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"That Harvard Astronomer" is Avi Loeb. Loeb was recently a guest on the Lex Fridman podcast where he talked about Oumuamua amongst other things. [0] I found hi

"That Harvard Astronomer" is Avi Loeb. Loeb was recently a guest on the Lex Fridman podcast where he talked about Oumuamua amongst other things. [0] I found his view on the subject fascinating and his perspective on science refreshing. [0] https://lexfridman.com/avi-loeb/ https://lexfridman.com/avi-loeb/

Zigurd 6y ago
He was interviewed for the Kotke Ride Home podcast. He has a book coming out about Oumuamua. I will probably buy the book because Loeb is apparently brilliant. His evaluation of Oumuamua is very interesting. BUT the data about Oumuamua is really really tiny. The science of interstellar objects is nascent. Other than to say "If it is a natural object it is super-strange" I am not sure what else there is to say. In the interview he was articulating theories about it being a cosmic "buoy." So I am anticipating a couple chapters of solid science followed by a lot of speculation, even if it is highly informed speculation.
- throw1234651234 6y ago
  My concern is that we aren't going to get much more than what was said in the articles already. I think the beneficial outcome of all of this is that we can identify what to look for next time, and hopefully get funding to do that. I also wonder if, as our tracking tech gets better, it would be relatively cheap to land a bunch of sensors on these and have them go on a ride somewhere in space for much cheaper than launching our own and trying to accelerate it to that velocity, even considering the costs of interception.
  - m4rtink 6y ago
    If you can intercept an interstellar object to land something on it you can by definition also just launch the thing to the same trajectory. Unless your payload is advanced enough to use the mass of the object for something (fuel, radiation shielding, construction materials, etc.) there is not much benefit in landing on an interstellar object if you just want to launch an interstellar probe. Maybe actually if you wanted to send a really long range message it could help to put it on an interstellar asteroid - much more likely someone would notice a huge mountain flying through their system than a piano sized piece of metal, even if both hold the same message.
    - dysfunction 6y ago
      If you had really good shock absorbers you could intercept at an orthogonal trajectory and have the impact knock you into the desired trajectory... not practical but fun to think about.
      - playerm1 6y ago
        The ultimate egg-drop challenge. I'm imagining some Vehicle Assembly Building-sized cloud of aerogel with a paperclip-size payload at the center.
    - throw1234651234 6y ago
      The other argument is mass - most of the sensor could bury itself in the mass for safety. Yes on trajectory, but no on same trajectory, with same mass. Of course, this might be a moot point, because other than hiding from some radiation and micro-scoping impacts, as well as leaching resources (which we aren't really advanced enough to do), there is no benefit.
- akuchling 6y ago
  The Washington Post has a review of the book: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/an-interstellar-accident--or-a-piece-of-alien-technology/2021/01/28/4acd0852-5136-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/an-interstellar-accid... Two excerpts from the review: "While this exotic explanation of the object serves as the backbone of the book, Loeb’s broader argument grows out of his bewilderment with the blowback to his hypothesis; he regards it as an omen of imaginative decay and anti-alien bias in the scientific community. ... While it’s tantalizing to imagine that ‘Oumuamua was our first brush with aliens, Loeb writes most memorably about collecting shells on the beach with his daughters, brainstorming trippy new studies with his many proteges and seeking comfort in the view of the night sky from our lonely planet."
  - shrimpx 6y ago
    His scientific perspective very much reminds me of early Einstein’s. Refreshingly idealistic and foolish.
narrator 6y ago
The guy doesn't even say it's a probe. He thinks it's likely space junk, but not from us. If you lived on some remote island not near shipping or flight lanes, you'd know people were out there because of all the plastic bottles and crap that would show up on the shore. Same thing basically. The beings who made it could have been extinct for millions of years.
ryanmercer 6y ago
See also his appearance on Planetary Radio by the he Planetary Society this week https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0127-2021-avi-loeb-extraterrestrial https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0127-2021-avi-loeb...

Zigurd 6y ago

He was interviewed for the Kotke Ride Home podcast. He has a book coming out about Oumuamua. I will probably buy the book because Loeb is apparently brilliant. His evaluation of Oumuamua is very interesting. BUT the data about Oumuamua is really really tiny. The science of interstellar objects is nascent. Other than to say "If it is a natural object it is super-strange" I am not sure what else there is to say. In the interview he was articulating theories about it being a cosmic "buoy." So I am anticipating a couple chapters of solid science followed by a lot of speculation, even if it is highly informed speculation.

throw1234651234 6y ago
My concern is that we aren't going to get much more than what was said in the articles already. I think the beneficial outcome of all of this is that we can identify what to look for next time, and hopefully get funding to do that. I also wonder if, as our tracking tech gets better, it would be relatively cheap to land a bunch of sensors on these and have them go on a ride somewhere in space for much cheaper than launching our own and trying to accelerate it to that velocity, even considering the costs of interception.
- m4rtink 6y ago
  If you can intercept an interstellar object to land something on it you can by definition also just launch the thing to the same trajectory. Unless your payload is advanced enough to use the mass of the object for something (fuel, radiation shielding, construction materials, etc.) there is not much benefit in landing on an interstellar object if you just want to launch an interstellar probe. Maybe actually if you wanted to send a really long range message it could help to put it on an interstellar asteroid - much more likely someone would notice a huge mountain flying through their system than a piano sized piece of metal, even if both hold the same message.
  - dysfunction 6y ago
    If you had really good shock absorbers you could intercept at an orthogonal trajectory and have the impact knock you into the desired trajectory... not practical but fun to think about.
    - playerm1 6y ago
      The ultimate egg-drop challenge. I'm imagining some Vehicle Assembly Building-sized cloud of aerogel with a paperclip-size payload at the center.
  - throw1234651234 6y ago
    The other argument is mass - most of the sensor could bury itself in the mass for safety. Yes on trajectory, but no on same trajectory, with same mass. Of course, this might be a moot point, because other than hiding from some radiation and micro-scoping impacts, as well as leaching resources (which we aren't really advanced enough to do), there is no benefit.
akuchling 6y ago
The Washington Post has a review of the book: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/an-interstellar-accident--or-a-piece-of-alien-technology/2021/01/28/4acd0852-5136-11eb-83e3-322644d82356_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/an-interstellar-accid... Two excerpts from the review: "While this exotic explanation of the object serves as the backbone of the book, Loeb’s broader argument grows out of his bewilderment with the blowback to his hypothesis; he regards it as an omen of imaginative decay and anti-alien bias in the scientific community. ... While it’s tantalizing to imagine that ‘Oumuamua was our first brush with aliens, Loeb writes most memorably about collecting shells on the beach with his daughters, brainstorming trippy new studies with his many proteges and seeking comfort in the view of the night sky from our lonely planet."
- shrimpx 6y ago
  His scientific perspective very much reminds me of early Einstein’s. Refreshingly idealistic and foolish.

narrator 6y ago

The guy doesn't even say it's a probe. He thinks it's likely space junk, but not from us. If you lived on some remote island not near shipping or flight lanes, you'd know people were out there because of all the plastic bottles and crap that would show up on the shore. Same thing basically. The beings who made it could have been extinct for millions of years.

ryanmercer 6y ago

See also his appearance on Planetary Radio by the he Planetary Society this week https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0127-2021-avi-loeb-extraterrestrial https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/0127-2021-avi-loeb...