Harvard astronomer's "alien spherules" are industrial pollutants : science

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I feel it is important to publicise refutations of extraordinary claims widely.

The media generally loves to publish the extraordinary claims. especially ALIENS!! but is silent when the results comeback as "Sorry, they were wrong."

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Well evidence of aliens is news. Proof something isn’t aliens happens every day /s

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Allen bites man? You run that headline every day of the week. Man bites alien, find s out it's a cookie? Please.

[–] Davel23@kbin.social 31 points 10 months ago (4 children)

The "Harvard astronomer" in question is Avi Loeb, who's a complete nutjob.

[–] Maeve@kbin.social 8 points 10 months ago

I was wondering if they bribed their way in.

[–] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 6 points 9 months ago

This is a case of everyone having one of “those uncles.”

That said, I’m much more offended at John Yoo, author of the torture memos saying George Bush has the right to do anything because he’s the president, being hired as a law professor at Berkeley.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 months ago

Somehow I knew it would be him from the headline. He has been making himself look a fool for years now.

[+] samus7070@programming.dev -8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I read his book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” about Oumuamua. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua it was well thought out and examines the object from many angles. He never says it was aliens. He only says that everything we know about it says it isn’t natural and could be aliens. He does say that it passed through so quickly that we really didn’t get a great look at the object and have to make some guesses about it based on observations.

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 11 points 10 months ago

From your link:

By July 2019, most astronomers concluded that it was a natural object, but its exact characterization is contentious given the limited observation window. While an unconsolidated object (rubble pile) would require ʻOumuamua to be of a density similar to rocky asteroids

On 22 March 2023, astronomers proposed the observed acceleration was "due to the release of entrapped molecular hydrogen that formed through energetic processing of an H2O-rich icy body",[33] consistent with 'Oumuamua being an interstellar comet, "originating as a planetesimal relic broadly similar to solar system comets"

Avi Loeb has suggested that it could be a product of extraterrestrial technology,[35] but there is insufficient evidence to support any hypotheses, "despite all [its] strangeness".

While basically every Astrophysicist agrees it is from outside our solar system. He is basically the only Astrophysicist who believes it is an artefact of alien intelligence and design.

While I have not read his book it sounds like a case of confirmation basis on his part.

[–] Stuka@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

So he's this guy:

It's not a better look

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"The pollution was coming from inside the atmosphere."

[–] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

This feels Gary Larson. But why...

[+] ubermeisters@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 8 points 10 months ago

As Carl Sagan said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and is this case the evidence has been found to have a much simpler explanation.

[–] Maeve@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Damn. In the food we eat, the water that sustains us and all else, and the air in our lungs.

[–] jmichaelsturm@fosstodon.org 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

@Pons_Aelius Thank you for posting this great discussion of the science related to Loeb’s extraordinary claims. It always bothered me that he was so certain that the spherules his team found MUST have come from the meteor. To me, it seems improbable that they could so easily find fragments in a large search area within a couple of weeks. The isotope analysis counteracting the claim of interstellar origin is fascinating!

[–] Pons_Aelius@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

I found it really strange as well. The whole story had me thinking conformation bias from the beginning.

It always bothered me that he was so certain that the spherules his team found MUST have come from the meteor.

Exactly. Especially considering there are at least 5 papers dating back to the 1950s describing magnetic spherules found on the seafloor and being from anthropogenic sources.

[–] null@slrpnk.net 2 points 9 months ago

"Alien spherules" sounds like a 196 post title

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