Published paper can be found here.

Post by Avi Loeb on his blog.

  • @SpaceNoodle
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    61 year ago

    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.

    • @grabyourmotherskeys
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      31 year ago

      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.

      • @SpaceNoodle
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        41 year ago

        The idea that it’s an artificially manufactured item with extrasolar origins is in a totally different galaxy.

          • @SignullGoneOPM
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            21 year ago

            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.

            • @grabyourmotherskeys
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              21 year ago

              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. :)