Extraterrestrial Life: Are We the Sharpest Cookies in the Jar?

Dr. Avi Loeb, one of the world’s top astrophysicists, has been interviewed 500 times in the few months since his bestselling book, Extraterrestrial Life: First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, was published in late January. That 501st by Jefferson Vice President Ben Speggen seemed extra special.

Loeb’s brilliance came across clearly as he argued for the scientific method whether in the study of the stars, solar systems, or everyday life: see the issue, try to develop evidence, gather more evidence, reach conclusions. The more evidence, the more reliable the conclusions. Don’t waste the process of data gathering by not understanding its true relevance to an issue or problem.

Dare to take risks, he urged. It’s how he left his family farm in Israel, earned a Ph.D. in Physics by age 24, came to the U.S. as part of President Reagan’s Star Wars idea in 1987, took the challenge of a Princeton fellowship on the condition he pursued astrophysics, and built a career at Harvard basically in search of the unknown.

It’s not your everyday Horatio Alger story. If you take risks, you may fail. But don’t take the safe path. Because if you do, what will you gain in the end? In other words, shoot for the stars and maybe you’ll get there. Loeb is still trying to reach them as a leading figure in a daring project to develop a craft that can reach the next star within 20 years through wind sail and ultralight material technology that would travel at one-fifth of the speed of light and send pictures home once it reaches its destination.

Those words do little justice to Loeb’s arguments, which he spells out in 66,000 words in his book designed to be read by the populace. He’d rather have one picture, he says, that could help prove his theories that extraterrestrial objects – perhaps space junk technology rather than living beings – are bouncing off our star, the sun, more commonly than thought.

Among his favorite movies is “Arrival,” the sci-fi thriller that used legitimate science to tell its story of alien invasion. The producer of that Charlie Sheen movie was among his admiring interviewers this year. Was it kismet or an aligning of the stars? You’ll need to check out Loeb’s books and many other writings to get the lowdown.

This program was a part of Global Summit XII, originally live-streamed on May 12, 2021.

Видео Extraterrestrial Life: Are We the Sharpest Cookies in the Jar? канала Jefferson Educational Society Of Erie