S1E51 - Avi Loeb - The Infinite Sum Game
In the same week that NASA announced Mark McInerney as its new Director of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Research - known to the rest of us as UFOs - we met with Harvard Professor of Science Avi Loeb, dubbed one of the 25 most influential people on the topic of Space. We discuss his recent expedition to the ocean near Papua New Guinea where their team collected and analyzed material from an interstellar “package” that could provide physical evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. While Loeb points out that the ocean is an “excellent museum” where we can conduct cost-effective research, he is under fire for his engagement of the public and for proposals that some think are outlandish. In his own defense, he is collecting the physical evidence, using the scientific process to validate his claims, and staying true to the spirit of academia. Tenure was designed to encourage researchers and thinkers to deviate from the beaten path in order to achieve breakthroughs. Loeb believes that finding an intergalactic “partner” would give humanity vast inspiration and greater purpose than the common cross-border squabbles that currently consume most of our resources in defense spending. Listen for a glimpse into how we all can contribute to the “Infinite Sum Game” that is the nature of science. Join us.
Biography
Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University, longest-serving chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy, founding director of Harvard’s Black Hole Initiative, and current director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) within the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. He also heads the Galileo Project, chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, and is former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. Author of eight books and over a thousand scientific papers, Loeb is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics. In 2012, Time selected Loeb as one of the twenty-five most influential people in space. He lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
New York Times: July 24, 2023 - Scientist’s Deep Dive for Alien Life Leaves His Peers Dubious
Latest Book: Interstellar - The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars
Conversation recorded on September 15, 2023.