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00:00A Type 3 civilization can harness the power of the galaxy.
00:04It runs Dyson spheres around stars, and it powers progress via Matryoshka brain, planet-sized
00:10supercomputers.
00:12According to one study, scientists believe they may have proof that at least one Type
00:173 does exist.
00:20What do you think we should do about it?
00:25According to the original Kardashev scale, a Type 3 civilization is one which has harnessed
00:31the entire energy potential of a galaxy.
00:35While a Type 1 has the energy potential of its home planet, and a Type 2 has the power
00:40of its home star system, a Type 3 is far larger and even more powerful than anything else.
00:48Admittedly, the Kardashev scale has since been added to, to include a Type 4 energy
00:53potential of the universe, and Type 5 of the multiverse.
00:58But as Kardashev originally imagined it, Type 3 was the best there was, the pinnacle of
01:04advancement and cosmic civilization.
01:07It's a bizarre concept to think on, because if it is possible to become a Type 3 civilization,
01:15then there are a couple of important considerations to make.
01:19First, it theoretically means that we, humankind, could one day climb the scale far enough to
01:26become Type 3 ourselves, despite it being estimated that we currently rank at a lowly
01:32Type 0.7 only.
01:34But second, it theoretically means that there should already be Type 3 civilizations out
01:40there, and if there are, then why not one that's ruling over the very galaxy that
01:47we call home, the Milky Way, or one that's ruling over the next galaxy along, Andromeda.
01:55The Kardashev model also provides an alternate lens through which scientists and astronomers
02:01can consider the entire universe, though, as they comb it for signs of life.
02:06As such, there have been various claims made that perhaps a Type 3 power has already been
02:12discovered by us, although nothing at this stage is confirmed.
02:18In August 2021, news broke of a joint study by astronomers at the National Astronomical
02:24Observatories of China and Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands.
02:28Headlines claimed that it may have identified two candidates toward a Type 3 civilization.
02:34The study focused on 21 galaxies in all, paying particularly close attention to their mid-infrared
02:41emissions, which it suggested, if they're high, could be a sign of Dyson Spheres operating
02:48in the region.
02:49The idea is that Dyson Spheres, huge hypothesized structures built around stars to siphon off
02:56their energy, should inevitably give off waste energy too, which can then be picked up by
03:03researchers here on Earth.
03:06As a Dyson Sphere is said to be a key feature in any advanced Kardashev civilization from
03:12Type 2 onwards, if we were to find hard proof of their existence, then we'll essentially
03:18have discovered not just alien life, but super-intelligent alien life.
03:25Importantly, however, those behind the study aren't yet claiming to have definitely discovered
03:30Type 3 civilizations.
03:32They've only narrowed down their original search of the sky toward two galaxies that
03:38might be Type 3 candidates.
03:42Nothing is proven, and nothing beyond some seemingly unusual mid-infrared measurements
03:47has ever been detected.
03:49For some, then, this could soon become just another false alarm.
03:55What's interesting, though, is that for one co-author of the 2021 study, Professor Michael
04:01Garrett of Leiden University, it wasn't the first time in recent years that potential
04:05Type 3 groups had been discussed.
04:08It's just that last time, the takeaways were a little different.
04:13Back in 2015, Garrett took a closer look at some other Kardashev candidates, and reportedly
04:19dismissed all of them as being the real thing.
04:22Back then, with most of those candidates being explained away as natural and non-alien-made
04:29phenomena, Garrett had concluded that Kardashev Type 3 civilizations are either very rare
04:35or do not exist in the local universe.
04:38And while the most recent 2021 study has served to reopen the possibility that they do exist,
04:45the opinion that Type 3 civilizations don't exist, or at least that they don't exist
04:51anywhere remotely close to us, is still held by many academics.
04:56In some ways, it boils down to a heightened version of that other pillar of modern astronomical
05:02thinking, the Fermi Paradox.
05:05Only while the Fermi Paradox asks, if aliens exist, then where are they?
05:11We're now asking, if Type 3 civilizations exist, then where are they?
05:18Because surely we'd have discovered them by now, and with relative ease, given the
05:23size and scope of their powers.
05:26Remember, a Type 3 group has the energy output of an entire galaxy at their disposal.
05:32In the Milky Way, which is a fairly average-sized galaxy, that would mean more than 100,000
05:38light-years worth of stars, planets, black holes, quasars, and general energy potential.
05:45How would that not show up on even the most primitive of the telescopes we have?
05:51As with so many other deep ponderings of the universe, one answer is that it's because
05:56space is incredibly, almost unimaginably big.
06:00And then there's also the fact that when astronomers look far enough into space, thanks
06:06to the universal speed limit of the speed of light, they're also essentially seeing
06:12back in time.
06:14Whenever we view a star, or planet, or galaxy, it's not as though we're viewing it at
06:19the same moment in time as that which we're experiencing here on Earth.
06:24Instead, we're merely viewing it as it was when the lights that we see now first left
06:31it, and that could have been millions or even billions of years ago.
06:36And when you think about it, that means that if we ever were to discover a Type 3 civilization,
06:43then in real time, our time, it might have progressed far beyond that stage already.
06:50Which is another reason why many believe that Type 3s just don't exist, because the odds
06:56are that they shouldn't even be waiting to be discovered, but in fact, should just
07:01be from our point of view.
07:04Of course, this also means that whenever we look into the sky, even with the most powerful
07:09telescopes available to us, our eyes could well be passing over galaxies that do now
07:15host Type 3 civilizations, it's just that there hasn't been time enough yet for that
07:21information to reach us.
07:23In fact, if you believe that there are other civilizations out there, and that it's therefore
07:29very unlikely that we are more powerful than all of them, then perhaps a Type 3 is inevitable,
07:36and again, we on Earth are just waiting to realize it.
07:40We could, then, be currently surrounded by higher powers to some degree, gradually approaching
07:46the day when a scientific study does prove it beyond doubt.
07:51At present, however, that's not what has happened.
07:55Scientists haven't already discovered a Type 3 civilization, although Type 3 candidates
08:00have emerged in recent times.
08:03The 2021 study has identified at least two galaxies that may warrant greater scrutiny,
08:09but so far, we have only a tiny amount of unusual data to work from.
08:15Theories continually abound on both sides of the debate, though, and while one researcher
08:20might insist that advanced galactic civilizations must exist somewhere in the universe, another
08:27might claim that they can't possibly exist, simply by the fact that we don't already
08:32know about them.
08:33What's your verdict, and what would your reaction be if a Type 3 group were ever to
08:38be found?
08:39There'd certainly be no denying that our own identity will have been forcibly shifted.
08:45On the day that a Type 3 is revealed to us, human beings will have altered in their own
08:50minds from being an intelligent species to one that has so much more left to learn.
08:57Perhaps that's a frightening thought, or an exciting one.
09:02Perhaps it could lead to our own expansion, or it could trigger an existential domino
09:07effect toward our own demise.
09:10In either case, for now, it's a hypothetical thought only.
09:14Scientists, astronomers, academics, and all manner of others are increasingly on the lookout
09:21for Type 3 civilizations, but for better or worse, we haven't already discovered one.
09:29What do you think?
09:30Is there anything we missed?
09:32Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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