How To Build A Dyson Sphere explores combustion, light sails, and thermionic energy conversion, with the bona fide engineer,Matthew Campbell.Matt is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who uses micromanufacturing technology to solve problems in propulsion, energy and healthcare.
In this episode, we discuss the propulsion mechanism for the Breakthrough Starshot project, an initiative founded by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark Zuckerberg. The idea is to send a swarm of light, man-made probes to our nearest stellar neighbour: The Alpha Centauri star system over 4.3 light-years away. These probes would go there at some 20% the speed of light, in some thirty-odd years, flyby take some pictures and send it back to Earth.
We also learn about Matt the engineer/scientist, and explore some of his excellent analogies to thrive under pressure in our education.
The following material are excellent starting points to learn about Starshot: