Different civilizations have unique ways of surviving, and one scientist believes that aliens might be willing to hoard stars in order to live on.
What's Going On With The Universe?
Most scientists believe that the rise of dark energy is causing a massive expansion of the universe. It has been expanded for many years, and it is projected to accelerate in the future.
One hundred billion years from now, galaxies will be marooned from each other due to the expansion. When that happens, it will be nearly impossible to see other galaxies, and it will result in extreme isolation.
What Could Aliens Do To Survive?
Theoretical astrophysicist Dan Hooper predicts that super-advanced aliens could foresee the impending problems with the universe. He says that these civilizations could try to survive by collecting stars from galaxies and bringing them to their home.
"Given the inevitability of the encroaching horizon, any sufficiently advanced civilization that is determined to maximize its ability to utilize energy will expand throughout the universe, attempting to secure as many stars as possible before they become permanently inaccessible," he wrote in a paper he released on June 13 at arXiv.org.
Hooper believes that aliens might be able to capture the energy within stars by using giant structures known as Dyson spheres. This concept was originally proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson, and it is a group of satellites used to harness a star's energy. Hooper says that some alien species will send spaceships to retrieve that energy.
The Challenges With The Alien Hoarding Theory
There are many challenges with aliens trying to hoard stars for energy. It could take tens of billions of years just to transport the stars. Smaller and larger stars should be avoided because of energy concerns, so it would take aliens time to target only specific stars. The challenge could prove to be too great for aliens, and they could decide that it might be easier for them to just move their home to a new star instead of collecting them.
Hooper's thesis does not mention how aliens could move a star and use its energy. More importantly, there is no evidence of any alien civilization following this process.
If there aliens were doing this, then humans would likely see them eventually because it is not a subtle process. Humans can search for evidence by seeing if any stars are moving to new galaxies or to find places where stars once existed.
