Civilization and the Stars

How varying civilizations interact with stars and the universe

Stars are immense sources of energy, and, while Earth only has a limited use of the sun's power, the potential for harnessing this energy is as limitless as space itself.

During the cold war, a Russian scientist named Nicolai Kardashev sought to quantify a civilization's use of energy through what is now known as the Kardashev Scale. The original 1964 Scale defined three levels of civilization.

These three levels were quantified by the civilization's ability to collect and utilize watts of energy; either 10^16, 10^26, or 10^36 watts of raw power. Using this Scale, Earth, as a society, has not yet attained the rank of a type 1 civilization. The original Kardashev Scale, however, has evolved greatly since 1964. Michio Kaku developed the Contemporary Kardashev Scale to contain 5 well defined tiers of civilization. Presently all energy on Earth originates from the Sun or from tectonic activity.

Tier 1: The society is able to both harvest and manipulate all of the energy provided by their home planet; something humans have yet to accomplish. This means that geothermal energy as well as all sun fueled energy sources are exploited.

A true Tier 1 society is theorized to have the power to control all natural events such as weather, earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc.

Kaku estimated humanity as ranking .73 on his Contemporary Scale. While we have made significant progress to manipulating renewable energy sources, we are still lacking in many areas. Geothermal energy has a very low return today, and our methods for obtaining solar energy are rudimentary and not highly developed.

(a life containing planet)

(An artist's rendition of a Dyson Sphere)

Tier 2: The society has grown from being able to, not only utilize all of the energy on their home planet, but all of the energy in their home solar system. Currently there is no known galactic or planetary event that could lead to the extinction of a Tier 2 civilization, save for the end of the universe.

In order to become a Tier 2 society, 100% of the solar system's solar energy must be collected. This feat requires a Dyson sphere which is a theoretical technology composed of a shell that collects energy from 360 degrees around the sun.

In addition to collecting solar energy directly from the sun, a Tier 2 society will also be able to use nuclear fusion on their own planet to produce additional energy. Humans have only scratched the surface of nuclear fission, with fusion being an extremely futuristic technology by today's standards.

Tier 3: These highly advanced civilizations have colonized their entire home galaxy. In theory they are able to use all of the solar and planetary energy provided by their galaxy.

The most likely method of wide spread planetary colonization utilizes nano-machines to prep the atmosphere and habitability of the planet for human use. These machines would act similar to a virus and would be self replicating to multiply on one planet before spreading and preparing the next planet in the home galaxy.

The Star Wars civilization is roughly defined as a Tier 3 society because they have free range of their home galaxy, but have not yet attained the power of a Tier 4 or 5 society, they are still limited despite what Emperor Palpatine (above) may think.

Tier 4: This society is able to harness the energy of the entire universe. They use every star, every planet, and every other means of generating energy available in the singular universe.

Michio Kaku himself, however, believes that a society of this magnitude is fundamentally impossible because of the rate at which the universe itself is expanding, making it inconceivable for a single society to utilize all of the energy in the universe. Furthermore, there is no imaginable reason why a society would ever need this much power or go to these extremes to get it.

(A possible depiction of our entire universe)

Tier 5: If you thought Tier 4 was advanced then get ready for Tier 5. This civilization is able to harness all of the energy from all parallel universes as well as the home universe. A civilization of this level of sophistication would be akin to a pseudo-deity which has control over all matter and energy in existence.

Rick from Rick and Morty is one being who obtains energy from a parallel dimension, however the 'universe' from the show is extremely tiny and powers a car battery, instead of entire worlds. (scene shown to the left).

Test your skills!

What Type Of Civilization Are You Based On The Kardashev Scale?A quiz based on the Kardashev Scale

What were your results?

So, now that the theoretical possibilities for intelligent life as the universe grows and ages are understood, it begs the question— where are all of the aliens? Why have we not interacted with any of these civilizations? First we need to understand how life is formed based on the work of our Earth scientists.

Around 3.8 billion years ago, the Earth was a lifeless ocean of various molecules and elements. With the help of the sun, the atmosphere was likely composed of water vapor, methane, hydrogen, and ammonia. The sun's energy was converted into the movement of these molecules throughout the atmosphere which then produced lightning. The lightning and its extreme bursts of energy has been proven to produce 11 of the 20 amino acids necessary for life by the Miller-Urey experiment. Science agrees that this is the vehicle for the evolution of life on earth. But if life was so easily produced on our planet with only the help of the sun's energy, then why have we not found life on other earth like planets with a central solar body? There is no specific answer, but the possibilities are best explained by the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox.

(Primordial Earth)

Drake's equation is designed to calculate the average number of radio broadcasting societies in our galaxy. The equation is defined as N = R* × fp × ne × fl × fi × fc × L . To understand how solar energy and intelligent life interact in relation to this equation, please view the video to the left.

The last piece of the puzzle to understand humanity's place in the universe and the grave importance of solar energy is the Fermi Paradox. The Paradox attempts to explain the lack of intelligent life despite the overwhelming odds with the innumerable challenges facing a growing civilization. The video to the right is excellent for teaching this theory.