New theoretical models have strengthened the case that immense, energy-harvesting structures orbiting their host stars could exist in principle in distant stellar systems. With the right engineering precautions, calculations published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, carried out by Colin McInnes at the University of Glasgow, show that both stellar engines and Dyson bubbles can become gravitationally stable, allowing them to tap into the vast amounts of energy emitted by their host stars.

For decades, astronomers have pondered the possibility of alien civilizations far more technologically advanced than our own. While these studies remain entirely speculative, many have converged on similar ideas for harvesting stellar energy: envisioning vast structures deployed around host stars.

If such structures could exist, they would provide civilizations with vastly more energy than any planet could offer—enough for ventures ranging from the terraforming of new worlds, to interstellar journeys spanning many generations.

A lovely, thoughtful, and evidence-based essay on the technical prerequisites for terraforming Mars and other nearby planets and asteroids. While this will take a long time, I believe it ought to be one of the main priorities towards opening up a bright and beautiful future for humanity.

A future where life flourishes beyond Earth is closer than you think. How, precisely, will we get there?

The idea of bringing life to other worlds has captured the imagination of many scientists and thinkers, from the founding father of astronautics, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, in the 1890s to Carl Sagan, Freeman Dyson and other visionaries in the 20th century. Today, we know much more about spaceflight, biology, and the nature of habitable environments. We are entering an era of rapid and cheap access to space, and with it, we find ourselves on the brink of being able to extend Earth’s biosphere across the solar system, billions of times beyond its current bounds.

The possibilities for how we might do this range widely, from terraforming Mars (and possibly other planets or moons) to generating habitable bubbles on free-floating asteroids. While technological challenges remain, many of these techniques appear surprisingly feasible — making a detailed assessment of their merits all the more important.

A conversation with Astera Resident Edwin Kite on applied planetary science, applied astrobiology, and what it would take to terraform Mars