Rick Measham wrote:
> Mike Williams wrote:
> 
>> The strength of the force varies with cos(latitude) and the angle to the
>> local vertical is proportional to latitude. So people standing near the
>> poles get very little force, and what force there is would be almost
>> horizontal.
> 
> 
> Which is where the original argument came from (and I agree) .. the 
> poles would implode, thus degrading the structure and causing the 
> equator to explode.
> 
> One poster (somewhere, not here) suggested a band rather than a sphere. 
> The 'band' would be the equatorial region and would (somehow) hold 
> together as it spun.

And then some other killjoy did the math and realized that if the ring 
were to be moved so that the star was no longer in the center, the 
situation would not correct itself naturally; if there were no 
artificial corrective measures, the ring would eventually collide with 
the sun.  Roll the credits.

BTW, Dyson himself did not postulate a solid sphere, but a large number 
of small bodies which collectively capture all of the output from a 
given star.

Regards,
John

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