One of the challenges of searching for technosignatures (i.e., signs that intelligent life somewhere in the universe has created technology) is understanding what to look for. Technology is a very broad area, and different types would show up as different features. One of the most commonly cited is a Dyson sphere, which attempts to encapsulate a star and capture its outgoing light to produce energy. But while we've looked for the mid-infrared waste heat these structures would produce for decades, we haven't found a definitive instance of one. According to a new paper, available as a preprint on arXiv by Turkish high school student Sahin Torlakcik, that might be because we are looking for the wrong type of energy altogether. ...read more read less