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Abstract

Freeman Dyson proposed that an advanced civilization could disassemble a planet the size of Jupiter and create a net of matter to surround the parent star to utilize all of the star's energy for power. Only waste heat would escape. He proposed that we should look for these infrared signatures as evidence of an advanced civilization. An easier way for a civilization with nuclear power and local space travel to create "living space" would be to "transform" the planets in their "Goldilocks" temperature zone into habitats that support life. The signature of life on our home world is free oxygen in the atmosphere. Our next generation of space telescopes will be capable of finding oxygen in planetary atmospheres. Find one star with all its Goldilock's planets showing oxygen and you may have found an advanced civilization. Find a cluster of stars like that and you have found "The Federation of Planets."

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