Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to An online paper on why star clusters would be attractive to advanced interstellar civilizations

I've corresponded with Dr Bradbury
Hank — (archived)

Although his interests are a bit more ambitious than mine, his Matrioshka Brains are massive artilects headquartered in Globular Clusters, ancient and massive objects at immense distances created at the birth of the galaxies. These are Kardashev Type III civilizations, so highly advanced and powerful that we could probably not even get their attention, much less communicate with them. Globular clusters are unlikely to have indigenous life forms because their stars formed during an era when metals were scarce. Their inhabitants moved there after evolving in the galactic disk in order to exploit the energy resources and long-term stability of GCs..

My speculations run towards the more mundane and nearby open clusters, more recent and temporary stellar associations an order of magnitude or two smaller than GCs, and populated with solar-type stars. These would be more likely to contain KI and KII type civilizations. In my opinion, these cultures would be closer, easier to locate, and a lot easier to talk to.

For those not familiar with the Kardashev classification:

KI - Cultures capable of manipulating the resources of an entire planet (We are on the verge of Type I).

KII - Cultures capable of manipulating the resources of their parent star.

KIII - Cultures capable of manipulating resources on an interstellar or galactic scale.

I disagree with Dr Bradbury, and feel that there are no KIII civilizations, and probably very few, if any, KIIs. His opinion is that KIIs quickly evolve into KIIIs. His speculations are fascinating, and well thought out, however. I highly recommend anyone interested in these topics to look him up.

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