We have been able to emulate increasingly complex networks of nerves and replicate the behavior of relatively simple organisms. We have every reason to believe that we are close to being able to emulate a human intelligence. Arguably they are tied, as what we call energy is really energy arranged in a highly usable way, which is a question of entropy, which is information. Human ability to process information has been growing at as exponential and as steady a rate as our ability to process energy. But for serious engineering?įinally, information. Sure, it is elegant and beautiful and it is amazing what primitive people can pull off with such limited tools. You would no more build a tank out of carved mammoth bones than they would generate a space ship out of metal alloys. Together with the above energy budget, chemistry based matter as we know it is going to be as modern a material as bone is to us. Gravity manipulation and FTL mean they have access to ways of manipulating the universe that are as alien to us as self flying jet planes are to a hunter gatherer society.īy occam's razor they are related: this civilization can manipulate the fabric of space time to cause it to bend in strange ways.

This civilization has swallowed every star in a galaxy in dyson-sphere like structures or found more efficient ways to use the energy of a star and are using it. If we assume a 5% growth rate, they are a K-type 2.8 civilization (ie, within rounding error of 3). This has either swallowed an entire star in energy-consuming structures, or have lower density (say ringworld size) structures over a good chunk of the local galaxy. If we assume a 3% growth rate, they are a K-type 1.9 civilization (ie, within rounding error of 2). We are currently a K-type 0.7 civilization they would be a K-type 1.15 civilization.Ī K-type 1.15 civilization has no sigificant portion of its economy on planets unless it is a gas giant their energy budget is 30x larger than what an Earth-sized planet can radiate without boiling its oceans.

If we assume a 1% per year growth rate, 1000 years from now we have a 20000x higher energy budget (E4.5). Between the two, physics is completely different. The 'nose' of such a ship might even be purely armour / disposable, to negate the impacts with mines that it doesn't miss. In this case, either technology - mine detectors/eliminators - will render the shape of the spacecraft moot, or, if we assume that these mines are difficult to detect/remove, then a cigar-shaped ship, propelled lengthways, would present a very limited cross section and so miss most mines (at least relative to other shapes). Space combat might also be based on passive engagement - laying of 'mines' of some kind along desired (e.g. If space combat is based on missiles, and these are fired at extreme distances, the most effective shape will probably be the one that can hold the most missiles, so we're back to a sphere again (missiles could be fired from any 'side' of a sphere, and be guided to the target). Of course, this assumes direct line-of-sight style weapons. This suggests that a sphere might be the best shape, with weapons mounted across its surface, but that would both be inefficient (most weapons could not come to bear upon a single target), and present a large target.Ī cigar-shaped object would allow weapons to target in all directions, particularly if turret-mounted, while vasty increasing the number that could bear on a single target and presenting a minimal cross section. Space is a 3D environment, and attacks can come from any direction.

Starmade capital ship