Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
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Dyson swarms promise near-limitless solar energy—but modeling shows they could also cook Earth beyond habitability.
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A complete swarm near Earth’s orbit would boost global temperatures by 140 K, enough to vaporize oceans and destroy all life.
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Physicist Freeman Dyson’s 1960 idea envisioned solar collectors capturing the full output of our star—386 yottawatts of raw power.
Credit: Wikimedia
Unlike the sci-fi Dyson sphere, a Dyson swarm is a fleet of independent solar panels orbiting the Sun—more feasible, but not without risks.
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Physicist Ian Marius Peters modeled the scenario and warned that even perfect energy collection can have catastrophic thermal effects.
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A partial swarm placed beyond Mars (2.13 AU) could limit Earth’s warming to 3 K—but it still demands astronomical material resources.
Even a modest Dyson swarm would require 1.3 × 10²³ kg of silicon—far more than Earth holds in its crust, forcing off-planet mining.
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Becoming a Type II civilization isn't just about energy capture—it's about controlling the heat that follows, or life could perish.
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The study reframes the Dyson dream: massive energy gains could mean ecological collapse if planetary systems aren't protected.
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