Today’s disagreement is on whether or not extraterrestrial life exists. We’ve brought on two guests who are out of this world. ;)
The Guests
Dr. Avi Loeb is an astrophysicist and professor of Science at Harvard University. As head of The Galileo Project at Harvard, Dr. Loeb directs the search for evidence of extraterrestrials. Avi is also the author of more than eight hundred scientific papers and the books Interstellar and Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.
“The human species arrived on Earth just a few million years ago and we are not at the center of the universe.“ - Dr. Avi Loeb
Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine. He is the bestselling author of many books, including Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain. Michael is the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University.
“People mix up two different questions: ‘Are aliens out there somewhere?’ and ‘Have aliens come here?’ We don't know either way.” - Dr. Michael Shermer
The Questions
Do we already have evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life?
What would it take for us to all agree there are technological civilizations beyond earth?
How does the media complicate our understanding of the subject?
And why is there so much tension in the scientific community about this work?
Show Notes
This is the second episode hosted by Catherine Cushenberry –– my colleague, producer, and business partner.
This conversation is heavy on meteor terminology, so here’s a little crash course before you listen:
You’ll hear the familiar term, UFO, used alongside the newer, preferred term UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).
You’ll also hear references to IM-1, or Interstellar Meteor 1, an object that crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2014. Scientists from Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project are currently examining material from it. Defense department data suggests that IM-1 came from outside our solar system. And Avi’s team has recovered hundreds of spherules - tiny spherical fragments - that they posit are parts of IM-1. But there’s considerable debate about what those spherules are and whether IM-1 is truly interstellar.
Detailed Notes
Fermi’s question: where is everybody? [3:45]
Addressing anomalies [6:45]
Radio communication versus finding objects [10:00]
Why media coverage loves “aliens” [12:00]
Skepticism and anomalies [14:00]
Disagreements in the scientific community [16:00]
Real material evidence and the US government [21:00]
Machine learning for observing anomalous objects [27:00]
Episode 14: Extraterrestrial Life