Researchers have detected strange radio signals
coming from deep space.
These mysterious radio waves
might just be bursts of cosmic energy
from a distant neutron star.
Or it could be that scientists have discovered
a highly-advanced civilization
90 light-years away from Earth.
So what kind of civilization
would have the ability to send strong signals like this?
Well, scientists classify civilizations
on something called the Kardashev scale.
It's a scale that measures a civilization's
technological ability to harness energy.
While it's a hypothetical scale
that could eventually have five or more levels,
most scientists only refer to the first few.
But don't be underwhelmed.
We're the only civilization we know of.
And technically, we're still stuck on Type 0.
At this stage, we've managed to harness some,
but not all, of our planet's potential energy.
We consume about 18 trillion watts of power every year.
And if we wanted to bump ourselves up to a Type I civilization,
we'd need to consume over 500 times that
every second.
To do this, we'd need to harness, store and utilize
all of the energy available to us.
That includes all raw materials
and every bit of sunlight that reaches Earth.
We'd also have to tame volcanoes, earthquakes
and other natural forces.
At the rate at which we're developing now,
it's possible that we could be a Type I civilization
within the next 200 years.
But whatever civilization scientists may have discovered
in the far reaches of space
could already be a Type II civilization.
Or higher.
OK, before we can even think
about pushing our civilization to Type I,
we've got to take care of the planet
we already have.
For instance,
the Colorado River
is seriously running low.
It's drying up
because we've been using
too much water,
and because climate change
has brought on a major drought.
In 1999, two lakes along
the river were nearly full.
But today?
Well, today, they're barely a quarter full.
The Biden administration
has been working hard
to reduce water usage,
and most states involved
have supported the plan.
But California,
which uses the most water,
hasn't jumped on board.
And it's concerning.
Listen, balancing water needs isn't easy,
especially in fast-growing cities
and in farming regions.
But climate change affects us all,
and it's time to step up our water-saving game
and support leaders
who are ready to tackle this crisis.
Only then can we start planning
how to harvest all the energy
our planet has to offer.
Once our civilization has all of the energy available
on our home planet under control
and we graduate to a Type I on the Kardashev scale,
then we'd need to take the next step.
Time to crank up our energy consumption
to 10 billion times what it was before.
To do this, we'd need to harness not just all the solar energy that reaches Earth.
We'd need all of the energy our star generates, period.
If there is a Type II civilization out there,
they're probably using an incredible system to do this.
A Dyson sphere.
They'd build this megastructure around their star
to collect all the energy it radiates out in every direction.
They could even assemble other Dyson spheres
around the first Dyson sphere
to guarantee that little to no energy escapes.
But there's nothing simple about this technology,
and that's why only advanced civilizations
could construct something like it.
For one, a Dyson sphere must be larger than the star itself.
And if these megastructures are bigger than stars,
they should be easy to spot, right?
Well, this could be tricky.
Once a civilization is finished building the Dyson sphere,
the megastructure blocks nearly all of the visible light from its star.
A civilization this advanced
could make its own solar system invisible.
Lucky for us, visible light isn't the only way to detect a star.
Even with a Dyson sphere blocking its light,
a star would still radiate heat,
and we could detect the star by the infrared light it gives off.
But that wouldn't be the only way we might discover a civilization this advanced.
Remember that strange radio signal?
It originated about 90 light-years away from Earth,
coming from the star HD 164595.
Was this powerful radio signal created by an alien race
and intentionally pointed toward Earth?
A civilization able to pull this off
would need to be far more advanced than our own.
This Type II civilization
would be able to utilize the raw materials
on every planet in its star system, and maybe even beyond.
They may have built fusion reactors that orbit their planet,
fuelled with gas from other worlds with hydrogen-rich atmospheres.
And they might be mining precious metals
from rocky planets just like Earth.
They could terraform many planets
into livable worlds for their populations.
And they wouldn't live in fear of civilization-ending natural disasters
like asteroid impacts, ice ages or global warming
because they'd have many technical solutions for these too.
This alien civilization would be at the stage on the Kardashev scale
where they'd be able to master interstellar travel.
But if that's true,
there should be no reason for them not to pop by for a visit, right?
Well, not so fast.
With all the advanced technology they might have at their disposal,
these aliens could be waiting for us to catch up.
That way, when our civilizations meet,
we could do so as equal partners.
Who knows?
They could be so advanced that they're no longer a fully biological race.
They could be more like cyborgs
with a mix of robotic and organic material.
This would make them capable of incredible things
that humans could only dream of.
But they wouldn't stop there.
An advanced world like this
would want to go farther up the Kardashev scale.
And as they became a Type III civilization,
they'd rely on something other than the power of their own star system.
They would harness the power of several stars in their galaxy.
With this much power,
a civilization would have no problem
meeting its ever-growing energy needs.
They'd just hook up another star when they needed more power.
If we ever advanced to this level,
we'd have 100 billion stars available to harness
in the Milky Way galaxy alone.
A civilization like this
would no doubt be the rulers of their galaxy.
And they'd have the power to move entire star systems,
merging them to harvest the energy they need more efficiently.
So if one of these civilizations existed,
well, you could detect them by observing the sudden disappearance
of many stars in a faraway galaxy.
This could be a sign that Dyson spheres have been constructed
around not just one but several stars.
A Type III civilization could already be out there.
After all, scientists have announced
that they've found two galaxies
with a highly unusual amount of infrared light.
This is something we usually observe in galaxies where new stars are being born.
But some unusual and sudden spikes in infrared light
could mean that we found the first signs
that civilizations many times more advanced than us exist.
Maybe they're about to make contact?
Or maybe they already have?
But that's a story
for another WHAT IF.