It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: a ring of satellites, assembled in space by robots, collecting energy directly from the Sun and beaming it down to Earth through radio waves.

But this was not dreamt up by a crazed supervillain. The Space Energy Initiative, a collaboration of industry and academics, insists it could be in place as early as 2035. They estimate that each satellite could produce around the same amount of power as a nuclear plant.

Some think this is a sign that we have overlooked the Sun for too long. They point out that until the modern era, most of the world was devoted to the Sun.

In Ancient Egypt a large number of gods were associated with the Sun, the most famous of which was Ra, who travelled across the sky in a boat and at dawn drove away the demon king Apep, who represented chaos.

And many religions today still involve elements of Sun worship. HindusFollowers of Hinduism, an Indian religion with more than one billion followers. perform the ritual of Surya Namaskar, a series of gestures of the body and hands that are intended to greet the Sun.

What brings many of these myths and beliefs together is the idea that the Sun gives us life and protects us from the darkness. And both these things are, after all, entirely true.

The Sun was the origin of life. Scientists now believe that UV light from the Sun was responsible for producing many of the enzymesProteins that act as a biological catalyst, accelerating chemical reactions.  that living things rely on for everything from respiration to DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information. repair, long before life itself came into being.

And it is good for our health, too. Studies have found that exposure to sunlight causes feelings of contentment and helps stave off depression. It also raises our levels of vitamin D, which is vital for the health of our bones.

Yet as it brings life, so too does the Sun bring death. Every year around 57,000 people die of skin cancer, which is associated with exposure to sunlight.¹

And we know the Sun will eventually destroy the Earth. Every billion years, the Sun gets 10% brighter. As its rays become more powerful, the oceans will simply boil away.

And as our star dies, it will expand to consume Mercury, Venus, and likely the Earth as well. There will be nothing left of our little planet.

Is it any surprise that some feel such great power is worth worshipping?

Yes: Many of the Earth's greatest civilisations were devoted to the Sun. And today we know more than ever before about its power to give and to take away life. Surely it is worthy of our praise?

No: Sun-worship might have made sense to our ancestors, who could see that the big disc in the sky brought warmth and light, but did not understand how. Today we are too rational for such things.

Or... It is not necessary to worship the Sun, but we should clearly respect it and be curious about it. It has much more life left to give us, if we can figure out how to harness it.