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The Space Show presents Professor Avi Loeb. Don't miss a word of what he had to say.
The Space Show Presents Dr. Avi Loeb, Sunday, 11-23-25.
Quick summary:
Today’s program focused on the upcoming interview with Professor Avi Loeb regarding 3I Atlas and its interpretation. Dr. Loeb shared detailed insights about interstellar objects, including the discovery of 3i Atlas and its unusual characteristics, while expressing concerns about NASA’s limited presentation of data and the need for more comprehensive scientific investigation.
Detailed summary:
Professor Avi Loeb joined the program and clarified that he prefers to be addressed as Avi, without any titles. They discussed the controversial topic of 3I Atlas, with Avi explaining its uniqueness and the challenges in interpreting the blurry images released by NASA.
Avi criticized NASA’s recent press conference about the 3I/Atlas object, arguing that the blurry images and lack of scientific experts at the recent NASA press event undermined public interest and respect. He highlighted that the data showed an unusual glow in front of the object’s direction of motion, which was not mentioned in the conference. Avi emphasized the importance of humility in science and expressed frustration that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, which the public cares about, receives no federal funding compared to the prioritized search for microbes.
Avi talked about the discovery of 3i Atlas, an interstellar object, and its unusual characteristics. He noted that its mass and size suggest it is much larger than previously discovered interstellar objects, leading to questions about its origin and composition. Avi highlighted an extraordinary coincidence in 3i Atlas’s trajectory, aligning with Jupiter’s Hill radius, which he found statistically significant. He also mentioned observations of jets emanating from the object, which could be indicative of natural processes or technological activity. He expressed a desire for more data on the jets’ speed and composition to determine their nature.
Our guest discussed anomalies in interstellar objects, emphasizing that traditional scientists often overlook technological origins in favor of natural explanations. He criticized experts for ignoring evidence of artificial structures and proposed expanding their training datasets to include technological objects. Marshall inquired about the inclination of planetary axes, which Avi attributed to planetesimal collisions and gravitational interactions rather than interstellar objects. They also discussed the possibility of life on rogue planets ejected from their solar systems.
Avi explained that interstellar objects the size of a football field enter the solar system approximately once per year, while smaller objects, like the interstellar meteor discovered by Avi and his student Amir Siraj, are more numerous but only visible when they collide with Earth. He noted that the Oort cloud contains a vast number of objects, with one object within Earth’s orbit potentially representing quadrillions more in the cloud. Loeb suggested that NASA’s limited presentation of the 3I Atlas data was due to bureaucratic oversight rather than a hidden agenda, criticizing the lack of a permanent administrator and the decision to hold a press conference without new or exciting information.
Our guest continued to talk about the upcoming close approach of the asteroid 3I Atlas to Earth on December 19th, noting that hundreds of telescopes will observe it as part of an international campaign. He emphasized the importance of gathering data to determine the object’s nature, learned from past mistakes with Oumuamua. Avi also mentioned a recent radio observation by the Meerkat Radio Observatory in South Africa that set limits on potential radio transmissions from the object. He expressed hope to update the object’s ranking on his Loeb Scale, which ranges from 0 for natural objects to 10 for technological objects, with
Published on 1 day, 19 hours ago