In 1960, British theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson published a one-page paper in the journal Science that offered perhaps the most hopeful vision ever conceived of humanity’s technological future.

Dyson spheres, the hypothetical mega-structures that advanced alien civilizations might use to enclose a star and harness its energy, suffer from a fatal flaw: They are catastrophically unstable. But ...

When people hear “Dyson sphere,” their first thought is probably a heavy-duty vacuum. They certainly don’t think of a megastructure surrounding and harnessing a star’s energy with the purpose of ...

Dyson spheres are hypothetical artificial megastructures built around a star to collect all of its radiant energy. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.