We industrialized the world using coal and oil and entered the Atomic Age when we learned how to split a nucleus.

我們利用了煤炭和石油將世界工業化 然後了解如何分裂原子並開啟了核子時代

At each step, we increased our energy harvest to a scale never seen before and advanced as a species.

每個階段之中，我們收集能源的規模 都會提升到前所未見的地步 然後我們這個物種就發展到下一階段

Currently, we're slowly transitioning to renewables and if we're lucky, fusion energy will become viable in the future.

目前我們正在緩慢的過渡到再生能源 而如果幸運的話，核融合能源在未來會是可行的

As humanity progresses further, if we don't destroy ourselves or our habitat,

如果我們沒有自我毀滅的話 在人類不斷的演進之後

we will likely gain complete control of our planet's resources.

我們將會100%控制地球上所有的資源

At that stage we'll probably begin to look outwards for new places to expand into.

在這個情況下 我們大概會開始向外尋找新的地方來擴張

But space is hard and establishing a serious human presence in the solar system will require

但是要去太空很難

ungodly amounts of energy.

而且在太陽系中 要建立人類的新地盤會消耗極多的能源

Luckily, we know where to find it. The Sun - the ultimate source of energy.

不過幸運的是，我們知道哪裡可以找到這些能源： 太陽，能源的終極來源

A furnace 100 quintillion times more powerful than our most efficient nuclear reactor.

太陽是一個比目前最有效率的核能發電廠 還要強一垓（10^20）倍的火爐

It shines with the energy of a trillion nuclear bombs per second.

它每秒發光的能量等同一兆顆核彈

So, how do we get this energy? Not some of it, all of it.

所以我們該怎麼取得這個能源呢？ 不是只拿一點，而是完全掌握？

If we want to collect the most energy physically possible, we'll have to build the largest most

*開場音樂*

ambitious structure in the universe.

如果我們要在物理限制內取得太陽能源的最大值 我們得建造一個宇宙中最大最有野心的工程

The Dyson Sphere, a megastructure that encompasses a whole star to capture its power output.

也就是戴森球 一個將整顆恆星包住來汲取能源的巨型結構

For an intelligent species, building a Dyson Sphere is a technological leap on a par with the discovery of fire for our ancestors.

對於智慧生物而言，學會建造一個戴森球，就是 如同我們的祖先學會了用火一樣的技術大躍進

The transition from a planetary species to an interstellar species. It would usher in an age of exploration and

我們會從行星物種轉變到星際物種 並且開始一個規模前所未見的大探索、大擴張時代

expansion on a scale we can barely imagine.

所以，戴森球到底會長怎樣呢？

So, what would it look like?

我們不太可能建造一個包住太陽的堅硬大型球殼

Solid shell enveloping the Sun is probably not the way to go a large rigid body like that would be vulnerable to impacts

那種結構被撞擊時很容易被打成碎片 並有可能飄移，直接墜入太陽

possibly shattering it would be liable to drift and could crash straight into the Sun a

更有可能的設計是戴森雲（戴森群） 戴森雲就是一大群圍繞太陽的太陽能板

More, viable design for a Dyson Sphere might be a Dyson swarm an enormous set of orbiting panels that collect the sun's power and

並把收集到的能源發射到其他地方

beam it elsewhere

這種戴森雲基本上會給人類帶來 無限的能源，但建造它並不容易

such as sward would give humanity basically unlimited energy but building it won't be easy

太陽超級大，所以我們需要很多衛星

the Sun is very big so we need a lot of satellites if

如果每顆衛星都有一平方公里， 那麼我們需要大約三萬兆顆（3x10^16）才夠包住太陽

Each satellite is a square kilometer we'd need around 30 quadrillion to surround the Sun

即使利用最輕巧的材料建造這些衛星， 我們也需要大約一垓（10^20）噸的材料

even if they're built as lightly as possible we need about 100 quintillion tons of material and

然後我們需要能源才能把這些零件 組裝起來，並運送到太陽附近

Then we need the energy to actually put the parts together and deliver them to their positions around the Sun on

大前提就是我們需要在太空中建立 永久性基礎設施才能開始建設

top of all that we need to have a permanent infrastructure set up in space to start building

讓我們為了這個影片假設我們的後代會 搞定這一點，並打算建造這個巨型結構

let's assume for the purposes of this video that our descendants will take care of that and want to create the mega structure

我們可以將門檻分為三大類

We can sort the challenges into three main categories

材料、設計和能源

materials design and energy

為了獲得建造戴森雲所需的大量材料， 必須把一顆行星的一大部份拆解成原料

To get the vast amounts of raw materials required for our Dyson swarm will have to largely disassemble a whole planet

在可用的行星中，水星是最佳候選者 因為水星最接近太陽並且富含金屬

Of the planets available mercury is the best candidate it's the closest to the Sun and very metal-rich

靠近太陽也意味著材料不用搬太遠

close to the Sun

水星沒有大氣層，重力只有大約地球表面的三分之一

also

因此比較容易將材料送入太空

Means less moving stuff around and mercury has no atmosphere and only about a third of the surface gravity of Earth making it

接下來我們應該思考我們戴森雲的設計 簡單就是美

comparatively easy to launch material into space

傳統的太陽能板太複雜而且壽命短， 我們的衛星必須耐用且不需人為干涉

Next we should consider the design of our swarm simpler is better

即可運行很長一段時間 而且這些衛星必須很廉價

Conventional solar panels are far too intricate and short lives our satellites need to operate without repairs or intervention for

它們很可能會是巨大的鏡子

astronomically long times and they need to be cheap to produce

將太陽光重新聚焦到中央採集站， 就像地球上的聚光太陽能一樣

But they're most likely going to be enormous mirrors

為了有效地製造和發射它們，它們必須非常輕巧， 每個衛星就只是拋光金屬板和固定用的一些支撐物

which refocus sunlight to central collecting stations like in concentrated solar power on earth

最後，我們需要能源來建造和發射戴森雲

to build and launch them efficiently they must be incredibly light made of little more than polished metal full bound to some supports and

拆解行星並把東西發射到太空需要 大量的能源，例如，如果我們

Last we need the energy to build and launch the swarm itself taking a part of planets and launching things into space

非常有效率地使用地球上所有的化石燃料和的鈾

requires an enormous amount of energy for example if we used all the fossil fuels and

那我們最多只能發射跟珠穆朗瑪峰相當的質量到太空

Uranium on earth and we?

與拆解整顆行星相比，實在是微不足道

Were perfectly efficient we could only launch as much

建構戴森球所需的能源， 幾乎就跟戴森球產出的能源差不多

Mass as Mount Everest into space a rather meager accomplishment compared to planetary disassembly

但那沒什麼，水星上有充足的陽光， 讓我們開始工作吧

To get the energy needed to build a Dyson Sphere it's almost as if you're going to need the power output of a dyson sphere

要讓人類維生的條件很多，並且人類對環境非常敏感

But that's. Ok there's plenty of sunlight to be had on Mercury so let's get to work

所以，我們希望盡可能自動化

Humans are expensive to keep alive and are very sensitive to the environment

理想情況下，我們會有一小部分控制人員 負責監督一系列自動機器工作

So, we'd want to automate as much as possible

我們需要四大技術： 太陽能收集器、礦工、精煉廠和發射設備

Ideally we'd have a small crew of controllers who oversee an army of autonomous machines doing the actual work

太陽能收集器將為我們提供拆解行星所需的能源

There are four major pieces of technology required solar collectors miners refiners and launch equipment

首先，我們可能會建造一平方公里的收集器 當作鏡子或傳統太陽能板進行部署

the solar collectors are going to give us the energy we need to disassemble the planet

他們將提供礦工機器人運作需要的能源，礦工挖開整個 行星表面，我們的精煉廠提取有價值的元素

To start maybe we deploy something like one square kilometer of them either as mirrors or as traditional solar panels

並將它們製作成我們的戴森雲衛星

they'll provide the energy to run our miners which strip-mine the surface of the planet and our refiners which extract valuable elements and

要讓它們進入太空我們需要一個有創意和有效率的解決方案

fabricate them into our swarm satellites

火箭很昂貴，而且很難返回地表重複使用

to get them into space we need a creative and efficient solution

我們想要使用的是一種軌道炮

Rockets aren't too expensive and difficult to deorbit and reuse

一條很長的電磁軌道，可以以高速發射我們的衛星

Instead, we'll want to use a sort of railgun a longer

我們的衛星將被包好包滿發射出去， 然後在軌道上的像是巨大摺紙一樣展開

Electromagnetic track which launches our satellites at high speeds

之後，我們可以利用已經蓋好的衛星開始產生的能源

Our swarm satellites will be packed tight for launch unfurling like an enormous origami once in orbit

在水星上構建更多基礎設施，並更快 更快地發射新太陽能板，達到指數性成長

from this point we can take advantage of

每個太陽能板都替下一個太陽能板供電 這兩個板再一起建造下兩個

exponential growth using the energy of the existing parts of the swarm to build more infrastructure on Mercury and launch new panels faster and faster

四成八，八成為十六，生生不息

each panel provides the energy to build another those to work together to build the next to

在60次倍增之後，太陽完全被太陽能板包圍

Four become eight eight become 16 and so on

如果一平方公里的太陽能收集器需要一個月 的時間來建造，那我們可以在十年內完成，不算太久

within just about 60 doubling times the Sun would be completely surrounded by solar panels and

前題是我們在行星表面的基礎設施 能夠跟上快速增長的能源供應

This can happen quickly if a square kilometer of solar collectors takes a month to build we could be done in a decade

即使只是太陽能源的一小步 也是我們人類收集能源的一大步

if only our infrastructure on the planet's surface can keep up with the quickly growing budget of energy

我們可以把基本上無限的太陽能 發射到太陽系各地，用在各種計劃上

Even collecting 1% of the sun's energy is an unbelievable change in our species energy budget

比如其他星球上的殖民地

We could create the infrastructure to being basically unlimited amounts of energy around the solar system for all sorts of projects

把其他行星地球化

colonies on other worlds terraforming planets

建造更多的巨型建築，甚至到其他星系 旅行，這可能是一個星際文明的開端

constructing more mega structures or even traveling to other stars it could be the start of an interstellar

根據我們對物理學的理解， 這不僅有可能，而且不難

Civilization based on physics alone this is not just possible but easy

這步驟如此簡單，而且對於任何物種 而言，這是他們要擴張到其他星球必要的一步

It's such a simple process and such a necessary step for any species to expand beyond their home planet that many astronomers

因此許多天文學家認為銀河系裡可能早就有蓋好的戴森球了

Think there are probably Dyson spheres already out there in the Milky Way we haven't spotted any yet but they could be there

我們還沒找到任何戴森球，但他們很可能就在那裡

it's far from certain that humanity will ever get to this point our attention is too often focused on short-term political gains and

我們還不知道人類會不會走到這一步。 我們往往專注在長期而言無關緊要的

Conflicts that will not matter in the long run but if we survive the challenges we've set ourselves

政治利益和衝突。但如果我們撐過 我們加在自己身上的挑戰

we could potentially become the first species in the universe to create a structure with the scope of a star if

那我們有可能成為宇宙中 第一個創造出恆星級結構體的物種

We? Do it the only limitation left will be our own

如果我們成功的話，想像力就是我們的超能力

imagination

我們剛剛丟給你很多非常狂妄的主張和瘋狂的概念

We've just hit you with a lot of pretty wild claims and crazy concepts if

如果你就像我們一樣，喜歡用科學的力量 來找出摧毀萬物的荒謬方法

You're like us and enjoy using the power of science to determine absurd ways to destroy stuff

那你可能想知道如何自己想出類似的東西

you might want to hear how you can come up with something like that yourself

Brilliant是一個解決問題的網站，可以幫助您通過有趣的謎題學習東西，將複雜的問題切成一小口的大小

Brilliant is a problem-solving website that helps you learn stuff through fun puzzles that split up a complex problem into bite-sized chunks and

並且建立一個有趣的結論

build up to an interesting conclusion

它可以幫助您通過實作來理解 科學的原理，而不僅僅是填鴨一堆知識

It helps you understand how science works by actually using it instead of just memorizing a bunch of stuff

Brilliance 有很多有趣的課程和難題， 如量子計算機學、天文學和邏輯，甚至是戴森球

brilliance has tons of interesting courses and puzzles on things like quantum computing astronomy and logic and even dyson sphere's if

如果你前往 brilliance.org/nutshell

you visit brilliant org slash nutshell

或者點擊描述中的連結， 您可以免費註冊並學習各種各樣的東西

Or click the link in the description you can sign up for free and learn all kinds of things as

前688人可獲得年度會員八折的折扣

A bonus for cooks without viewers the first 688 people will, also get 20% off their annual membership

在 Brilliance 上，你可以慢慢變得更聰明

with brilliance you can finish each stay a little bit smarter and

也許有一天你可以幫助將人類物種擴展到宇宙中

Just maybe you can help to expand the human species into the universe one day

我們非常喜歡戴森球，所以我們 也製作了一張關於它們的海報

We love dyson sphere's so much that we've also made a poster about them

它掛在你的牆上會看起來很漂亮

it will look pretty on your wall but

而且還有一些關於戴森球概念的資訊。 很適合當成聊天的話題

Also has some information about the concept of a Dyson Sphere a great way to start a conversation

你也可以只是盯著這張海報，夢想未來

Or you can just stare at it and dream about the future

追夢吧！

go get it here