6 ms·

MIT nuclear science professor Nuno Loureiro found shot dead in home in Mass

38 points by tzury 10mo ago

ChrisArchitect 10mo ago
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46295071 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46295071
- throw24789 10mo ago
  c.f. MIT News obituary https://news.mit.edu/2025/nuno-loureiro-professor-director-plasma-science-and-fusion-center-dies-1216 https://news.mit.edu/2025/nuno-loureiro-professor-director-p...
- WhyOhWhyQ 10mo ago
  This kind of thing really should not be reposted (have duplicate posts I mean). I assumed a second nuclear scientist was murdered when I saw the headline.
- yodon 10mo ago
  I found those two sets of threads very demoralizing when they happened. I like to think HN is better than the level of conspiracy theory adoption and 4chan-like haha dude died let me make jokes about it posts in those pages.
MPSFounder 10mo ago
[flagged]
- JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
  > Mo--ad operation most likely This is America. A burglar, jealous relative or raging lunatic is most likely. If we assume it is state action, which again, is like a teen assuming every zit is a malignant cancer, then putting Israel at the top of the list is pretty much only evidence of being in a filter bubble. (EDIT: Never mind, looked at comment history, troll account.)
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - tzury 10mo ago
    indeed.
  - cess11 10mo ago
    I'd wager it might be in response to israeli authorities having made clear that they're suspecting it was done by Iran. Here and there it is also claimed that he was jewish, which I haven't seen any credible sources corroborate. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-strange-death-of-nuno-loureiro/ https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-strange-death-of-nuno-lo...
    - JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
      > it might be in response to israeli authorities having made clear that they're suspecting it was done by Iran Israeli security is going to suspect everything is done by Iran because that is their threat model (and geopolitical incentive). If you asked enough security people in Seoul, they'd suspect North Korea. (Emphasis on suspicion. They wouldn't say it's likely Pyongyang if they're honest and competent.) That's the nature of training focus on an enemy: you're constantly looking for and invalidating connections. Emphasis on active invalidation, which is the opposite of the scientific method, which starts with null hypotheses. But scouting requires empirical feedback. If you have no way to invalidate your hypotheses, you end up in mind junk territory. Suspicions turn into assumptions turn into ground truths which fuel further suspicions. With each turn, they become increasingly baseless because that's what complex, unmoored processes do. Reacting to a random shooting by looking to what Israel is saying about it is a signal that one has gone mind junk. (Not irretrievably. We all catch ourselves in idiot territory from time to time. I've criticized OP, so I'll put out an example: I initially suspected Iran was behind the Bondi Beach shootings because I thought high-powered rifles were illegal in Australia, that gangs wouldn't shoot up a synagogue, and I recalled Canberra expelling Iran's diplomatic mission because of something to do with bombing synagogues. Evidence showed that hypothesis to be flatly false. That not only means I need to reverse my hypothesis, but also be suspicious of future times I jump to conclusions around state-sponsored terrorism versus self-indoctrinated domestic terrrorism or more-banal criminality.)
runtimepanic 10mo ago
This is tragic, but it’s probably worth slowing down before drawing any conclusions. The NY Post isn’t exactly known for careful reporting, and early details in cases like this are often incomplete or revised later. Hopefully more reliable sources will clarify what actually happened. Until then, speculation doesn’t really help anyone.
- tlogan 10mo ago
  Tragic. We should not make any assumptions here. I remember that about 20+ years ago a famous biologist was killed, and there were all kinds of speculations about terrorists, the government, and so on. A few years later, Snapped episode was released.
  - MPSFounder 10mo ago
    We should ask questions. When it comes to this, or Epstein, not speculating or asking the right questions makes us destined to subversion by an enemy. Remember the words of Lincoln. Foreign nations cannot win, unless they are aided by an enemy within.
    - dxdm 10mo ago
      Asking questions is not enough, because there is an unlimited supply of them. You can keep asking question after question to sustain endless doubt or to avoid certain conclusions. Questions alone are not productive. Asking questions and being willing to deal with delayed, missing, incomplete, unexpected and unwelcome answers is where it's at.
      - JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
        I’d add that there is a difference between honestly asking questions and phrasing articles of faith as questions.
    - Sabinus 10mo ago
      Foreign nations would also like it if our shared narrative and culture breaks down due to everyone questioning everything all the time. How can we co-operate and co-ordinate if we agree on very little?
Insanity 10mo ago
This website is atrocious to read. But on the actual topic, it could be a case of home invasion etc. No need to jump to conclusions of further malicious intent (yet).
- mk89 10mo ago
  So, if the news say "it was home invasion" is that enough to trust and believe it was home invasion?
  - dxdm 10mo ago
    > So, if the news say "it was home invasion" is that enough to trust and believe it was home invasion? Obviously not. It matters what surrounding facts and circumstances are reported, how extraordinary they are, how they are known, how they were cross-checked, who is doing the reporting, what is their track record around research and impartiality, etc etc. Different people will come to different conclusions about who they trust for what reasons. Some people may conclude they do not trust "the news" in this particular case or in general. Some may have ideas about what they think really happened and will not be convinced otherwise. Very, very few people, especially outside "the news", will do actual, open-minded research. A lot more will comment and speculate pointlessly.
RS-232 10mo ago
This is extremely sad. My heart goes out to his family, friends, students, and peers. Although this was probably a random act of violence, it makes me wonder. As a nuclear scientist, could he have been involved in any sensitive research? Maybe he "knew too much" and was deemed a NatSec/InfoSec threat by certain clandestine groups? It wouldn't be the first time...
nis0s 10mo ago
Isn’t the first thing to do in such cases is to check who in his primary and secondary circles has a licensed firearm? I am not detective, but that makes sense to me.
- RS-232 10mo ago
  That could be any of hundreds of current and former students. It's not legal to do investigations like this since it ends up with a bunch of innocent people getting caught up in the surveillance dragnet, but they do it anyway and use a strategy called "parallel construction" to build a legal case against the suspect that coincidentally incriminates them for the primary crime.
- vorpalhex 10mo ago
  When someone is stabbed, would you go find out everybody who has kitchen knives who lives within a two-mile radius? You'd also be excluding everybody who illegally has a firearm or knife or whatever the murder weapon is.
  - nis0s 10mo ago
    It’s a little different for guns, they’re more tightly controlled and there’s often paper trail of their purchase and licensing of owners, so your example doesn’t apply. I think there’s also the issue that you’re more likely to be murdered by someone you know than a random person. At the very least, matching bullet marks from shots fired from his associates guns to any casings found at the scene is just due diligence.
    - defrost 10mo ago
      The reality of guns in the US is that a gun linked to a crime is likely to be part of a cohort of guns with a "short life to crime" having bounced through obfuscating straw purchases. The most rapidly increasing (although still small in absolute numbers) class of gun associated with crime today are the 3D-printed variations: Thousands of guns are found at crime scenes. What do they tell us? * https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5641154/crime-guns-database-everytown-report https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5641154/crime-guns-data... So, yes, if this a crime of passion, a dispute between aquaintainces that escalated badly then there's a good chance the gun used has a history of ownership and registration. If this is a crime related to home invasion gone badly then it's more likely to be a gun that fell off the radar some time past.
Joel_LeBlanc 10mo ago
It's definitely crucial to evaluate digital assets thoroughly before making any investment. I've found that doing your due diligence can reveal hidden opportunities or risks. Personally, I've been using a free tool called DREA (Digital Real Estate Analyzer) to help streamline my evaluation process. It’s been a game changer for digging into the metrics that matter. What specific aspects are you focusing on in your evaluation?

38 points by tzury 10mo ago

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46295071 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46295071

throw24789 10mo ago
c.f. MIT News obituary https://news.mit.edu/2025/nuno-loureiro-professor-director-plasma-science-and-fusion-center-dies-1216 https://news.mit.edu/2025/nuno-loureiro-professor-director-p...
WhyOhWhyQ 10mo ago
This kind of thing really should not be reposted (have duplicate posts I mean). I assumed a second nuclear scientist was murdered when I saw the headline.
yodon 10mo ago
I found those two sets of threads very demoralizing when they happened. I like to think HN is better than the level of conspiracy theory adoption and 4chan-like haha dude died let me make jokes about it posts in those pages.

MPSFounder 10mo ago

[flagged]

JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
> Mo--ad operation most likely This is America. A burglar, jealous relative or raging lunatic is most likely. If we assume it is state action, which again, is like a teen assuming every zit is a malignant cancer, then putting Israel at the top of the list is pretty much only evidence of being in a filter bubble. (EDIT: Never mind, looked at comment history, troll account.)
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- tzury 10mo ago
  indeed.
- cess11 10mo ago
  I'd wager it might be in response to israeli authorities having made clear that they're suspecting it was done by Iran. Here and there it is also claimed that he was jewish, which I haven't seen any credible sources corroborate. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-strange-death-of-nuno-loureiro/ https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-strange-death-of-nuno-lo...
  - JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
    > it might be in response to israeli authorities having made clear that they're suspecting it was done by Iran Israeli security is going to suspect everything is done by Iran because that is their threat model (and geopolitical incentive). If you asked enough security people in Seoul, they'd suspect North Korea. (Emphasis on suspicion. They wouldn't say it's likely Pyongyang if they're honest and competent.) That's the nature of training focus on an enemy: you're constantly looking for and invalidating connections. Emphasis on active invalidation, which is the opposite of the scientific method, which starts with null hypotheses. But scouting requires empirical feedback. If you have no way to invalidate your hypotheses, you end up in mind junk territory. Suspicions turn into assumptions turn into ground truths which fuel further suspicions. With each turn, they become increasingly baseless because that's what complex, unmoored processes do. Reacting to a random shooting by looking to what Israel is saying about it is a signal that one has gone mind junk. (Not irretrievably. We all catch ourselves in idiot territory from time to time. I've criticized OP, so I'll put out an example: I initially suspected Iran was behind the Bondi Beach shootings because I thought high-powered rifles were illegal in Australia, that gangs wouldn't shoot up a synagogue, and I recalled Canberra expelling Iran's diplomatic mission because of something to do with bombing synagogues. Evidence showed that hypothesis to be flatly false. That not only means I need to reverse my hypothesis, but also be suspicious of future times I jump to conclusions around state-sponsored terrorism versus self-indoctrinated domestic terrrorism or more-banal criminality.)

runtimepanic 10mo ago

This is tragic, but it’s probably worth slowing down before drawing any conclusions. The NY Post isn’t exactly known for careful reporting, and early details in cases like this are often incomplete or revised later. Hopefully more reliable sources will clarify what actually happened. Until then, speculation doesn’t really help anyone.

tlogan 10mo ago
Tragic. We should not make any assumptions here. I remember that about 20+ years ago a famous biologist was killed, and there were all kinds of speculations about terrorists, the government, and so on. A few years later, Snapped episode was released.
- MPSFounder 10mo ago
  We should ask questions. When it comes to this, or Epstein, not speculating or asking the right questions makes us destined to subversion by an enemy. Remember the words of Lincoln. Foreign nations cannot win, unless they are aided by an enemy within.
  - dxdm 10mo ago
    Asking questions is not enough, because there is an unlimited supply of them. You can keep asking question after question to sustain endless doubt or to avoid certain conclusions. Questions alone are not productive. Asking questions and being willing to deal with delayed, missing, incomplete, unexpected and unwelcome answers is where it's at.
    - JumpCrisscross 10mo ago
      I’d add that there is a difference between honestly asking questions and phrasing articles of faith as questions.
  - Sabinus 10mo ago
    Foreign nations would also like it if our shared narrative and culture breaks down due to everyone questioning everything all the time. How can we co-operate and co-ordinate if we agree on very little?

Insanity 10mo ago

This website is atrocious to read. But on the actual topic, it could be a case of home invasion etc. No need to jump to conclusions of further malicious intent (yet).

mk89 10mo ago
So, if the news say "it was home invasion" is that enough to trust and believe it was home invasion?
- dxdm 10mo ago
  > So, if the news say "it was home invasion" is that enough to trust and believe it was home invasion? Obviously not. It matters what surrounding facts and circumstances are reported, how extraordinary they are, how they are known, how they were cross-checked, who is doing the reporting, what is their track record around research and impartiality, etc etc. Different people will come to different conclusions about who they trust for what reasons. Some people may conclude they do not trust "the news" in this particular case or in general. Some may have ideas about what they think really happened and will not be convinced otherwise. Very, very few people, especially outside "the news", will do actual, open-minded research. A lot more will comment and speculate pointlessly.

RS-232 10mo ago

This is extremely sad. My heart goes out to his family, friends, students, and peers. Although this was probably a random act of violence, it makes me wonder. As a nuclear scientist, could he have been involved in any sensitive research? Maybe he "knew too much" and was deemed a NatSec/InfoSec threat by certain clandestine groups? It wouldn't be the first time...

nis0s 10mo ago

Isn’t the first thing to do in such cases is to check who in his primary and secondary circles has a licensed firearm? I am not detective, but that makes sense to me.

RS-232 10mo ago
That could be any of hundreds of current and former students. It's not legal to do investigations like this since it ends up with a bunch of innocent people getting caught up in the surveillance dragnet, but they do it anyway and use a strategy called "parallel construction" to build a legal case against the suspect that coincidentally incriminates them for the primary crime.
vorpalhex 10mo ago
When someone is stabbed, would you go find out everybody who has kitchen knives who lives within a two-mile radius? You'd also be excluding everybody who illegally has a firearm or knife or whatever the murder weapon is.
- nis0s 10mo ago
  It’s a little different for guns, they’re more tightly controlled and there’s often paper trail of their purchase and licensing of owners, so your example doesn’t apply. I think there’s also the issue that you’re more likely to be murdered by someone you know than a random person. At the very least, matching bullet marks from shots fired from his associates guns to any casings found at the scene is just due diligence.
  - defrost 10mo ago
    The reality of guns in the US is that a gun linked to a crime is likely to be part of a cohort of guns with a "short life to crime" having bounced through obfuscating straw purchases. The most rapidly increasing (although still small in absolute numbers) class of gun associated with crime today are the 3D-printed variations: Thousands of guns are found at crime scenes. What do they tell us? * https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5641154/crime-guns-database-everytown-report https://www.npr.org/2025/12/17/nx-s1-5641154/crime-guns-data... So, yes, if this a crime of passion, a dispute between aquaintainces that escalated badly then there's a good chance the gun used has a history of ownership and registration. If this is a crime related to home invasion gone badly then it's more likely to be a gun that fell off the radar some time past.

Joel_LeBlanc 10mo ago

It's definitely crucial to evaluate digital assets thoroughly before making any investment. I've found that doing your due diligence can reveal hidden opportunities or risks. Personally, I've been using a free tool called DREA (Digital Real Estate Analyzer) to help streamline my evaluation process. It’s been a game changer for digging into the metrics that matter. What specific aspects are you focusing on in your evaluation?