A month ago I quipped that if any extraterrestrial civilization (on a higher Kardashev scale) actually existed and managed to research and develop reliable interstellar travel, they might simply stay home and become one with a Singularity. After all, it is less hazardous and does not require the resource-intensive approach of terraforming other worlds.
Anyways, a couple months ago I also mentioned to a friend of mine that perhaps, advanced civilizations literally squeeze every last drop of energy from their solar systems, to the point where they turn into “black holes” in an attempt to use the atoms own kinetic movement as an energy source. Turns out that a group of scientists have engineered a technique which converts the random “Brownian” movement of atoms into useable energy.
And guess what turns out to be an extremely efficient engine? According to some recent observations, a black hole.
Of course, as Arthur C. Clarke pointed out, any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic to you and I, so it is kind of pointless to assume and conjure up predetermined paths of action for sentient creatures. After all, could you imagine the looks on the faces of someone even 50 years ago if you presented them with a hands-free, Bluetooth-enabled cell phone? You’re speaking crazy!