Kardashev scale projections ranging from 1900 to 2100.

The Kardashev scale is a general method of classifying how technologically advanced a civilization is, first proposed in 1964 by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev. It had three categories, based on the amount of usable energy a civilization has at its disposal and increasing logarithmically: Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1115x647, 28 KB)An image of Kardashev scale projections ranging from 1900 to 2100. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1115x647, 28 KB)An image of Kardashev scale projections ranging from 1900 to 2100. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Central New York City. ... Soviet redirects here. ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a person whose area of interest is astronomy or astrophysics. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A logarithmic scale is a scale of measurement that uses the logarithm of a physical quantity instead of the quantity itself. ...

• Type I — A civilization that is able to harness all of the power available on a single planet, approximately 10¹⁶ W. The actual figure is quite variable; Earth specifically has an available power of 1.74×10¹⁷ W (174 petawatts). Kardashev's original definition was 4×10¹² W. (Kardashev had originally defined Type I as a "technological level close to the level presently attained on earth", "presently" meaning 1964.)
• Type II — A civilization that is able to harness all of the power available from a single star, approximately 10²⁶ W. Again, this figure is variable; the Sun outputs approximately 3.86×10²⁶ W. Kardashev's original definition was 4×10²⁶ W.
• Type III — A civilization that is able to harness all of the power available from a single galaxy, approximately 10³⁶ W. This figure is extremely variable, since galaxies vary widely in size. Kardashev's original definition was 4×10³⁷ W.

All such civilizations are purely hypothetical at this point. However, the Kardashev scale is of use to SETI researchers, science fiction authors, and futurists as a theoretical framework. In physics, power (symbol: P) is the rate at which work is performed or energy is transferred. ... The eight planets and three dwarf planets of the Solar System. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... In physics and mathematics, peta- (symbol: P) is a prefix in the SI (system of units) denoting 1015, or 1 000 000 000 000 000. ... The watt (symbol: W) is the SI derived unit of power, equal to one joule per second. ... STAR is an acronym for: Organizations Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers], the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry in the UK. Society for Telescopy, Astronomy, and Radio, a non-profit New Jersey astronomy club. ... The Sun (Latin: ) is the star at the center of the Solar System. ... NGC 4414, a typical spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices, is about 17,000 parsecs in diameter and approximately 20 million parsecs distant. ... This article is about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Futurology or futures studies (called futurism in the United States) is the study of the medium to long-term future, by extrapolating present technological, economic or social trends, or by attempting to predict future trends. ...

To put the amount of energy conjectured by this scale into perspective, consider that the ten-second-long burst of neutrinos that follows a supernova releases roughly 10⁴⁶ joules (100 foes).^[1] This is roughly equivalent to 1,000 times the amount of energy that Kardashev speculated would be harnessed in a year by a Type III civilization. Neutrinos are elementary particles denoted by the symbol ν. Travelling close to the speed of light, lacking electric charge and able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed, they are extremely difficult to detect. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ... Foe is a unit of energy equal to 1044 joules. ...

Usage and examples

Human civilization is currently somewhere below Type I, as it is able to harness only a portion of the energy that is available on Earth. The current state of human civilization has thus been named Type 0. Although intermediate values were not discussed in Kardashev's original proposal, Carl Sagan argued that they could easily be defined by interpolating and extrapolating the values given above. He calculated humanity's current civilization to be 0.7 (at his time). He used a power output of ~10TW and the formula: This article is about modern humans. ... Insert non-formatted text here Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer and astrobiologist and a highly successful popularizer of astronomy, astrophysics, and other natural sciences. ... In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points from a discrete set of known data points. ... In mathematics, extrapolation is the process of constructing new data points outside a discrete set of known data points. ...

where K is a civilization's Kardashev rating and W is its power output in watts. Note that Roman numerals must still be used for the integer part of a civilization's rating, while the fractional part is written in decimal.

A possible method by which Earth can advance to a Type I civilization is to begin the heavy use of ocean thermal energy conversion, wind turbines and tidal power to obtain the energy received by Earth's oceans from the Sun. However, there is no known way to successfully utilize the full potential of Earth's energy production without complete coating of the surface with man made structures. In the near and medium future, this is an impossibility given the current lifestyle of humanity. Currently, we are already "harnessing" Earth's production through our dependence upon ecosystem services, which may prove more efficient and sustainable than our own technology well into the future. If we choose never to fully substitute synthetics for nature's services on this planet, we may still achieve a Type I civilization by assuring that Earth's ecosystem services are maximally functional. A simpler and far less intrusive method would be to place solar collectors with sufficient surface area into orbit. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Horizontal-axis wind turbine, the Enercon model E-66 wind energy converter, in Germany. ... Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that exploits the rise and fall in sea levels due to the tides, or the movement of water caused by the tidal flow. ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Look up Future in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. ... Natures services is an umbrella term for the ways in which nature benefits humans, particularly those benefits that can be measured in economic terms. ...

A hypothetical Type II civilization might employ a Dyson sphere or other similar construct in order to utilize all of the energy output by a star, or perhaps more exotic means such as feeding stellar mass into a black hole to generate usable energy. Alternatively, it may occupy a large number of solar systems, absorbing a small but significant fraction of the output of each individual star. A Type III civilization might use the same techniques employed by a Type II civilization, applied to all of the stars of one or more galaxies individually, or perhaps might use other mechanisms not yet proposed. A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell—a variant on Dysons original concept—1 AU in radius. ... Simulated view of a black hole in front of the Milky Way. ...

Possible timeline

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Humanity's current history indicates a timeline roughly shown here. These values are approximate, and include future predictions, from 0.8 onwards. They use Sagan's extrapolated version of the scale. Image File history File links Circle-question. ...

	Type 0 Development of Civilization
	0.25 (108 W) Roman Civilization	0.5 (1011 W) Industrial Revolution	0.6 (1012 W) 1891 to 1938 Modernity	0.7 (1013 W) 1989 Information age, Fission power Central New York City. ... The Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. ... The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ... Modernity is a term used to describe the condition of being modern. Since the term modern is used to describe a wide range of periods, modernity must be understood in its context. ... A university computer lab containing many desktop PCs The transition of communication technology: Oral Culture, Manuscript Culture, Print Culture, and Information Age Information Age is a name given to a period after the industrial age and before the Knowledge Economy. ... An induced nuclear fission event. ...	0.8 (1014 W) World Government Fusion power	0.9 (1015 W) Space elevators, the creation of an Ecumenopolis[2]	Type 0 to Type I transition
Trends:
	Increasing levels of technology, Up to 0.5, increasing levels of fragmentation, increasing energy usage, increasing area of habitation[citation needed]
	After 0.5, Decreasing levels of fragmentation[citation needed]

It has been suggested that World Federation be merged into this article or section. ... The deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ... A space elevator would consist of a cable anchored to the Earths surface, reaching into space. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Function as a teleology

When transformed from a scale of energy use measurement into a predictive, or normative, description of desirable future technology the Kardashev scale becomes teleological: it predicts an "end of history". As a description of past and future human history it should be compared with the Marxist theory of modes of production which makes similar assertions about combinations of technological and social structures, albeit across a shorter time span.^{[citation needed]} Teleology (telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. ... The End of History and the Last Man is a 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama, expanding on his 1989 essay The End of History?, in which he argues the controversial thesis that the end of the Cold War signals the end of the progression of human history: What we may... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (in German: Produktionsweise, meaning the way of producing) is a specific combination of: productive forces: these include human labor-power, tools, equipment, buildings and technologies, materials, and improved land social and technical relations...

Civilization implications

There are many historical examples of civilizations 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^{[citation needed]} suggests that the transition from Type 0 to Type I might carry a strong risk of self-destruction since there would no longer be room for further expansion on the civilization's home planet, similar to a Malthusian catastrophe. A Malthusian catastrophe, sometimes known as a Malthusian check, Malthusian crisis, Malthusian dilemma, Malthusian disaster, Malthusian trap, or Malthusian limit is a return to subsistence-level conditions as a result of agricultural (or, in later formulations, economic) production being eventually outstripped by growth in population. ...

Contact constraints

For pre-Type I civilizations, it may be too costly to attempt contact with other more advanced civilizations because of the energy output needed. It has been predicted that in order to provide a reliable contact beacon of sufficient power to be noticeable to a Type II civilization, a beacon must output such high energy levels that the cost would be around $1 billion per year in energy.^[3] As a result it has been suggested that civilization must advance into Type I before the energy required for reliable contact with other civilizations would not drain a civilization's economic resources. However, this argument from 1980 assumes omni-directional beacons, which may not be the best way to proceed. Advances in consumer electronics have made possible transmitters that can illuminate the stars only, and not the space between them^[4]. This can reduce the power and cost to levels that are reasonable with current (2007) earth technology. ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... One thousand million (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. ...

Once civilizations have discovered each others' locations, the energy requirements for maintaining contact and exchanging information can be significantly reduced through the use of highly directional transmission technologies. In 1974, the Arecibo Observatory transmitted a message toward the M13 globular cluster about 25,000 light-years away, for example, and the use of larger antennas or shorter wavelengths would allow transmissions of the same energy to be focused on even more remote targets, such as those attempted by SETI. The Arecibo Observatory is located approximately 9 miles south-southwest from Arecibo, Puerto Rico (near the extreme southwestern corner of Arecibo pueblo). ... Messier Object 13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules; one of the most prominent and best known globular clusters of the Northern celestial hemisphere. ...

Extensions to the original scale

The sub-Type I state that human civilization currently occupies was not originally included in the Kardashev scale but is now commonly referred to as "Type 0".

Zoltan Galantai has defined a further extrapolation of the scale, a Type IV level at 10⁴⁶W that is within a few orders of magnitude of the energy output of the visible Universe. Such a civilization approaches or surpasses the limits of speculation based on current scientific understanding, and may not be possible. Frank J. Tipler's Omega point would presumably occupy this level, as would the Biocosm hypothesis. Galantai 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). ^[5] The Universe is defined as the summation of all particles and energy that exist and the space-time in which all events occur. ... Frank J. Tipler (born in 1947 in Andalusia, Alabama) is a professor of mathematical physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Omega point is a term invented by French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe the ultimate maximum level of complexity-consciousness, considered by him the aim towards which consciousness evolves. ... The Anthropic Principle suggests that the Universe may be bio-friendly. ...

However, Milan M. Ćirković has argued that "Type IV" should instead be used to refer to a civilization that has harnessed the power of its supercluster, or "the largest gravitationally bound structure it originated in."^[6] For the Local Supercluster, this would be approximately 10⁴² W. Superclusters are large groupings of smaller galaxy groups and clusters, and are among the largest structures of the cosmos. ... The Virgo Supercluster or Local Supercluster is the supercluster of galaxies that contains the Local Group and with it our galaxy, the Milky Way. ...

Kaku has discussed a type IV civilization, which could harness "extragalactic" energy sources such as dark energy. The idea was proposed to him by a 10-year old. See p.317 of Parallel Worlds.^[7] In physical cosmology, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe. ...

Hypothetical futures

Science fiction, having extended these values has also provided guides for possible future changes associated with the fractionalized version of the Kardashev scale. One possible future is presented here. The majority of the assumptions presented here are derived from scientific literature. Nikolai Kardashev's article "On the Inevitability and the Possible Structures of Supercivilizations",^[8] where he explains that with increasing energy levels come increasing technology, decreasing cohesiveness, and varying likelihood of survival and contact, largely is a guide to this section. These civilizations and the changes within them are also referenced in Kardashev's papers "Cosmology and Civilization"^[9] and "Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations".^[10] The last framework for these explanations can be found at Energy and Culture, chapter 15.^[11] This article provides a much more detailed explanation than that which exists here. It presents a theoretical way to describe trends within more advanced civilizations, along with a specific description of different civilization types.

Type I

Researcher Michio Kaku quotes Dyson as calculating that Earth will achieve a Type I civilization around the year 2200. ^[12] This estimate is based on a simple extrapolation of the current development rate of Earth's energy budget. Kaku has also stated in a Discovery Channel interview that this transition may occur 100 years from now, around 2107. He claims that the next generation will decide whether humans survive technological adolescence and reach Type I status. However, Kaku has also noted that there are significant hurdles mankind must overcome in time in order for our civilization to reach the higher statuses. A civilization which has not reached Type I status might be subject to the "uranium barrier" (global political and social development are behind technological development), ecological collapse (which would require planetwide policy to solve), ice ages, asteroid collisions and nearby supernovas ^[13] Professor Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (born January 24, 1947 in the United States) is a theoretical physicist, tenured professor, and co-creator of string field theory, a branch of string theory. ... Freeman John Dyson (born December 15, 1923) is a British-born American physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum mechanics, solid-state physics, nuclear weapons design and policy, and for his serious theorizing in futurism and science fiction concepts, including the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. ... 2200 can refer to either: The year at the end of the 22nd century. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

	Type I Single Planetary Civilization
	Early (1016 W to 1019 W)			Middle (1020 W to 1023 W)			Late (1024 W to 1026 W) (debatable)
	near space colonization, near space industry, Asteroid mining, Planet Mining for fuels and energy [14] Kaku: "Mark Twain once said, "Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it." This may change with a Type I civilization, which has enough energy to modify the weather. They also have enough energy to alter the course of earthquakes, volcanoes, and build cities on their oceans." [12] Central New York City. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Colonialism. ... 433 Eros is a stony asteroid in a near-Earth orbit Raw resources and minerals could be mined from an asteroid in space using a variety of methods. ...			First Interstellar travel [14]			Stress caused by size of civilization, at this point it can fragment into multiple planetary civilizations—reversion from single civilization early in type 1.[15] Construction begins on a Dyson Sphere, Alderson disk, or Ringworld.
Trends:
	Increasing levels of technology, Increasing levels of space exploration, space based energy sources increase, offworld civilization centers increase, increasing energy usage, increasing area of habitation
	Decreasing levels of centrality, societies and civilizations increasingly are not the same, due to time differences breaking single social bonds [15]. The Nemesis extinction factor (every 26 million years), nearby supernovae, and the death of the Sun can threaten civilizations at these levels [13].

Artists depiction of a hypothetical Wormhole Induction Propelled Spacecraft, based loosely on the 1994 warp drive paper of Miguel Alcubierre. ... A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell—a variant on Dysons original concept—1 AU in radius. ... An Alderson disk (named after Dan Alderson, its originator) is an artificial astronomical megastructure, like Nivens Ringworld or a Dyson sphere. ... Ringworld is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. ... Nemesis is a hypothetical red dwarf star or brown dwarf, orbiting the Sun at a distance of about 50,000 to 100,000 AU, somewhat beyond the Oort cloud. ... One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. ... Multiwavelength X-ray image of the remnant of Keplers Supernova, SN 1604. ...

Type II

According to Kaku, Kardaschev has estimated the development of such a civilization at the year 5200, based on the assumption that energy usage grows exponentially at 1% per year. ^[12] The sixth millennium is a period of time which will begin on January 1 5001 and will end on December 31 6000. ...

	Type II Civilization has extended to the entire Solar System[11]
	Early (1026 W to 1029 W)			Middle (1030 W to 1033 W) (debatable)			Late (1034 W to 1036 W) (debatable)
	Dyson Sphere completion, Exploration and colonization of nearby star systems.[11] Active SETI programs [14] [3]			star lifting and Shkadov thrusters, Planck scale particle accelerators [12]			Stress caused by size of civilization, at this point it can fragment into multiple solar system based civilizations—reversion to single star based civilization early, Automated galactic or intergalactic colonization effort may begin[3] using von Neumann probes [12]
Trends:
	Increasing levels of technology, Exponential growth in stars that are colonized, centralized systems increasingly draw resources from further systems which have not had their resources harvested–– driving increased expansion
	Decreasing levels of centrality, increasing likelihood of fragmentation into single star systems if resources cannot be adequately transferred from central sources, resource based wars may reemerge after disappearance during Type I. The death of the galaxy can threaten civilizations at these levels. [13]

Central New York City. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale; from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars. ... A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell—a variant on Dysons original concept—1 AU in radius. ... This article is about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. ... Star lifting is any of several hypothetical processes by which a highly advanced civilization (at least Kardashev-II) could remove a substantial portion of a stars matter in a controlled manner for other uses. ... A Shkadov thruster is a hypothetical megascale reaction engine that can be used to control the motion of a star. ... In physics, Planck units are physical units of measurement originally proposed by Max Planck. ... For the DC Comics Superhero also called Atom Smasher, see Albert Rothstein. ... A von Neumann probe is a specific example of a hypothetical concept based on the work of Hungarian-born American mathematician and physicist John von Neumann. ...

Type III

According to Kaku, Kardaschev has estimated the development of such a civilization at the year 7800. However, Dyson has argued that relativity "may delay the transition to a Type III civilization by perhaps millions of years" due to the light speed limit. ^[12] Since our Milky Way galaxy is approximately 40,000-50,000 light years in radius, and our sun is about 25,000 light years from the galaxy's center, it would take at least 65,000-75,000 years for our civilization to reach every part of the galaxy if no way around the light speed limit can be found. (7th millennium – 8th millennium – 9th millennium – other millennia) The eighth millennium is a period of time which begins on January 1, 7001 and will end on December 31, 8000. ... Two-dimensional analogy of space-time curvature described in General Relativity. ... The Milky Way as seen from Death Valley The Milky Way is the galaxy where the Solar System (and Earth) is located. ... A light year, abbreviated ly, is the distance light travels in one year: roughly 9. ... Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) is an AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting) protocol for applications such as network access or IP mobility. ...

	Type III Colonization of the Milky Way Galaxy has completed
	Early (1036 W to 1039 W) (debatable)			Middle (1040 W to 1043 W) (debatable)			Late (1044 W to 1046 W) (debatable)
	(Continued) colonization of nearby galaxies.			Possible intermultiverse travel
Trends:
	Increasing levels of technology, centralized systems increasingly draw resources from further systems which have not had their resources harvested–– driving increased expansion
	Slow growth in galaxies that are colonized due to speed limitations, making centrality impossible.

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Colonialism. ... The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Galaxia Kuklos; or simply the Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy in the Local Group, and has special significance to humanity as the location of the solar system, which is located near the Orion...

Current values

International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook past and projected values for planetary power production yield these corresponding Kardashev scale estimates: The International Energy Agency (IEA, or AIE in Romance languages) is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis. ...

Literature describing different Kardashev Types

These categorizations are not firm, and are neither complete nor absolute. Most science fiction space opera writers do not specifically write their works with Kardashev classification in mind. Isaac Asimov's short story The Last Question covers many of the same themes as Kardashev's papers, in its descriptions of the future use of energy and entropy by human civilization; however it does not mention the scale, as it was written in 1956. Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] – April 6, 1992), IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... The Last Question is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. ...

• Type I
  • The Mars trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson^{[citation needed]}
  • Gaia, from Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series.
  • The United Nations Space Command of the video game series Halo^{[citation needed]}

• Type II
  • Ringworld, by Larry Niven
  • Accelerando, by Charles Stross (featuring Matrioshka Brains)
  • BLAME!, a manga by Tsutomu Nihei
  • The United Federation of Planets of Star Trek^{[citation needed]}
  • The Covenant of the video game series Halo^{[citation needed]}
  • The People of the Worldsphere of Doctor Who first seen in The Also People.
  • The Galactic Patrol in the Lensman series by E. E. Smith occupies multiple galaxies, yet only uses a fraction of the energy within those galaxies - unless mental energy is taken into account. The ultimate combatants in those series, the Arisians and the Eddorians, are type IV.
  • The Galactic Republic of Star Wars by George Lucas^{[citation needed]} occupies many planets but only appears to have access to planet-destroying technology, making it type I or II.

• Type III
  • The Culture series, by Iain M. Banks^{[citation needed]}
  • Manifold: Time, also by Stephen Baxter - in the distant future, descendents of humanity maintain vast Dyson nets around the supermassive black hole remnants of galaxies until they evaporate via Hawking radiation, accessing the energy equivalent of multiple galaxies
  • The Skylark of Space series by E. E. Smith, where the characters access and manipulate the energy of multiple galaxies through their force-beam technology.

• Type IV and above
  • The Xeelee of the Xeelee Sequence, by Stephen Baxter
  • The Time Lords of Doctor Who - in the story The Gallifrey Chronicles the Time Lord Marnal claims "The Time Lords were the Type 4 civilization. We had no equals. We controlled the fundamental forces of the entire universe. Nothing could communicate with us on our level. Most races pray to lesser beings than the Time Lords"^[18]
  • By implication, the Daleks of Doctor Who reached the Type IV level by the Time War.
  • The Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock - a past civilization is described which consumed all the energy in all the stars in the universe (saving Earth's own sun) in order to fuel an existence where the inheritors of the Earth lived as nigh-omnipotent gods.
  • The Q Continuum of Star Trek could be considered even greater than stage IV because they are described as omnipotent and so would have infinite energy rather than the limiting factor of all the power in the universe

The Mars trilogy is a series of award-winning science fiction novels by Kim Stanley Robinson, chronicling the settlement and terraforming of the planet Mars. ... For the late American actress, see Kim Stanley. ... Gaia is a fictional planet described in the book Foundations Edge, by Isaac Asimov. ... Isaac Asimov (January 2?, 1920?[1] – April 6, 1992), IPA: , originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... United Nations Space Command Defense Force Emblem The United Nations Space Command or UNSC is a fictional human world government in the Halo universe. ... Look up halo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ringworld is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Accelerando (ISBN 0441012841) is a 2005 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. ... Charles David George Charlie Stross (born Leeds, October 18, 1964) is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... A Matrioshka Brain is a hypothetical megastructure, based on the Dyson sphere, of immense computational capacity. ... Serialized in Afternoon Original run 1998 – 2003 No. ... maNga is a popular Turkish nu metal/rapcore band. ... Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉 Nihei Tsutomu, born 1971) is a Japanese manga artist. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ... The Covenant is a fictional militaristic and theocratic alliance of alien races who serve as the main antagonist body of the Halo science-fiction video game series. ... Look up halo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... The Also People is an original novel written by Ben Aaronovitch and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Lensman series is a serial science fiction space opera by E. E. Smith. ... - Senator Palpatine Form of Government Federal Republic Official language Basic Capital Coruscant Head of Government Chancellor Establishment c. ... Star Wars is an epic space opera saga and a fictional universe initially developed by George Lucas during the 1970s and expanded since that time. ... George Walton Lucas, Jr. ... The Culture is a fictional anarchic, socialistic and utopian society created by the Scottish writer Iain Banks and described by him in several of his novels and shorter fictions. ... Iain Menzies Banks (officially Iain Banks, born on 16 February 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish writer. ... Stephen Baxter (born in Liverpool, 13 November 1957) is a British hard science fiction author. ... A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell—a variant on Dysons original concept—1 AU in radius. ... Top: artists conception of a supermassive black hole drawing material from a nearby star. ... In physics, Hawking radiation (also known as Bekenstein-Hawking radiation) is a thermal radiation thought to be emitted by black holes due to quantum effects. ... The Skylark of Space is one of the earliest novels of interstellar travel. ... Stephen Baxter (born in Liverpool, November 13, 1957) is a British hard science fiction author. ... Stephen Baxter (born in Liverpool, 13 November 1957) is a British hard science fiction author. ... Doctor Who. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... The Gallifrey Chronicles is the title of two books related to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... The Daleks (pronounced DAH-lecks; IPA: ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The series depicts the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as the Doctor who travels in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space) time ship, which appears from the exterior... Combatants Time Lords Dalek Empire Commanders President of Gallifrey Dalek Emperor Casualties Virtually the entire Time Lord population; the Doctor and the Master are known survivors. ... Bold textThe three books which form Dancers at the end of time are, An alien heat,The hollow lands and The end of all songs. ... Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939, in London, England) is a prolific English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. ... Q In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Q are a race of near-omnipotent, near-omniscient god-like beings from a parallel existence called the Q Continuum. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ...

Connections with sociology and anthropology

Kardashev's theory can be viewed as the expansion of some social theories, especially from social evolutionism. It is close to the theory of Leslie White, author of The Evolution of Culture: The Development of Civilization to the Fall of Rome (1959). White attempted to create a theory explaining the entire history of humanity. The most important factor in his theory is technology: Social systems are determined by technological systems, wrote White in his book, echoing the earlier theory of Lewis Henry Morgan. As measure of society advancement he proposed the measure energy consumption of a given society (thus his theory is known as energy theory of cultural evolution). He differentiates between five stages of human development. In the first stage, people use energy of their own muscles. In the second stage, they use energy of domesticated animals. In the third stage, they use the energy of plants (which White refers to as agricultural revolution). In the fourth stage, they learn to use the energy of natural resources - such as coal, oil and gas. Finally, in the fifth stage, they harness nuclear energy. White introduced a formula P=E×T, where P measures the advancement of the culture, E is a measure of energy consumed, and T is the measure of efficiency of technical factors utilising the energy. Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Social Evolutionism is a athropological and sociological social theory that holds that societies progress through stages of increasing development, i. ... Leslie Alvin White ([19 January [1900]], Salida Colorado -- 31 March 1975) was an anthropologist known for his advocacy of theories of cultural evolution and his role in creating the department of anthropology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Social structure (also referred to as a social system) is a system in which people forming the society are organized by a patterns of prelationships. ... Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was an American lawyer and amateur scholar best known for his work on cultural evolution and Native Americans. ... Energy consumption is a measure of the rate of energy use such as fuels or electricity. ... Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. ... In the Earths history there have been a number of agricultural revolutions. ... Nuclear energy is energy released from the atomic nucleus. ...

Criticism

Energy Consumption from 1989 to 1999

It has been argued that, because we cannot understand advanced civilizations, we cannot predict their behavior; thus, Kardashev's visualization may not reflect what will actually occur for an advanced civilization. This central argument is found within the book Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life.^[19] Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1427x628, 52 KB) Summary This is a GFDL and less-mind warping version of Image:Energyconsumption. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1427x628, 52 KB) Summary This is a GFDL and less-mind warping version of Image:Energyconsumption. ... Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life (second edition publised as What Does a Martian Look Like? The Science of Extraterrestrial Life) is a book about xenobiology by biologist Jack Cohen and mathematician Ian Stewart. ...

See also

• Alternative biochemistry
• Amara's law
• Anthropic principle
• Astrosociobiology
• Clarke's three laws
• Drake equation
• Earth's energy budget
• Fermi paradox
• History of science and technology
• Rare Earth hypothesis
• Simulated reality
• Technological singularity
• Energy: world resources and consumption

Alternative biochemistry is the speculative biochemistry of alien life forms that differ radically from those on Earth. ... Amaras law is a maxim stating: It was originally formulated by Roy Amara of the Institute for the Future. ... In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle is an umbrella term for various dissimilar attempts to explain the structure of the universe by way of coincidentally balanced features that are necessary and relevant to the existence of observers (usually assumed to be carbon-based life or even specifically human beings). ... Astrosociobiology (also referred to as exosociobiology and xenosociology) is the speculative scientific study of extraterrestrial civilizations and their possible social characteristics and developmental tendencies. ... Arthur C. Clarke formulated the following three laws of prediction: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. ... The Drake equation (rarely also called the Green Bank equation or the Sagan equation) is a famous result in the speculative fields of exobiology, astrosociobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. ... The Earth can be considered as a physical system with an energy budget that includes all gains of incoming energy and all losses of outgoing energy. ... A graphical representation of the Arecibo message - Humanitys first attempt to use radio waves to communicate its existence to alien civilizations The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for or contact with... The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history which examines how humanitys understanding of science and technology has changed over the millennia. ... The Rare Earth hypothesis is a hypothesis in planetary astronomy and astrobiology which argues that the emergence of complex multicellular life (metazoa) on Earth required an extremely unlikely combination of astrophysical and geological events and circumstances. ... This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... When plotted on a logarithmic graph, 15 separate lists of paradigm shifts for key events in human history show an exponential trend. ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 116th day of the year (117th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Professor Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (born January 24, 1947 in the United States) is a theoretical physicist, tenured professor, and co-creator of string field theory, a branch of string theory. ... Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the Tenth Dimension (1994) is a book by Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist from the City College of New York. ... // Throughout this article, exponential or scientific notation is used. ... The British thermal unit (BTU) is a non-metric unit of energy, used in the United States and, to a certain extent, the UK. The SI unit is the joule (J), which is used by most other countries. ... A tonne (also called metric ton) is a non-SI unit of mass, accepted for use with SI, defined as: 1 tonne = 103 kg (= 106 g). ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... is the 105th day of the year (106th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Andrey Korotayev (born in 1961) is an anthropologist, economic historian, and sociologist. ...

External links

• Kardashev civilizations
• Detectability of Extraterrestrial Technological Activities
• Flash Animation on Civilizations
• After Kardashev: Farewell to Super Civilizations