Interesting Bit of the Day – Dyson Trees and Stuff the Orbits Other Stuff

Posted by blainegarrett on Jul 21st, 2009 | 2 comments home title

Wheat in space - Nasa.gov

Today’s interesting bit of the day is an old favorite of mine – Dyson Trees. Dyson Trees were proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson as a means of creating atmospheric conditions on comets. The comet would provide the minerals and water for the tree to grow and the tree in turn would produce atmospheric gasses. This was all theoretical, but presumably is highly doable using available technologies.

The interesting bit about them is that they are proposed to grow as a sort of “shell” around the comets. Theoretically, the diameter of the comet is significantly smaller than that of the Earth. Since the earth is so large, trees here seem to grow perpendicular to the surface. In actuality, they radiate from the center like spokes on a bike. With the relatively small size of the comet, the trees could easily cover the surface of the comet to form a visual shell of foliage. Think of it like a chia-pet comet…. pet rock.

This inspires two thoughts:

Aside from the seeds themselves, the conditions exist for life in space on comets similar to that of primitive earth. Some theories suggest that elemental chemicals that helped create life on our planet originated from comments that crashed here. Given the proper comet and the introduction of organic material in the form of the tree and the oxygen it produces, higher forms of life could theoretically evolve in a sort of celestial petri dish flying through space. Can you imagine “catching” a comet, planting some seeds, letting it continue its orbit towards the sun, then catching it on the way back and harvesting a few years worth of growth? Heck, Haley’s comet could give us a forest of 75 year old lumber pending Einsteins’ theory of relativity.

The other interesting thought is making use of the gravitational forces in play with comets. Comets have their own gravity, which would allow for satellites and also are greatly affected by other bodies gravity which allows for transport. Short of building our own DeathStar, having a structure in space large enough to have even minimal gravity and mobility to support satellites would be a massive undertaking. Making use of comets could be a great way of energy harvesting. Dyson already proposed this as well in the form of Dyson Spheres basically networks of satellites encompassing a celestial body for various purposes, including atmosphere trapping and solar energy harvesting. In the same aforementioned harvesting method above, comets could be fitted with solar panels, shot towards the sun, and the electricty could be harvested on the return trip. Pretty awesome in my opinion.

I propose that things of this nature are not far off. It seems like space exploration and colonization is something moving at a very slow pace compared to consumer technology. However, it has only been 40 years since anyone even stepped foot on another world and we have since made leaps in energy generation, space flight, etc. I would love for one day to carve my initials in a Dyson Tree and I think it is probable. If the US is to again lead in space exploration and development, we need to get more kids interested in these things, which is part of the reason I do these posts. I hope it works

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jun				Aug »
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Interesting Bit of the Day – Dyson Trees and Stuff the Orbits Other Stuff

From the Blog

About Me

Elsewhere