A new study has suggest we may be looking for the haywire kinds of theme song in our hunt for intelligent refinement out there in the universe . Perhaps we should be looking for " star eater " .

When searching for well-informed biography , we are restrict slightly by the laws of physics , and our own circumstances and mental imagery . We ’ve only ever find levelheaded ( ish ) life on one planet , so it pee sense to look for similar signals and signs that we make and send out into the universe .

But we are in our infancy , technologically speak , and are not even close to becoming aType 1 civilizationon the Kardashev scale of measurement of civilizations . At Type 1 , a civilization is able to draw rein all the energy uncommitted to them on their planet ( given at around 4 x 1019erg per second ) and expend it for their own purposes . Type II civilizations are able-bodied to harness the DOE of their virtuoso , e.g. by construct a Dyson Sphere , theoretical megastructures build around stars built for this function . Type III civilisation , meanwhile , are exotic civilization open of rule the DOE of their whole galax .

Though we can not go for to start creating ultra - advanced technical school of our own , we have think of muckle of forward-looking technological ideas that are viable given our current understanding of physics . Dyson spheres and Dyson cloud – megastructures direct around host stars to harvest their energy – have been a popular idea in our search for thinking life . And they give us something to depend for ; extreme excess infrared radiation . We have possible candidates , but of course , none have been found , and some of them turned out to behot heel .

Is there something else we should be looking for ? Are Dyson spheres unfeasible , unnecessary , ineffective , or a mixture of all three for any advanced civilization with immense office want ?

In a new theme , currently being reviewed for publishing in Acta Astronautica and not yet peer retrospect , a team of research worker propose there could be other type of power using up we should be on the lookout for . In short , perchance we should look for " adept eaters " .

" We argue that the Kardashev scale is considerably read as a ' luminosity limit ' that report the maximal capacity for a civilization to harvest lucent leading vigor across a given spatial domain , and we note that thermodynamical efficiency will always keep a luminosity - limited technosphere from actually reaching this theoretical limit , " the team explains in their paper .

" We suggest the possibility that an advanced technosphere might develop beyond this luminosity limit to pull its Energy Department right away from harvest leading mass , and we also hash out possible trajectories that could exist between Earth today and such suppositious ' stellivores ' . "

While harvesting a star for energy using Dyson swarms would yield a draw of it , it would be a irksome process , assuming fabulously high energy needs . The team proposes that advanced refinement could instead consume mavin for energy .

" A divinatory melodic theme byVidalis that some accrete binary stars might actually be living or technical systems , with one compendious object ' feeding ' on its comrade star to sustain metabolic process . Some ' stellivores ' may also have higher speed with trajectories that are maneuver toward nearby stars for continued feeding , " the team compose . " In such a case a stellivore would be observed as a binary organization not accrete , but chuck out material out of its gravitational well , in parliamentary procedure to generate jabbing to journey toward another star . "

These " stellivores " could be stationary , or even travel throughout the cosmos in parliamentary procedure to fee off unexampled stars when necessary . This may voice far - fetched – and it ’s certainly in the kingdom of sci - fi – but physicists have already proposed way in which we couldmove our own Sun , should we ever ask to do so .

These star - feeder may look like binary systems , and they purport that there may be a few ways to attend for signs of life , as these stellivores would give off signatures beyond the luminosity limit .

" For stellivores , possible approach toward prove this hypothesis include examine candidate jaunt stellivore for possible signatures of a stellar locomotive engine , try out the destination - directedness of prospect traveling stellivore , testing whether accumulation in candidate stationary stellivores is see to it , and apply biologic metabolic scaling constabulary to candidate stellivores , " the team explains in their conclusion .

" Such efforts would be an important first step toward understanding the extent to which recognize stellar systems could reveal unusual property that are closer to living system than they first appear . "

The paper is being reviewed for publication in Acta Astronautica , and is posted to pre - print serverarXiv .