Stellar engineering
Encyclopedia
Stellar engineering is a type of engineering
(currently a form of exploratory engineering
) concerned with creating or modifying star
s through artificial means.
While humanity does not yet possess the technological ability to perform stellar engineering of any kind, stellar manipulation (or husbandry), requiring substantially less technological advancement than would be needed to create a new star, could eventually be performed in order to stabilize or prolong the lifetime of a star, mine it for useful material (known as Star lifting
) or use it as a direct energy source. Since a civilization advanced enough to be capable of manufacturing a new star would likely have vast material and energy resources at its disposal, it almost certainly wouldn't need to do so.
authors have explored the possible applications of stellar engineering, among them Iain M Banks
, Larry Niven
and Arthur C. Clarke
.
In the season 3 (1989) episode "Take Me to Your Leader" of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon
, Krang
, Shredder
, Bebop and Rocksteady use a Solar Siphon to aim towards the Sun
, and store the solar energy into compact batteries, freezing the Earth
making it too cold for people to resist them .
In episode 112 of Stargate Universe
, Destiny was dropped prematurely out of FTL by an uncharted star that the crew determines to be artificially created and younger than 200 million years old with a Earth
-sized planet containing a biosphere exactly like Earth's being the only planet in the system.
In Doctor Who
, there is an advanced race of being known as Time Lords, who through the use of advanced stellar manipulation, convert a nearby star into a black hole usable for powering their planet.
In Firefly (TV series)
, set 500 years in the future, several Gas Giants
are "Helioformed" to create viable suns for the surrounding planets and moons.
In the Space Empires
series the last available technology for research is called Stellar Manipulation. In addition to the ability to create and destroy stars, this branch also gives a race the ability to create and destroy black holes
, wormholes
, nebulae
, planets
, ringworlds
and sphereworlds
. Just as described above, this technology is so advanced that once the player has the ability to use them, they usually don't need them anymore. This is even more the case with the last two; once one of these megastructures is complete, the race controlling the ringworld or sphereworld has almost unlimited resources, usually leading to defeat of the others.
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
(currently a form of exploratory engineering
Exploratory engineering
Exploratory engineering is a term coined by K. Eric Drexler to describe the process of designing and analyzing detailed hypothetical models of systems that are not feasible with current technologies or methods, but do seem to be clearly within the bounds of what science considers to be possible...
) concerned with creating or modifying star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s through artificial means.
While humanity does not yet possess the technological ability to perform stellar engineering of any kind, stellar manipulation (or husbandry), requiring substantially less technological advancement than would be needed to create a new star, could eventually be performed in order to stabilize or prolong the lifetime of a star, mine it for useful material (known as Star lifting
Star lifting
Star lifting is any of several hypothetical processes by which a highly advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses. The term appears to have been coined by David Criswell.Stars already lose a small flow of mass via solar wind,...
) or use it as a direct energy source. Since a civilization advanced enough to be capable of manufacturing a new star would likely have vast material and energy resources at its disposal, it almost certainly wouldn't need to do so.
In science fiction
Many science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
authors have explored the possible applications of stellar engineering, among them Iain M Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
and Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
.
In the season 3 (1989) episode "Take Me to Your Leader" of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. The pilot was shown during the week of December 28, 1987 in syndication as a five part miniseries and began its official run on October 1, 1988...
, Krang
Krang
Krang is a fictional supervillain who appears in the Sonic The Hedgehog TV shows and most frequently in the 1987 STH cartoon and its associated media, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book and most of the classic TMNT video games....
, Shredder
Shredder (TMNT)
The Shredder is a fictional character and primary antagonist from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. At one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT stories, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles...
, Bebop and Rocksteady use a Solar Siphon to aim towards the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, and store the solar energy into compact batteries, freezing the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
making it too cold for people to resist them .
In episode 112 of Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe
Stargate Universe is a Canadian-American military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny many billions of light years distant from the Milky Way...
, Destiny was dropped prematurely out of FTL by an uncharted star that the crew determines to be artificially created and younger than 200 million years old with a Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
-sized planet containing a biosphere exactly like Earth's being the only planet in the system.
In Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, there is an advanced race of being known as Time Lords, who through the use of advanced stellar manipulation, convert a nearby star into a black hole usable for powering their planet.
In Firefly (TV series)
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, set 500 years in the future, several Gas Giants
Gas Giants
Gas Giants were a pop rock band from Tempe, Arizona, formed as a successor project to the Gin Blossoms. The group was known as The Pharaohs when they formed in 1997, but changed their name after their label, A&M Records, merged with Universal Records and the band changed hands, re-signing with...
are "Helioformed" to create viable suns for the surrounding planets and moons.
In the Space Empires
Space Empires
The Space Empires series is a long-lasting series of 4X turn-based strategy games by Malfador Machinations that allows the player to assume the role of the leader of a space-faring civilization.-Gameplay summary:...
series the last available technology for research is called Stellar Manipulation. In addition to the ability to create and destroy stars, this branch also gives a race the ability to create and destroy black holes
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
, wormholes
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
, nebulae
Nebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
, planets
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, ringworlds
Ringworld
Ringworld is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels, and preceded by four prequels, and ties into numerous other books set in Known Space...
and sphereworlds
Dyson sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
. Just as described above, this technology is so advanced that once the player has the ability to use them, they usually don't need them anymore. This is even more the case with the last two; once one of these megastructures is complete, the race controlling the ringworld or sphereworld has almost unlimited resources, usually leading to defeat of the others.
See also
- Astronomical engineeringAstronomical engineeringEngineering on an astronomical scale, or astronomical engineering, i.e., engineering involving operations with whole astronomical objects , is a known theme in science fiction, as well as a matter of recent scientific research and exploratory engineering.-See also:*Planetary...
- The Golden Apples of the SunThe Golden Apples of the SunThe Golden Apples of the Sun is an anthology of 22 short stories by Ray Bradbury; it was first published in 1953.The book's namesake is one of the short stories in the collection. Bradbury drew the title for the story from the last line of the final stanza to W. B...
- Dyson sphereDyson sphereA Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
- Future studies
- Megascale engineeringMegascale engineeringMegascale engineering is a form of exploratory engineering concerned with the construction of structures on an enormous scale. Typically these structures are at least 1,000 kilometers in length—in other words, at least 1 megameter, hence the name...
- Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
- Firefly (TV series)Firefly (TV series)Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
, Serenity (film)Serenity (film)Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...