--- title: "What Are Alien Dyson Spheres, Why Are They So Janky, and Why Are They Doomed to Go Undetected?" description: "In the 1960s, physicist Freeman Dyson proposed that advanced alien civilizations could be building out enormous megastructures around a star to harness much of its energy. These shells, dubbed Dyson spheres, could be giving off distinct technosignatures, astronomers have suggested, allowing us to glimpse them from many light-years away. Yet, despite our best efforts, we have yet to make first contact, let alone with a megastructure siphoning off the energy released by a star. And, as New Scientist reports, there could be a good reason for that. According to Brian Lacki, a scientist involved with the Breakthrough Listen Initiative, which […]" date: "2025-05-17" modified: "2025-05-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/alien-megastructures-self-destruct" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "alien civilization" - "aliens" - "dyson sphere" --- # What Are Alien Dyson Spheres, Why Are They So Janky, and Why Are They Doomed to Go Undetected? ![According to Breakthrough Listen Initiative scientist Brian Lacki, alien Dyson spheres may destroy themselves long before we can find them.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* In the 1960s, physicist Freeman Dyson proposed that advanced alien civilizations could be building enormous megastructures around a star to harness its energy. Such a move would allow a civilization to advance from a Type I to a Type II civilization on the [Kardashev scale](), harvesting the energy available from a star directly instead of from a given planet's surface. These shells, dubbed [Dyson spheres](), could be [giving off distinct technosignatures](), astronomers have suggested, making them observable, potentially, from many light-years away. But despite our best efforts, we have yet to make first contact, let alone with an alien-built megastructure siphoning off the energy released by a star. And, as [*New Scientist* reports](), there could be a good reason for that. According to Brian Lacki, a scientist involved with the Breakthrough Listen Initiative — which searches for evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations — Dyson spheres may destroy themselves long before we can encounter one. In a [yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper](), Lacki proposed that having satellite-like objects swarming a star all at once could result in a disastrous, cascading effect in the case of a collision. "When you have a whole bunch of things moving together like that in a swarm, a natural question is going to be, do they sometimes bump into each other?" Lacki told *New Scientist*. "At their orbital speeds, that can be disastrous." In many ways, the risk of that kind of scenario is already playing out in the orbit of our own planet. Scientists have long warned that satellites circling the Earth could collide with each other or with one of the countless pieces of space junk, potentially triggering a knock-on effect, called [Kessler syndrome](). Experts have warned that it's [only a matter of time]() until a collision could trigger a catastrophe. According to Lacki, aliens would have to tread very carefully to ensure that satellites aren't crossing each other's paths. "You just can’t have that much material around a star without it colliding with itself and eventually shredding itself to pieces, unless each of those swarm components is careful about managing its orbit," Penn State astrophysics professor Jason Wright, who was not involved in the research, told *New Scientist*. Lacki's conclusion leaves an intriguing possibility: we may still be able to detect the signatures of already collapsed megastructures orbiting distant stars. However, without that visible technosignature, they would be incredibly difficult to spot. As far as harnessing the power of the Sun is concerned, researchers [have previously found]() that we would need to demolish a Jupiter-sized planet to build a Dyson sphere around our host star, an enormous — and likely risky — endeavor. **More on Dyson spheres:** *[Scientists Identify Seven Star Systems That May Be Hosting Alien Megastructures]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()