happen to the Earth in this case? Wouldn't the Earth freeze and die?

I remember seeing this concept in an animated TV show called Pantheon. At the time I thought it was simply a fictional idea someone came up with for the show.

I watched a video on the astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson's YouTube channel in which he talked about this very topic, which prompted me to write this short article. In the video, he confirmed the existence of an article published in a reputable journal discussing the possibility of Dyson Spheres and a method for finding them.

Before we go into this study, I would like to quickly explain two principles of physics: the law of Conservation of Energy and the loss of energy as heat.

We've all heard the phrase: "energy is neither created nor destroyed" before. This concept in physics is called the Law of Conservation of Energy. It means that energy transforms from one form to another when used. It does not disappear. Another related principle is that in any form of energy transfer, some energy is usually lost as heat (for example, when a phone charger becomes hot when charging). That happens because no material is 100% efficient in transferring energy. It does not mean energy is lost, but that some transforms into heat.

In the case of the Dyson Sphere concept, the energy it takes in from the Sun should result in the sphere emitting a lot of heat. The study mentioned above says that if we look at infrared pictures from existing telescopes (and possibly other instruments), we could potentially find stars that emit heat in a way a Dyson Sphere would. The study identified a few stars (7 at the moment) that could be stars covered in a Dyson Sphere. Of course, when the media got a hold of this study, they ran with the idea that aliens exist because that would be a piece of news that would get people's attention.

Because of how social media works, and yes, I consider the news a form of social media now, some parts of the story usually don't make it to the end consumer. Only the more sensational elements of a story make it through because the rest could undermine their goal of getting views.

As I haven't looked too deeply into this, I cannot comment on it, but I would still stick to my belief that we would never find aliens if they do exist.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you believe this is evidence of aliens? Do you even believe aliens exist? Are Dyson Spheres a viable option for harnessing the power of the Sun?

Please watch Dr Tyson's video below for a better summary on the Dyson Sphere, and an overview of an interesting concept called the Kardashev Scale.

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The very first thing I published on vocal was actually an article about aliens and humanity, which ties in to this topic nicely. Check it out when you have the time: