Yes, I agree. I believe they have a good idea of where a larger piece of material is located, and they are planning another expedition to determine whether this object is artificially made or not.
Likely just molten bits of meteor that cooled into spheres when they hit the ocean. Drip some melted solder into a glass of water and you’ll see what I mean.
Avi Loeb certainly agrees with you and explained it in the linked Medium post and in earlier posts he made during the expedition. The spherules distributed over a wide area. By observing patterns in where they are most densely distributed, they can infer the likely path of the object.
Let’s be real, it’s probably a chunk of rock. But even if that’s all it is, it’s a chunk of rock from outside our solar system. That’s wild.
Say it’s not just a chunk of rock. Say it has sings of manufacture or symbols of some kind. Now we’re getting into the realm of “we’re not alone”. That’s highly unlikely but still a possible outcome.
I reality, this is a massive find and a tremendous accomplishment in the face of endless naysayers who told him the object was mundane and could not be from outside our solar system. Get ready for Loeb going on an epic ego trip victory lap. :)
Seems bizarre to discount the possibility of the material being extraterrestrial. Space rocks collide with our atmosphere dozens of times each day. It would be weirder to see this sort of residue from some earthbound process.
I think that people were reluctant to believe it was from outside our solar system. That is unusual.
Loeb and others have determined there are likely many objects passing through our system at any given time but the odds of any one of them impacting the earth is fairly low.
The opportunity to study these materials directly is pretty amazing.
The scientific establishment is also really freaked out about his theory that oumuamua (not sure I spelled that correctly) might possibly be a piece a instellar space junk. If that were true it would be incredible. I think that people are worried that if he turns out to be right about this object, it will lend his hypothesis about the other object more credence.
I understand and feel a similar sentiment. However, I think it’s important to also accept that we as a species have a pretty large hubris. Sometimes, we think we know more than we actually do. In reality, in the time scale of the cosmos we are infants just learning to crawl and discover the universe around us. So, what might seem improbable might not be, given that we’ve only just started observing.
Oh, agreed. All I was saying is are constantly going off on Loeb because he dares to give voice to the possible. The man is enjoying his life and letting himself dream a little bit still staying well inside his lane in terms of doing actual science. I just don’t understand why people get so upset. He knows very well that this is probably just a very, very interesting and rare piece of metal that formed naturally in another solar system. When you consider the odds of that reaching us and being recovered, it’s astounding. To pile on a little “what if we find out it was manufactured” at the end seems like a fun bit of whimsy to me, but people act like he’s betting the lives of his children on it behind a miniaturized alien AI databank that is also an intergalactic telephone.
I just don’t get why they have that reaction.
It’s like if you got you car fixed and the mechanic asked if you checked out the ballet troupe that came to town and you became enraged and stormed out. :)
Probably so. I’m hoping they are able to find a larger piece to confirm. It’s an exciting discovery nonetheless that this object originated outside of our solar system.
Yes, I agree. I believe they have a good idea of where a larger piece of material is located, and they are planning another expedition to determine whether this object is artificially made or not.
Likely just molten bits of meteor that cooled into spheres when they hit the ocean. Drip some melted solder into a glass of water and you’ll see what I mean.
Avi Loeb certainly agrees with you and explained it in the linked Medium post and in earlier posts he made during the expedition. The spherules distributed over a wide area. By observing patterns in where they are most densely distributed, they can infer the likely path of the object.
Let’s be real, it’s probably a chunk of rock. But even if that’s all it is, it’s a chunk of rock from outside our solar system. That’s wild.
Say it’s not just a chunk of rock. Say it has sings of manufacture or symbols of some kind. Now we’re getting into the realm of “we’re not alone”. That’s highly unlikely but still a possible outcome.
I reality, this is a massive find and a tremendous accomplishment in the face of endless naysayers who told him the object was mundane and could not be from outside our solar system. Get ready for Loeb going on an epic ego trip victory lap. :)
Seems bizarre to discount the possibility of the material being extraterrestrial. Space rocks collide with our atmosphere dozens of times each day. It would be weirder to see this sort of residue from some earthbound process.
I think that people were reluctant to believe it was from outside our solar system. That is unusual.
Loeb and others have determined there are likely many objects passing through our system at any given time but the odds of any one of them impacting the earth is fairly low.
The opportunity to study these materials directly is pretty amazing.
The scientific establishment is also really freaked out about his theory that oumuamua (not sure I spelled that correctly) might possibly be a piece a instellar space junk. If that were true it would be incredible. I think that people are worried that if he turns out to be right about this object, it will lend his hypothesis about the other object more credence.
The idea that it’s an artificially manufactured item with extrasolar origins is in a totally different galaxy.
It’s possible. It’s highly, highly improbable.
I understand and feel a similar sentiment. However, I think it’s important to also accept that we as a species have a pretty large hubris. Sometimes, we think we know more than we actually do. In reality, in the time scale of the cosmos we are infants just learning to crawl and discover the universe around us. So, what might seem improbable might not be, given that we’ve only just started observing.
Oh, agreed. All I was saying is are constantly going off on Loeb because he dares to give voice to the possible. The man is enjoying his life and letting himself dream a little bit still staying well inside his lane in terms of doing actual science. I just don’t understand why people get so upset. He knows very well that this is probably just a very, very interesting and rare piece of metal that formed naturally in another solar system. When you consider the odds of that reaching us and being recovered, it’s astounding. To pile on a little “what if we find out it was manufactured” at the end seems like a fun bit of whimsy to me, but people act like he’s betting the lives of his children on it behind a miniaturized alien AI databank that is also an intergalactic telephone.
I just don’t get why they have that reaction.
It’s like if you got you car fixed and the mechanic asked if you checked out the ballet troupe that came to town and you became enraged and stormed out. :)
Probably so. I’m hoping they are able to find a larger piece to confirm. It’s an exciting discovery nonetheless that this object originated outside of our solar system.