A Harvard professor is risking his reputation to search for aliens. Tech tycoons are bankrolling his quest. (https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-backed-harvard-prof-says-science-should-take-ufos-seriously-2024-4)
QuoteWhile Loeb's claims and camera-ready charm have grated on some in academia, they've amassed for him a loving and growing fan base outside the ivory tower. His work is the subject of an upcoming Netflix documentary. There is also an upcoming off-Broadway show about his life, in which he plans to star. Among his most avid fans are wealthy tech tycoons who see him as one of them: a disruptor. And they are the ones bankrolling perhaps Loeb's most ambitious work to date, The Galileo Project: A research program devoted to seeking the extraordinary evidence that we are not alone.
Quote from: Wahoo Redux on April 10, 2024, 08:19:30 PMA Harvard professor is risking his reputation to search for aliens. Tech tycoons are bankrolling his quest. (https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-backed-harvard-prof-says-science-should-take-ufos-seriously-2024-4)
QuoteWhile Loeb's claims and camera-ready charm have grated on some in academia, they've amassed for him a loving and growing fan base outside the ivory tower. His work is the subject of an upcoming Netflix documentary. There is also an upcoming off-Broadway show about his life, in which he plans to star. Among his most avid fans are wealthy tech tycoons who see him as one of them: a disruptor. And they are the ones bankrolling perhaps Loeb's most ambitious work to date, The Galileo Project: A research program devoted to seeking the extraordinary evidence that we are not alone.
I'm reminded of the movie
Tenure, where there is a professor going up for tenure, with a research portfolio consisting of his search for Sasquatch.
Aliens? Sure. Here? I wish.
More importantly... He has over 1000 pubs!?!
This guy is living his best tenured life. Hats off to him.
I recently saw speculation to the effect that the Fermi Paradox can be explained by advanced civilizations either accidentally destroying themselves, or having to abandon their tech in order to avoid doing so.
He has tenure, has held prestigious appointments, and has also hobnobbed with the famous. He doesn't have anything to lose, so why not play at finding extraterrestrials as long as he's getting funded? Sounds like a last fling before retirement.
QuoteLoeb argues that while we haven't yet found any evidence of aliens, this may be precisely because scientists have been so reluctant to look for them.
Or, it may be that the aliens are reluctant to visit us -- for good reason!
In space there is a lot of stuff around whose properties are not fully described by existing models. So to here on earth. Scientists develop an array of hypotheses that might explain the properties and then conduct experiments to disprove some of them. One hypothesis might be "it is controlled by space aliens." I don't personally bother to disprove that mechanism in my biology experiments. So I am guilty of not looking, as Loeb argues. If given enough money, I could add that test to the project.
I figured SETI would find them if they are out there.