stephenbrooks.orgForumTalkSensibleI'd just like to point this out, but...
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Stephen Brooks
2003-10-10 11:08:38
It's never night-time on a Dyson sphere (except on the outside).  Wasn't that a bit of an oversight?

It doesn't make any sense: that's why they call it "virtual"
Lex_Luthor
2003-11-30 06:01:06
Not to mention how hot it would get inside... There would be day and night (somewhat) with a Larry Niven/Escheresque-type ringworld (when the rings cross over each other), but if you think the sphere would be unstable, just try and keep something like a multi-level, multi-ring system with each ring rotating on it's x and y axis in orbit!  Big Grin
Stephen Brooks
2003-12-06 09:49:06
Last week I was going to reply with an interesting link, but I lost it.  Now I've found it again: a Dyson Sphere FAQ, which addresses my original concern and others Big Grin

HB Pencils, also sold as "Moron's Choice" Graphite Cigars.
Lex_Luthor
2003-12-08 22:49:58
Thanks Stephen- interesting information.  This is one of those subjects that I get obsessed with from time to time... just can't help it.  Big Grin Have you ever seen a print of the Escher illustration that I (indirectly) referred to?  I found a link to a page called Escher Dyson Sphere, which has one.  Of course, as I mentioned before, it definately has a resemblance to a Larry Niven-type ringworld, but with many intersecting rings at differing levels.  A bit of a merging between the two concepts with some twists of Escher's own design (that certainly don't add to the scientific possibility).  Again, thanks for the link- I'm sure to get plenty of fresh pondering material from it.  Smile

"We're sorry to bother you at such a time like this, Mrs.  Twice.  We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn't dead then."
Tom King
2004-02-02 05:47:15
Isn't a Dyson a sort of vacuum cleaner?

Chorus:

Quorn fudder quarnk quarnk
Quorn rudder quarnk anchor
Stephen Brooks
2004-02-11 11:56:35
I like to think of Tom King as the message-board equivalent of a motorway made of chewing gum.

HB Pencils, also sold as "Moron's Choice" Graphite Cigars.
Lex_Luthor
2004-07-27 18:50:37
it would seem so.  it has been 5 months since this thread was stopped in it's tracks.  i have only now decided to revisit it since i have just reread the ringworld series.  Smile
Stephen Brooks
2004-09-28 03:54:28
Has anyone else read all about this mission?  I think it's quite cool they're discovering so many planetoids out there, not small ones either, but rather ones that were simply too dimly lit to see until now...

Here's another link to an image I rather like, showing how much weird stuff is out there.
Stephen Brooks
2005-06-27 17:42:04
By "weird stuff" he means not really weird and in fact rather boring things made of rock.
Kileran
2006-05-22 06:49:20
I'm not sure i follow.  What oversight do you mean?  I'm sure anyone building one would realize there would be no night.

Personally, i think the contruction of such a sphere would be an amazing achievement, as well.
Stephen Brooks
2006-05-25 23:40:43
Yes but you'd want to sleep sometime. 
Stephen Brooks
2006-05-26 17:28:28
I was thinking of systems like a rotating sphere-inside-a-sphere, with a grating that cuts out the light every ~24 hours.

The main difficulty I can see with a Dyson sphere is how would it support itself under gravity?  If it rotates, that only makes the equator in equilibrium and the poles would still try to fall in.  Probably more likely than a sphere is that it would end up as many rings/flotillas of space platforms that were in orbit.  Those could then also rotate about another axis to give day and night (86400s period at 1g would be r = 1.85 million km, posing another problem as to how the thing would hold together, though).
Kileran
2006-05-27 19:38:05
I actually wrote about a 1 page article detailing a number of issues concerning light/dark, as well as gravity.  However i've opted to delete it all, because we're forgetting some very simple things.

But before i can say much more, i think we have to decide which type of dyson sphere were talking about.  The type shown graphically on "star trek, TNG" would never be feasible.  You'd have to drain a few hundred worlds of they're atmosphere's just to block out the harmfull UV ray's and make the place habitable.
Stephen Brooks
2006-05-28 14:28:35
And the rest of this thread's history has now appeared because I got the posts into the correct threads again \o/
Kileran
2006-06-03 01:04:20
Oh, and escher's multi-ringowld design wouldn't work for the sam reason stephen pointed out that a solid sphere wouldn't work.  Gravity.  Those rings are still meshed together.
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