My last blog post mentioned the Fermi Paradox, that no evidence for extraterrestrial life exists despite plentiful chances. I talked about one proposed solution being a race of super aliens which control their galaxy. According to Nikolai Kardashev, Russian astrophysicist, this civilization would be classified as a Type III, the final form of existence. In 1964 he invented his Kardashev Scale for measuring a civilization's progress towards perfection. It currently has three different classifications, types one through three. The three types are organized based on how well they control their available energy sources.

Type I civilizations can utilize and store the readily available energy from their nearby star. Humans are currently approaching a type I civilization, and are about a .724 on the scale. The main reason for this is that humans have only begun to access renewable energy in the past century, and we have yet to efficiently use fusion and antimatter towards energy production. Some suggest humans may reach type I statues in the next few centuries.

Type II civilizations can harness the total potential energy of their nearby star, and even other solar systems' stars. One of the most popular current theories for reaching type II is the Dyson Sphere. This idea consists of many satellites which orbit a star nearby its surface, forming a shell totally encapsulating the star, which absorb and transmit back to Earth the entire energy output of the star. Its inventor Olaf Stapledon considered this idea a necessary and probable approach to the ever increasing energy demands of an expanding race of beings.

Type III civilizations can harness the energy of their entire galaxy. To our current age, any type III aliens would seem like gods, or at least like Galactus. Type III species would use mainly the same processes as type II's, but on a much wider scale. And, theoretically, they would also be able to access the power of the supermassive black holes thought to exist at the center of all galaxies, as well as gamma ray bursts, quasars, and white holes.

Since his initial proposal, other scientists have added on to Kardashev's idea, even adding types IV and V. Others have creates subtypes based on how well the aliens can use the power, or what they can accomplish genetically. As for, type IV's, they can harness their entire universe's energy, and even the mysterious dark energy. Type V's can even harness the power of multiple universes, stretching into the multiverse. It seems the sky's the limit for this idea, and personally I don't mind it either. What if there is some super-race of aliens out there somewhere, bending the laws of space time? I think it'd be pretty sweet. Maybe I'll invent my own types. Type VI: the aliens can control the multiverse even after the universes die out or Big Crunch to death. Type VII: the aliens are the corporate bosses of other type VI's. I could go on!