Kardashev scale

TYPE I Characteristics: Planetary Society. Developed Technology. * understanding the laws of physics. * space technology. * nuclear technology. * electromagnetic communications. Initiation of spaceflight, interplanetary travel, settlement of space. Early attempts at interstellar communication. Starting to push planetary resource limits. Information Level: I. Energy Consumption: 10 to the 16 power to 10 to the 17 power Watts. Manifestations: Intentional or u...

 Dyson Spheres

The mathematician Freeman Dyson, of the Institute for Advanced Study, offers a scheme in which the planet Jupiter is broken down piece by piece, transported to the distance of the Earth from the Sun, and reconstructed into a spherical shell – a swarm of individual fragments revolving about the Sun. The advantage of Dyson's proposal is that all of the sunlight now wasted by not falling upon an inhabited planet could then be gainfully employed; and a population greatly in excess of that which...