Examine individual changes

'{{Short description|Measure of the evolution of a civilization}}{{About|the measuring method|the album by Greydon Square|The Kardashev Scale (album){{!}}''The Kardashev Scale'' (album)}}{{Expand French|Échelle de Kardachev|date=April 2022}} [[File:Consommations énergétiques des trois types de l'échelle de Kardashev.svg|thumb|right|upright=2|alt=Three schematic representations: Earth, Solar System and Milky Way|Energy consumption in three types of civilization as defined by Sagan's extended Kardashev scale]] {{Futures studies}} The '''Kardashev scale''' is a method of measuring a [[civilization]]'s level of [[technology|technological]] advancement based on the amount of [[energy]] it is able to use. The measure was proposed by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[astronomer]] [[Nikolai Kardashev]] in 1964.<ref name=":Nikolai Kardashev 1964" /> The scale is [[hypothesis|hypothetical]], and regards energy consumption on a [[Cosmos|cosmic]] scale. Various extensions of the scale have since been proposed, including a wider range of power levels (types 0, IV to VI) and the use of metrics other than pure power. Kardashev first outlined his scale in a paper presented at the 1964 [[Byurakan]] conference, a scientific meeting that reviewed the Soviet [[radio astronomy]] space listening program. This paper, entitled "''Передача информации внеземными цивилизациями''" (and then translated into English "''Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations''"),<ref name=":Nikolai Kardashev 1964">{{Cite web |last=Kardashev |first=N.S. |date=1964 |title=Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations |url=http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1964SvA.....8..217K |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112113141/https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1964SvA.....8..217K |archive-date=2022-01-12 |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=articles.adsabs.harvard.edu |format=PDF}}</ref> proposes a classification of civilizations into three types, based on the [[Axiom|postulate]] of [[Exponential growth|exponential progression]]. A type I civilization is able to access all the [[energy]] available on its [[planet]] and store it for consumption. A type II civilization can directly consume the energy of a [[star]]. Finally, a type III civilization is able to capture all the energy emitted by its [[galaxy]]. In a second article, entitled "''Strategies of Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence''" and published in 1980, Kardashev wonders about civilization, which he defines by its capacity to access energy, to maintain itself and to integrate information from its environment. Two other articles follow: "''On the Inevitability and the Possible Structure of Supercivilizations''"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kardashev |first=Nikolai S. |date=1985 |title=On the inevitability and the possible structures of supercivilizations |url=https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1985IAUS..112..497K |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212125039/https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1985IAUS..112..497K |archive-date=2020-12-12 |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=articles.adsabs.harvard.edu |format=PDF}}</ref> and "''Cosmology and Civilizations''", published respectively in 1985 and 1997; the Soviet astronomer proposes tracks to detect supercivilizations and to direct the SETI programs. The scale defined by Kardashev has been the subject of two main re-evaluations: that of [[Carl Sagan]], who refines the types, and that of [[Michio Kaku]], who discards the energy postulate in favor of the knowledge economy. Other debates on the nature of the different types have allowed many authors to question Kardashev's original classification, either to complete it or to refute it. Two critical perspectives have thus emerged: one that questions Kardashev's postulates, judging them to be incomplete or inconsistent, the other that establishes alternative scales. Kardashev's has given rise to numerous scenarios exploring the possibility of more evolved civilizations. These scenarios each question in their own way the three postulates of Kardashev defining a civilization: [[Energy development|energy sources]], technology and the [[Interstellar communication|transmission of interstellar messages]]. The framework for the search for and detection of advanced civilizations was constructed and theorized during the conference held in 1964 in [[Armenia]], at the [[Byurakan Observatory|Byurakan astrophysical observatory]]. Starting from a functional definition of civilization, based on the immutability of physical laws and using the human civilization as a model of [[extrapolation]], the initial model of Kardashev was developed. Several scientists have conducted various searches for possible civilizations, but without conclusive results. Based on these criteria, unusual objects, now known to be either [[Pulsar|pulsars]] or [[Quasar|quasars]], were identified. Kardashev has described in his various publications a set of listening and observing parameters to be taken into account; however, some authors, notably {{lang|ru|[[:ru:Каплан, Самуил Аронович|Samouïl Aronovitch Kaplan]]|italic=no}} and {{lang|es|[[:es:Guillermo A. Lemarchand|Guillermo A. Lemarchand]]|italic=no}}, consider that these are insufficient and need to be completed. == Short biography of Nikolai Kardashev == {{Broader|Nikolai Kardashev}} Nikolai Kardashev, born in 1932, was a Soviet astronomer who graduated from [[Moscow State University]] in 1955. After working at the [[Sternberg Astronomical Institute]] under the direction of [[Iosif Shklovsky]], he obtained his [[doctorate]] in 1962 and then joined the [[Russian Space Research Institute|Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] in [[Moscow]]. In 1963 he led the first search for extraterrestrial signals in the [[Soviet Union]], becoming one of the pioneers of the worldwide [[Search for extraterrestrial intelligence|SETI]] program.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Darling |first=David |title=Kardashev civilizations |url=http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/K/Kardashevciv.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401094848/https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/K/Kardashevciv.html |archive-date=2022-04-01 |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=www.daviddarling.info}}</ref> == Categories defined by Kardashev == The hypothetical classification known as the Kardashev scale distinguishes three stages of evolution of civilizations according to the double criterion of the access and the use of the [[energy]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Calissendorff |first=Per |date=2013-05-29 |title=A Dysonian Search for Kardashev Type III Civilisations in Spiral Galaxies |url=https://ttt.astro.su.se/~erza6638/exjobb/Calissendorff.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108222414/https://ttt.astro.su.se/~erza6638/exjobb/Calissendorff.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-08 |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=ttt.astro.su.se |format=PDF}}</ref> The purpose of this classification is to guide the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, particularly within [[Search for extraterrestrial intelligence|SETI]], in which Kardashev participated,<ref>Zoltan Galántai, «Long Futures and Type IV Civilizations», ''Periodica Polytechnica, Social and Management Sciences'', <abbr>vol.</abbr> 12, <abbr>n^o</abbr> 1,‎ 2004, <abbr>p.</abbr> 83–89 ([http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/longfuture/long_futures_article1.pdf <small>read online</small>] [https://web.archive.org/web/20220108222331/http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/longfuture/long_futures_article1.pdf <small>archive</small>] <small><abbr>[PDF]</abbr></small><abbr>)</abbr></ref> and this on the assumption that a fraction of the energy used by each type is intended to communicate with other civilizations. To make this scale more understandable, Lemarchand compares the speed of transmission across the galaxy of a volume of information equivalent to a medium-sized [[library]]. A type II civilization can send this data by means of a transmission beam emitting for only 100 seconds. A similar amount of information can be sent across [[Warm–hot intergalactic medium|intergalactic]] distances of about ten million light years, with a transmission time of several weeks. A type III civilization can transmit this same amount of data to the entire [[observable universe]] with a transmission time of 3 seconds.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lemarchand |first=Guillermo A. Lemarchand |date=2000 |title=Speculations on the First Contact : Encyclopedia Galactica or the Music of the Spheres? |journal=When SETI Succeeds: The Impact of High-Information Contact |pages=153–163}}</ref> Kardashev's classification is based on the assumption of a growth rate of 1% per year. Kardashev believes that it will take humanity 3,200 years to reach Type II, and 5,800 years to reach Type III.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kaku |first=Michio |date=2007 |title=The Physics of Extraterrestrial Civilizations : Official Website of Dr. Michio Kaku |url=https://mkaku.org/home/articles/the-physics-of-extraterrestrial-civilizations/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108222440/https://mkaku.org/home/articles/the-physics-of-extraterrestrial-civilizations/ |archive-date=2022-01-08 |access-date=2022-04-04 |website=mkaku.org}}</ref> These types are thus separated from each other by a growth rate of several billion.<ref name=":1" /> === Type I === A civilization "close to the level presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈4{{e|19}}&nbsp;[[erg]]/sec" (4{{e|12}}&nbsp;watts).<ref name="Kard_TransInfoCiv">{{cite journal| last = Kardashev| first =Nikolai| author-link=Nikolai Kardashev| title=Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations| date = 1964 | journal=Soviet Astronomy | bibcode = 1964SvA.....8..217K | volume = 8 | pages=217–221 }}</ref> A Type I civilization is usually defined as one that can harness all the energy that reaches its home planet from its parent star (for Earth, this value is around 2{{e|17}}&nbsp;watts), which is about four [[Order of magnitude|orders of magnitude]] higher than the amount presently attained on Earth, with energy consumption at ≈2{{e|13}}&nbsp;watts as of 2020. The astronomer Guillermo A. Lemarchand defined Type I as a level near contemporary terrestrial civilization with an energy capability equivalent to the [[Solar irradiance|solar insolation]] on Earth, between {{10^|16}} and {{10^|17}}&nbsp;watts.<ref name="Lemarchand">{{Cite web | url = http://www.coseti.org/lemarch1.htm | title = Detectability of Extraterrestrial Technological Activities | first = Guillermo A | last = Lemarchand | publisher = Coseti | access-date = 2004-10-23 | archive-date = 2019-03-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190318193634/http://www.coseti.org/lemarch1.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> === Type II === A civilization capable of harnessing the energy radiated by its own star—for example, by means of the successful completion of a [[Dyson sphere]] or [[Matrioshka brain]]—with energy consumption at ≈4{{e|33}}&nbsp;erg/sec.<ref name="Kard_TransInfoCiv" /> Lemarchand defined civilizations of this type as being capable of using and channeling the entire radiation output of its star. The energy use would then be comparable to the luminosity of the [[Sun]], about 4{{e|33}}&nbsp;erg/sec (4{{e|26}}&nbsp;[[watt]]s).<ref name="Lemarchand" /> === Type III === A civilization in possession of energy at the scale of its own [[galaxy]], with energy consumption at ≈4{{e|44}}&nbsp;erg/sec.<ref name="Kard_TransInfoCiv" /> Lemarchand defined civilizations of this type as having access to power comparable to the luminosity of the entire [[Milky Way]] galaxy, about 4{{e|44}}&nbsp;erg/sec (4{{e|37}}&nbsp;watts).<ref name="Lemarchand" /> Kardashev believed that a Type&nbsp;4 civilization was impossible{{Citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=Where exactly did he state this?}}, so he did not go past Type&nbsp;3. However, new types (0, IV, V, VI) have been proposed. ==Current status of human civilization== {{See|World energy supply and consumption}} [[File:Annual world primary energy consumption.svg|right|thumbnail|250px|Total World, Annual Primary Energy Consumption.]] [[File:Carl Sagan Planetary Society.JPG|250px|right|thumb|According to the astronomer [[Carl Sagan]], humanity is currently going through a phase of technical adolescence, "typical of a civilization about to integrate the type I Kardashev scale."]] At the current time, humanity has not yet reached Type&nbsp;I civilization status. Physicist and futurist [[Michio Kaku]] suggested that, if humans increase their energy consumption at an average rate of 3 percent each year, they may attain Type&nbsp;I status in 100–200&nbsp;years, Type&nbsp;II status in a few thousand years, and Type&nbsp;III status in 100,000 to a million years.<ref name="Interstellar Travel">{{cite web | last = Kaku | first = Michio | author-link = Michio Kaku | title = The Physics of Interstellar Travel: To one day, reach the stars. | date = 2010 | url = http://mkaku.org/home/?page_id=250 | access-date = 2010-08-29 | archive-date = 2014-02-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140210085314/http://mkaku.org/home/?page_id=250 | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Carl Sagan]] suggested defining intermediate values (not considered in Kardashev's original scale) by [[interpolation|interpolating]] and [[extrapolation|extrapolating]] the values given above for types I ({{10^|16}}&nbsp;W), II ({{10^|26}}&nbsp;W) and III ({{10^|36}}&nbsp;W), which would produce the formula :<math>K = \frac{\log_{10}P - 6} {10}</math>, where value ''K'' is a civilization's Kardashev rating and ''P'' is the power it uses, in watts. Using this extrapolation, a "'''Type&nbsp;0'''" civilization, not defined by Kardashev, would control about 1&nbsp;MW of power, and humanity's civilization type as of 1973 was about 0.7 (apparently using 10 [[Watt#Terawatt|terawatt]] (TW) as the value for 1970s humanity).<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last=Sagan |first=Carl |authorlink=Carl Sagan |editor= Jerome Agel|others= [[Freeman J. Dyson]], David Morrison|title= Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective |origyear= 1973|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lL57o9YB0mAC&pg=PA156|accessdate= 2008-01-01|edition= |series= |date= October 2000|publisher= Cambridge Press |location= |language= |isbn= 978-0-521-78303-3|oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |quote=I would suggest Type 1.0 as a civilization using 10¹⁶ watts for interstellar communication; Type 1.1, 10¹⁷ watts; Type 1.2, 10¹⁸ watts, and so on. Our present civilization would be classed as something like Type 0.7.}}</ref> In 2019, the total [[world energy supply and consumption|world energy consumption]] was 581.51 [[Joule#Exajoule|exajoules]] (161,530&nbsp;[[Kilowatt-hour#Watt-hour multiples|TWh]]),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021|title=Statistical Review of World Energy 2021 {{!}} 70th Edition|url=https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2021-full-report.pdf|website=bp.com}}</ref> equivalent to an average power consumption of 18.44 TW or 0.73 on Sagan's interpolated Kardashev scale. ==Observational evidence== In 2015, a study of galactic mid-[[infrared]] emissions came to the conclusion that "Kardashev Type-III civilizations are either very rare or do not exist in the [[Observable universe|local Universe]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|arxiv =1508.02624 |last1 = Garrett|first1 = Michael|title = The application of the Mid-IR radio correlation to the Ĝ sample and the search for advanced extraterrestrial civilizations|journal = Astronomy & Astrophysics|volume = 581|pages = L5|year = 2015|doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/201526687|bibcode = 2015A&A...581L...5G |s2cid = 67817641}}</ref> In 2016, Paul Gilster, author of the Centauri Dreams website, described a signal apparently from the star [[HD 164595]] as requiring the power of a Type&nbsp;I or Type&nbsp;II civilization, if produced by extraterrestrial lifeforms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=36248|title=An Interesting SETI Candidate in Hercules|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-29|first=Paul|last=Gilster|date=August 27, 2016|work=Centauri Dreams|archive-date=2018-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110150834/https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=36248|url-status=live}}</ref> However, in August 2016 it was discovered that the signal's origin was most likely a military satellite orbiting the Earth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tass.com/science/896683|title=Alien signal detected by Russian astrophysicists turns out to be terrestrial disturbance|date=2016-08-30|website=tass.com|publisher=TASS|location=St. Petersburg, Russia|access-date=2016-09-02|archive-date=2016-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903050039/http://tass.com/science/896683|url-status=live}}</ref> ==Energy development== {{See also|Energy development}} ===Type&nbsp;I civilization methods=== * Large-scale application of [[fusion power]]. According to [[mass–energy equivalence]], Type&nbsp;I implies the conversion of about 2&nbsp;kg of matter to energy per second. An equivalent energy release could theoretically be achieved by fusing approximately 280&nbsp;kg of [[hydrogen]] [[Proton–proton chain reaction|into]] [[helium]] per second,<ref>{{cite book | last = Souers | first = P. C. | title = Hydrogen properties for fusion energy | publisher = University of California Press | date = 1986 | page = 4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I2K6DKA1IMwC | isbn = 978-0-520-05500-1 | access-date = 2020-06-06 | archive-date = 2020-07-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200708232727/https://books.google.com/books?id=I2K6DKA1IMwC | url-status = live }}</ref> a rate roughly equivalent to 8.9{{e|9}}&nbsp;kg/year. A cubic&nbsp;km of water contains about {{10^|11}}&nbsp;kg of hydrogen, and the Earth's [[ocean]]s contain about [[ocean#Physical properties|1.3{{e|9}}&nbsp;cubic km of water]], meaning that humans on Earth could sustain this rate of consumption over geological time-scales, in terms of available hydrogen. * [[Antimatter]] in large quantities would provide a mechanism to produce power on a scale several magnitudes above the current level of technology.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In antimatter-matter collisions, the entire [[rest mass]] of the particles is converted to [[radiant energy]]. Their [[energy density]] (energy released per mass) is about four orders of magnitude greater than that from using [[nuclear fission]], and about two orders of magnitude greater than the best possible yield from [[nuclear fusion|fusion]].<ref>{{cite conference | first = Steve K. | last = Borowski | author-link = Lewis Research Center | title = Comparison of Fusion/Anti-matter Propulsion Systems for Interplanetary Travel | book-title = Technical Memorandum 107030 | pages = 1–3 | publisher = [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] | date = 1987-07-29 | location = San Diego, California, USA | url = http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/1996/TM-107030.pdf | access-date = 2008-01-28 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080528030524/http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/1996/TM-107030.pdf | archive-date = 2008-05-28 }}</ref> The reaction of 1&nbsp;[[kilogram|kg]] of anti-matter with 1&nbsp;kg of matter would produce 1.8{{e|17}}&nbsp;[[joule|J]] (180 [[petajoules]]) of energy.<ref>By the [[mass–energy equivalence]] formula ''E''&nbsp;=&nbsp;''mc''². See [[Antimatter fuel|antimatter as a fuel source]] for the energy comparisons.</ref> Although antimatter is sometimes proposed as a source of energy{{By whom|date=April 2022}}, this does not appear feasible. Artificially producing antimatter—according to current understanding of the laws of physics—involves first converting energy into mass, which yields no net energy. Artificially created antimatter is only usable as a medium of energy storage, not as an energy source, unless future technological developments (contrary to the conservation of the [[baryon number]], such as a [[CP violation]] in favor of antimatter) allow the conversion of ordinary matter into anti-matter. Theoretically, humans may in the future have the capability to cultivate and harvest a number of naturally occurring sources of antimatter.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110810-antimatter-belt-earth-trapped-pamela-space-science/ |title=Antimatter Found Orbiting Earth—A First |first=Ker |last=Than |work=[[National Geographic News]] |date=August 10, 2011 |access-date=August 25, 2011 |archive-date=October 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010014111/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110810-antimatter-belt-earth-trapped-pamela-space-science |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author1= Adriani | author2=Barbarino | author3=Bazilevskaya | author4=Bellotti | author5=Boezio | author6=Bogomolov | author7=Bongi | author8=Bonvicini | author9=Borisov | title=The discovery of geomagnetically trapped cosmic ray antiprotons | doi=10.1088/2041-8205/736/1/L1 | date=2011 | journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] | volume=736 | pages=L1 | issue= 29 | arxiv=1107.4882 |bibcode = 2011ApJ...736L...1H }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12158718|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Antimatter caught streaming from thunderstorms on Earth|first=Jason|last=Palmer|date=2011-01-11|access-date=2015-12-29|archive-date=2011-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112080623/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12158718|url-status=live}}</ref> * [[Renewable energy]] through converting sunlight into electricity—either by using [[solar cell]]s and [[concentrating solar power]] or indirectly through [[biofuel]], [[wind power|wind]] and [[hydroelectric power]]. There is no known way for [[civilization|human civilization]] to use the equivalent of the Earth's total absorbed solar energy without completely coating the surface with human-made structures, which is not feasible with current technology. However, if a civilization constructed very large [[space-based solar power]] [[satellite]]s, Type&nbsp;I power levels might become achievable—these could convert sunlight to microwave power and beam that to collectors on Earth. [[Image:Dyson Swarm - 2.png|250px|right|thumb|Figure of a [[Dyson Swarm|Dyson swarm]] surrounding a star|alt=]] [[File:Michio Kaku at Miami University in 2020 (cropped).jpg|250px|right|thumb|[[Michio Kaku]] at Miami University event, 2020.]] ===Type&nbsp;II civilization methods=== * Type&nbsp;II civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type&nbsp;I civilization, but applied to a large number of planets in a large number of planetary systems. * A [[Dyson sphere]] or [[Dyson swarm]] and similar constructs are hypothetical [[megastructure]]s originally described by [[Freeman Dyson]] as a system of orbiting [[solar power satellite]]s meant to enclose a [[star]] completely and capture most or all of its energy output.<ref>{{Cite news | last=Dyson | first=Freeman J. | author-link=Freeman Dyson | editor-last = Marshak | editor-first = R. E. | title=The Search for Extraterrestrial Technology | newspaper=Perspectives in Modern Physics | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | place = New York | date=1966 | bibcode=1966pmp..book..641D }}</ref> * Another means to generate usable energy would be to feed a stellar mass into a [[black hole]], and collect photons emitted by the [[accretion disc]].<ref>{{cite web | last = Newman | first = Phil | title = New Energy Source "Wrings" Power from Black Hole Spin | publisher = [[NASA]] | date = 2001-10-22 | url = http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011015blackhole.html | access-date = 2008-02-19 | url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080209231442/http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011015blackhole.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Schutz | first = Bernard F. | title = A First Course in General Relativity | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 1985 | location = New York | pages = 304, 305 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qhDFuWbLlgQC | isbn = 978-0-521-27703-7 | access-date = 2019-07-29 | archive-date = 2020-07-10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200710105132/https://books.google.com/books?id=qhDFuWbLlgQC | url-status = live }}</ref> Less exotic would be simply to capture photons already escaping from the accretion disc, reducing a black hole's [[angular momentum]]; this is known as the [[Penrose process]]. This, however, may only be possible for a Type III civilization to achieve. * [[Star lifting]] is a process where an advanced civilization could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter in a controlled manner for other uses. * [[Antimatter]] is likely to be produced as an industrial [[byproduct]] of a number of [[megascale engineering]] processes (such as the aforementioned star lifting) and, therefore, could be recycled. {{citation needed|date=July 2014}} * In [[star system|multiple-star systems]] of a sufficiently large number of stars, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each individual star. * [[Stellar engine]]s can be used to move stars. === Type&nbsp;III civilization methods === * Type&nbsp;III civilizations might use the same techniques employed by a Type&nbsp;II civilization, but applied to all possible stars of one or more galaxies individually.<ref name= "kardashev1984">[[Nikolai Kardashev|Kardashev, Nikolai]]. "[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1985IAUS..112..497K On the Inevitability and the Possible Structures of Supercivilizations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028092116/http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1985IAUS..112..497K |date=2017-10-28 }}", The search for extraterrestrial life: Recent developments; Proceedings of the Symposium, Boston, MA, June 18–21, 1984 (A86-38126 17-88). Dordrecht, D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1985, p. 497–504. Bibcode 1985IAUS..112..497K .</ref> * They may also be able to tap into the energy released from the [[supermassive black hole]]s believed to exist at the center of most galaxies.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} * [[White holes]] could theoretically provide large amounts of energy from collecting the matter propelling outwards. * Capturing the energy of [[gamma-ray burst]]s is another theoretically possible power source for a highly advanced civilization. * The emissions from [[quasars]] are comparable to small active galaxies and could provide a massive power source if collectible. ==Civilization implications== There are many historical examples of human civilization undergoing large-scale transitions, such as the [[Industrial Revolution]]. The transition between Kardashev scale levels could potentially represent similarly dramatic periods of social upheaval since they entail surpassing the hard limits of the resources available in a civilization's existing territory. A common speculation<ref>{{cite journal | last = Dyson | first = Freeman | author-link = Freeman Dyson | title = Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation | journal = Science | volume = 131 | issue = 3414 | pages = 1667–1668 | date = 1960-06-03 | url = http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM | doi = 10.1126/science.131.3414.1667 | access-date = 2008-01-30 | pmid = 17780673 | bibcode = 1960Sci...131.1667D | s2cid = 3195432 | archive-date = 2019-07-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190714215002/http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SETI1.HTM | url-status = live }}</ref> suggests that the transition from Type&nbsp;0 to Type&nbsp;I might carry a strong risk of self-destruction since, in some scenarios, there would no longer be room for further expansion on the civilization's home planet, as in a [[Malthusian catastrophe]]. Excessive use of energy without adequate heat disposal, for example, could plausibly make the planet of a civilization approaching Type&nbsp;I unsuitable to the biology of the [[human|dominant life-forms]] and their food sources. If Earth is an example, then sea temperatures in excess of {{convert|35|C|F}} would jeopardize marine life and make the cooling of mammals to temperatures suitable for their [[metabolism]] difficult if not impossible. Of course, these [[theoretical]] speculations may not become problems, possibly through the applications of future [[engineering]] and [[technology]]. Also, by the time a civilization reaches Type&nbsp;I it may have colonized other planets or created [[O'Neill cylinder|O'Neill-type colonies]], so that waste heat could be distributed throughout the planetary system. The limitation of biological life-forms and the evolution of computing technology may lead to the transformation of the civilization through [[mind uploading]] and [[artificial general intelligence]] in general during the transition from Type&nbsp;I to Type&nbsp;II, leading to a [[Matrioshka brain|digitalized civilization]]. ==Extensions to the original scale== Many extensions and modifications to the Kardashev scale have been proposed. * '''Types 0, IV, and V Kardashev rating:''' The most straightforward extension of the scale would include Type&nbsp;0 civilizations, who do not rank on the Kardashev scale, to even more hypothetical Type&nbsp;IV beings who can control or use the entire universe or Type&nbsp;V who control collections of universes. The power output of the visible [[universe]] is within a few orders of magnitude of 10⁴⁵&nbsp;W. Such a civilization approaches or surpasses the limits of speculation based on current scientific understanding and may not be possible. ** Zoltán Galántai has argued that such a civilization could not be detected, as its activities would be indistinguishable from the workings of nature (there being nothing to compare them to).<ref name = "Zoltan">{{cite web| url=http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/longfuture/long_futures_article1.pdf| title=Long Futures and Type&nbsp;IV Civilizations| first=Zoltán| last=Galántai| access-date=2014-11-03| date=September 7, 2003| archive-date=2013-10-05| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005005934/http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/longfuture/long_futures_article1.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref> ** In his books ''[[Hyperspace (book)|Hyperspace]]'' and ''Parallel Worlds'', [[Michio Kaku]] has discussed a '''Type&nbsp;IV civilization''' that could harness "extragalactic" energy sources such as [[dark energy]].<ref name="ParallelWorlds">{{cite book | last = Kaku | first = Michio | author-link = Michio Kaku | title = Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos | publisher = Doubleday | date = 2005 | location = New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/parallelworldsjo00kaku_753/page/n335 317] | isbn = 978-0-7139-9728-6| title-link = Parallel Worlds (book) }}</ref> ===Kardashev alternative rating characteristics=== Other proposed changes to the scale use different metrics such as 'mastery' of systems, amount of information used, or progress in control of the very small as opposed to the very large: * '''Planet mastery (Robert Zubrin):''' Metrics other than pure power usage have also been proposed. One is 'mastery' of a planet, system or galaxy rather than considering energy alone.<ref name="Entering Space">{{Cite book |last=Zubrin |first=Robert |date=1999 |title=Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization |url=https://archive.org/details/enteringspacecre00zubr |url-access=registration |isbn=978-1585420360}}</ref> * '''Information mastery (Carl Sagan):''' Alternatively, [[Carl Sagan]] suggested adding another dimension in addition to pure energy usage: the information available to the civilization. ** He assigned the letter A to represent 10⁶ unique bits of information (less than any recorded human culture) and each successive letter to represent an order of magnitude increase so that a level Z civilization would have 10³¹ bits. ** In this classification, 1973 Earth is a 0.7&nbsp;H civilization, with access to 10¹³ bits of information, in 2018, Earth was a 0.73&nbsp;J civilization. ** Sagan believed that no civilization has yet reached level Z, conjecturing that so much unique information would exceed that of all the intelligent species in a [[galactic supercluster]] and observing that the universe is not old enough to exchange information effectively over larger distances. ** The information and energy axes are not strictly interdependent so that even a level Z civilization would not need to be Kardashev Type&nbsp;III.<ref name="books.google.com"/> * '''Microdimensional mastery (John Barrow):''' [[John D. Barrow]] observed that humans have found it more cost-effective to extend their abilities to manipulate their environment over increasingly small scales rather than increasingly large ones. He, therefore, proposes a reverse classification downward from Type&nbsp;I-minus to Type Omega-minus: ** '''[[Mechanical engineering|Type I-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating objects over the scale of themselves: building structures, mining, joining and breaking solids; ** '''[[Medical engineering|Type II-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating genes and altering the development of living things, transplanting or replacing parts of themselves, reading and engineering their genetic code; ** '''[[Chemical engineering|Type III-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating molecules and molecular bonds, creating new materials; ** '''[[Nanotechnology|Type IV-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating individual atoms, creating nanotechnologies on the atomic scale, and creating complex forms of artificial life; ** '''[[Nuclear physics|Type V-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating the atomic nucleus and engineering the nucleons that compose it; ** '''[[Particle physics|Type VI-minus]]''' is capable of manipulating the most elementary particles of matter (quarks and leptons) to create organized complexity among populations of elementary particles; culminating in: ** '''Type Omega-minus''' is capable of manipulating the basic structure of space and time.<ref name=" Impossibility: Limits of Science and the Science of Limits">{{cite book | last = Barrow | first = John | author-link = John D. Barrow | title = Impossibility: Limits of Science and the Science of Limits | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 1998 | location = Oxford | page = [https://archive.org/details/impossibility00barr/page/n140 133] | url =https://archive.org/details/impossibility00barr | url-access = limited | isbn = 978-0198518907}}</ref> <br/> :: The human civilization is somewhere between type III-minus and types IV-minus according to this classification. * '''Civilizational range (Robert Zubrin):''' [[Robert Zubrin]] adapts the Kardashev scale to refer to how widespread a civilization is in space, rather than to its energy use. ** In his definition, a Type&nbsp;I civilization has spread across its planet. ** A Type&nbsp;II has extensive colonies in its respective stellar system. ** A Type&nbsp;III has colonized its galaxy.<ref name="Entering Space"/> ==See also== {{Portal|Technology|Energy|Engineering|Astronomy|Science Fiction}} {{div col|colwidth=38em}} * [[Astronomical engineering]] * [[Clarke's three laws]] * [[Drake equation]] * [[Dyson sphere]] * [[Gerhard Lenski]] * [[Great Filter]] * [[HD 164595]] * [[Orders of magnitude (energy)]] * [[Orders of magnitude (power)]] * [[Tabby's Star|Tabby's Star (KIC 8462852)]] * [[Terraforming]] * [[White's law]] * [[World energy supply and consumption]] {{div col end}} ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== {{Refbegin|30em}} * Dyson, Freeman J. ''Energy in the Universe'' Article in September 1971 ''[[Scientific American]]'' magazine (Special September Issue on ''Energy'') * [http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/femp/cannonfiles/sld006.htm Wind Powering America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050421230237/http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/ert/femp/cannonfiles/sld006.htm |date=2005-04-21 }} * [https://archive.today/20121206012725/http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-64514-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html Clean Energy for Planetary Survival: International Development Research Centre] * [http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/global-warming.html LBL Scientists Research Global Warming] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128152810/https://www2.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/global-warming.html |date=2021-01-28 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060427053958/http://www.oit.doe.gov/e3handbook/appenf.shtml E³ Handbook] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061013100905/http://web.gat.com/hydrogen/images/pdf%20files/clarke_h2_energy_systems.pdf Clarke H2 energy systems] * {{Cite web| url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/bulletin/fall2003/holdren.pdf| title=Environmental Change and the Human Condition| first=John P.| last=Holdren| access-date=2006-08-10| pages=24–31| work=Bulletin Fall| date=2003| author2=Carl Kaysen| archive-date=2006-07-14| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714063924/http://www.amacad.org/publications/bulletin/fall2003/holdren.pdf| url-status=dead}} * {{Cite book| chapter=Exponential Expansion: Galactic Destiny or Technological Hubris?| title=The Search for Extraterrestrial Life: Recent Developments| editor=B. R. Finney, M. D. Papagiannis| last=Dordrecht| first=D.| publisher=Reidel Publ. Co.| date=1985| pages=465–463}} * [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/Shkadov.html Shkadov Thruster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126044726/https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/Shkadov.html |date=2021-01-26 }} * {{Cite book |last1=Korotayev |first1=A. |last2=Malkov |first2=A. |last3=Khaltourina |first3=D. |title=Introduction to Social Macrodynamics: Compact Macromodels of the World System Growth |url=http://urss.ru/cgi-bin/db.pl?cp=&lang=en&blang=en&list=14&page=Book&id=34250 |location=Moscow |publisher=URSS |date=2006 |isbn=978-5-484-00414-0 |access-date=2006-06-22 |archive-date=2018-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070139/http://urss.ru/cgi-bin/db.pl?cp=&page=Book&id=34250&lang=en&blang=en&list=14 |url-status=live }} * {{Cite journal| last=Kardashev| first=Nikolai| title=Cosmology and Civilizations | journal = Astrophysics and Space Science | volume = 252 | pages=25–40|date=March 1997|doi=10.1023/A:1000837427320|bibcode = 1997Ap&SS.252...25K | s2cid=117792321}} * ''Supercivilizations as Possible Products of the Progressive Evolution of Matter'': also by Kardashev * ''Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation'', by [[Freeman J. Dyson]] * ''The Radio Search For Intelligent Extraterrestral Life'', by [[Frank Drake]] * {{Cite book| first=Robert A.| last=Freitas Jr.| title=Energy and Culture (chapter 15)}} * {{Cite book| first=John| last=Griffin| title=Operation TOGA: Type One Go Ahead |isbn=978-1-4502-0702-7| date=February 2010}} {{Refend}} ==External links== {{Library resources box}} * [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/K/Kardashevciv.html Kardashev civilizations] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514085824/http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/index.php?page=concepts04 Astrobiology: The Living Universe] * [http://www.coseti.org/lemarch1.htm Detectability of Extraterrestrial Technological Activities] * [http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=concepts04#1 Flash Animation on Civilizations] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070108010029/http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i2/farewell.htm After Kardashev: Farewell to Super Civilizations] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090220193345/http://astranaut.org/library/exotic-civilizations-beyond-ka.php Exotic Civilizations: Beyond Kardashev] * [http://bigthink.com/videos/the-birth-pangs-of-a-planetary-civilization Description of civilization types from Dr. Michio Kaku] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150525204234/http://www.theskepticsguide.org/alien-super-civilizations-playing-great-game-of-hide-seek Search for Type III civilizations] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhFK5_Nx9xY What Do Alien Civilizations Look Like? The Kardashev Scale], a short [[YouTube]] video by [[Kurzgesagt]], explaining and visualizing the topic * [https://lancerkind.com/podcast/157-kardashev-scale-the-big-picture-on-space-civilizations/ Kardashev Scale, the big picture on space civilizations], an audio podcast by SciFi Thoughts {{Extraterrestrial life}} {{UFOs}} {{technology}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kardashev Scale}} [[Category:1964 in Russia]] [[Category:1964 introductions]] [[Category:1964 in science]] [[Category:Energy development]] [[Category:Extraterrestrial life]] [[Category:Fictional technology]] [[Category:Futures studies]] [[Category:Ontology]] [[Category:Scales]] [[Category:Search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] [[Category:Sustainability metrics and indices]] [[Category:Technology timelines]] [[Category:Transhumanism]]'