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Washington (AFP)
The discovery of an intelligent life form outside of our planet is perhaps the biggest change in the course of humanity … But what if scientists collectively decide to ignore the evidence indicating this ?
So begins a new book by a leading astronomer who argues that the simplest and best explanation for the unusual properties of an object that passed between stars through our solar system in 2017 is that it s was a technique devised by an extraterrestrial object.
Does this sound strange? Scientist Avi Loeb says the evidence shows otherwise, and he’s convinced his peers in the scientific community are so steeped in collective thinking that they’re not prepared to resort to the UCAM Blade Principle (a simple reasoning method , analysis, and conclusion without delving into the complications).
It’s hard to dismiss the theory of Loeb, who long served as the head of astronomy at Harvard University, published hundreds of groundbreaking articles and collaborated with greats like the late Stephen Hawking.
“The idea that we are unique and special is vanity,” the scientist said in a video interview with AFP.
“The right approach is to be humble and say, ‘We are not special, there are a lot of other cultures and we just need to find them,” he said.
– A mysterious visitor –
Loeb, 58, discusses his theory of the alien “Oumuamua” (the Hawaiian explorer) in his book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth”.
The facts are as follows.
In October 2017, astronomers noticed a very fast moving object, which could only have come from another star, the first recorded case of an interstellar intruder.
It did not look like an ordinary boulder because after setting off around the sun it accelerated and deviated from the expected path, pushed by a mysterious force.
This could easily be explained if a comet blew gas and debris out, but there was no visible evidence of this “gas release”.
The traveler also descended in a strange way, using the method that made him brighter and darker in scientists’ telescopes, and was unusually bright, indicating that he was made of shiny metal.
In order to explain what happened, astronomers had to invent new theories such as that it was made of hydrogen ice and therefore would have no visible effect or that it would dissolve into a cloud. of dust.
“These ideas that came to explain Oumuamua’s characteristics always included something that we had never seen before,” Loeb said.
“If this is the direction we are going, why not think of it as being of synthetic origin?”
– Navigate in the light –
Oumuamua was not photographed up close during his short stay, as he discovered it as soon as he left our solar system.
There are two types of shapes which correspond to the observed characteristics. Long and thin like a cigar, or flat and round like a pancake.
Loeb noted that the simulations favored the second option and believed the object was intentionally constructed as a sail propelled by stellar radiation.
It was also surprising how the body moved, which made its passage even stranger.
Before colliding with our Sun, Oumuamua was “at rest” by analogy with neighboring stars, which is rare. Instead of seeing it as a ship plunging into space, in terms of shape, our solar system collided with it.
“Maybe Oumuamua was like a buoy that rests in the vast expanse of the universe,” Loeb wrote.
– Unify humanity –
Loeb’s ideas put him at odds with his peers.
Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel described him in Forbes as “a scientist who was once respectable”, but he failed to convince his peers of his arguments and began to try to convince the public.
For his part, Loeb protests the “culture of harassment” in the academy that punishes people who question traditional beliefs, just as Galileo was punished when he suggested that Earth is not the center of the universe.
Compared to the speculative branches of theoretical physics, like the search for dark matter or the multiverse, the search for the existence of extraterrestrials is a path that makes more sense to follow, he added.
This is why Loeb is pushing for a new branch of astronomy, “space archeology,” to research the biological and technological signatures of aliens.
“If we find evidence of technologies that took a million years to develop, then we can get a shortcut to those technologies and use them on Earth,” said Loeb, who spent his childhood on a reading philosophy. farm.
Such a discovery could “make us feel like we are part of the same team” as humanity faces threats ranging from climate change to nuclear conflict.
“Instead of fighting, as countries often do, maybe we could cooperate,” he concluded.
© 2021 AFP
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