Comic Transcript
Panel 1.
Alkina: What do you mean, it is not a star?
Epo: It certainly has all the characteristics of a star…
Panel 2.
Epo: …but it also has an abnormally high concentration of metals heavier than iron making it very unlikely to be a naturally occurring star.
Panel 3.
Alkina: Hmm… so, this is an artificial star. That still doesn’t give us any information about why we might be looking for it.
Panel 4.
Epo: Actually, I do not think we were looking for this star specifically.
Alkina: What do you mean?
Panel 5.
Epo: While I was trying suppress the rogue AI that was preventing me to study this star properly; I came across bits of data that suggests that this star is a location marker for the artifact that we are really looking for.
Panel 6.
Alkina: This star points to where we should be going next?
Epo: Not exactly. I believe it is one of a few markers that, together, will tell us the location of this artifact.
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Is that all?
Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) – is a fusion energy concept for delivering energy to the electrical grid.
Hey, where’s my science?
Would it ever really be possible to create an artificial star? In a previous episode, we talked about a Dyson Sphere, an artificial structure built around a star. A civilization capable of building a Dyson Sphere would definitely be able to build an artificial star. In our current understanding of the Universe, however, these objects are still relegated to the realms of science fiction.
While we cannot create a whole star, it is possible to create star like conditions here on Earth. For example, scientists are working to create fusion reactors that will emulate the center of a star by fusing light elements to create energy. Check out the Laser Inertial Fusion Energy link above to find out more.