NEW STUDY THAT COULD POINT TO A POTENTIAL DAILY LIFE IN OUTER SPACE. A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS SAYS THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED SEVEN STARS THAT MIGHT BE SURROUNDED BY SUPER ADVANCED ALIEN MEGA STRUCTURES. I SAID ALIEN STRUCTURES. I KNOW YOU WHAT YOU WERE THINKING, BUT STAY WITH ME. THE BASIC IDEA IS THIS. SUPERIOR INTELLIGENT LIFE MIGHT BUILD BIG STRUCTURES AROUND THEIR HOME STARS OR PLANETS AS A WAY TO HARNESS OR REUSE ENERGY. IN 1960 PHYSICIST CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA. IF THESE STRUCTURES EXISTED, THERE WILL BE SO MUCH ENERGY THAT HUMAN SCIENTISTS ON EARTH COULD SPOT IT BECAUSE IT WOULD EMIT A LOT OF INFRARED RADIATION. RESEARCHERS SAY THEY FOUND SEVEN SOURCES GLOWING IN THE INFRARED, BUT COULD NOT FIND AN OBVIOUS EXPLANATION FOR WHY THE SOURCES WERE GLOWING SO MUCH, WHICH COULD MEAN THEY ARE, OR SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. WHAT I AM SAYING IS, WHAT? SPACE IS SO CRAZY. I WISH I UNDERSTOOD IT BETTER. LET'S TALK TO A SCIENTIST TO HELP GET OUR HEADS AROUND THIS. I'M JOINED BY AN ASTROPHYSICIST AND AUTHOR OF THE BOOK BLACKHOLE SURVIVAL GUIDE, AS WELL AS PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY AT BERNARD COLLEGE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. PROFESSOR, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. I TRIED TO EXPLAIN IT A LITTLE BIT. THAT WAS MY DIRTY VERSION. YOU HAVE A PHD IN PHYSICS FROM MIT. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN DYSON SPHERES? >> THERE IS AN EXPLANATION. IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE. WE ARE VERY FAR AWAY FROM THE SUN. IMAGINE THE LIGHT WE TRY TO COLLECT WITH SOLAR PANELS TO COLLECT THAT ENERGY. IMAGINE IF YOU GOT REALLY CLOSE AND CAUGHT EVERYTHING THE SUN WAS EMITTING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF POWER. DISON WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS. HE WAS ORIGINALLY INSPIRED BY SCI-FI WRITTEN BY DECADES EARLIER. HIS IDEA WASN'T SO MUCH A SPHERE, IT WAS LIKE SATELLITES, AND NETWORK OF THINGS ORBITING. ESSENTIALLY, SOLAR PANELS COLLECTING THAT ENERGY. >> WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS STUDY? GENERALLY SPEAKING, IS A POSSIBLE THESE ARE DYSON SPHERES? >> IT IS VERY UNLIKELY, BUT WE HAVE TO BE OPEN AS SCIENTISTS. IF WE THINK WE KNOW THE ANSWER BEFORE WE LOOK, WE ARE ALREADY DEFEATED. I THINK IT IS TERRIBLY UNLIKELY, BUT IT IS EXTREMELY EXCITING AND INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT. WHAT IS PROBABLY GOING TO HAPPEN IS WE WILL LOOK AT THIS INFRARED SIGNATURE YOU MENTIONED AND FIND OUT THERE IS A NATURAL CAUSE. A LOT OF THINGS MAKE HEAT. IT IS NOT THAT DISSIMILAR TO SEE THINGS EMITTING HEAT. THE IDEA IS IF WE HAVE THIS VERY TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED CIVILIZATION, THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEYOND WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, AND THEY COULD BUILD SUCH A THING THAT WOULD COLLECT ALL THIS ENERGY, IT WOULD ALSO COLLECT HEAT AND WE WOULD SEE THAT INFRARED. BUT THERE ARE OTHER NATURAL POSSIBILITIES. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK THOSE COULD BE? >> IT COULD BE A VERY YOUNG STAR THE STILL HAS SOME MATERIAL AROUND IT. THAT IS HOW PLANETS FORM. THEY COALESCE OUT OF THESE EARLY DISCS. THEY CAN EMIT INFRARED. IT COULD BE THERE'S ACTUALLY AN ENTIRE GALAXY IN THE DISTANCE BEHIND THE STAR AND WE ARE SEEING THAT. COULD BE PLANETARY COLLISION. THERE ARE NATURAL EXPLANATIONS. I THINK IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT WE ARE WORKING JUST 1000 LIGHT YEARS AROUND US. A SOUNDBAR, BUT IT IS ACTUALLY REALLY CLOSE. THAT IS OUR BACKYARD. THE ENTIRE MILKY WAY GALAXY IS 100,000 LIGHT-YEARS ACROSS. THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE PLANETS IN THE MILKY WAY GALAXY THEN THERE ARE STARS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS, MAYBE TRILLIONS, OF PLANETS OUT THERE. I THINK WE'RE IN AN ERA WHERE WE THINK EMERGENCE OF LIFE IS POSSIBLY INEVITABLE ELSEWHERE. WE ARE NOT THE ONLY EXAMPLE. WHETHER OR NOT THEY SURVIVED WITH THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF ADVANCEMENTS TO BUILD A DYSON SPHERE IS A DIFFERENT STORY. >> DO YOU THINK THERE IS A SCENARIO WHERE A DYSON SPHERE MY ACTUALLY EXISTS? OR IS THIS A SCI-FI FANTASY? >> I THINK IT IS FEASIBLE, UNLIKELY. IF YOU LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, JUST A COUPLE HUNDRED YEARS. WE ARE IN A PRECARIOUS PRODUCER AND. -- POSITION. WE HAVE CLIMATE CHANGE, STRUGGLES WITH NUCLEAR POWER, NUCLEAR WEAPONS THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE. IT IS UNCLEAR THAT ANY SPECIES COULD SURVIVE FAR ENOUGH INTO THEIR OWN FUTURE TO BE ABLE TO BUILD A DYSON SPHERE. BUT THERE ARE OPTIMISTS OUT
