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Rules:
Be cool to each other. Instance rules apply.
All posts should link to a current* blog, article, editorial, listicle, research paper, or something that can be considered "news."
Post title should be the article title or best fit.
No blatant misinformation.
Tags: Not required unless the post fits under one of the below categories.
*[OLD - (year)] For old but relevant articles. Use your best judgement.
[Conspiracy Tuesday] Conspiracy theories. Only allowed on Tuesdays.
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It's just a rock. Without any ice. 🤦♂️
(this is that "comet" without a tail, right?)
It has ice and it has a tail. Comets get a longer "tail" as they get closer to the sun, when heat and radiation cause them to disintigrate and off-gas.
ATLAS's speed and origin are what make it interesting. It's a speedy guy for a comet at its location/trajectory. And, it's interstellar in origin, meaning it came from outside the solar system. Most of what we see in our solar neighborhood was all made from the same big space glob a long ass time ago. Interstellar objects are rare... ish. We've been seeing more since we have big space telescopes now. So who knows.
Anyway, when ATLAS gets closer to the sun and burns off more tail, we can analyze those bits of rock and gas to figure out what it's made of and maybe where it's from.
Loeb is an idiot that doesn't understand Occam's Razor. Or basic logic.
These are his quotes from the article:
Loeb said 3I/ATLAS “is probably a natural object” but thinks it’s important to consider the possibility that it’s technological.
“We have the duty to consider a low probability event,” Loeb said, “just because the implications are huge.”
He's just a curious guy who understands the probability but doesn't shy away from testing a hail mary hypothesis. Let people be creative.
So then it's the article writer/editor who is the idiot trying to make it sound like "alien" has a credible supporter.
You mean the one who provided the above quotes in the article?
It's okay to admit you didn't read it.
Do you not understand that clickbait is shit?
I sure do.
That's why I scanned through about twenty articles on the subject to find the most recently updated and reliable source that offered a unique and balanced perspective, one that's well-sourced with minimal bias.
It's why I picked a journal owned by a non-profit with free articles and minimal ads.
The article title is precisely what the article is about, an expert in astrophysics giving their opinion on a recent astronomical event, and even then I added (It is not) to the title.
Do you know what clickbait is?
You apparently do not. As again, no one who knows what they're talking about on this issue is going to be OK with treating aliens as a remote possibility vs implying a professor is seriously questioning it.
Scientists do treat extraterrestrial life as a real possibility.
Source: Above, a harvard professor and astrophysicist who treats aliens as a real possibility.
But I donno man, one of the only rules here is to be cool to each other. I'm being pretty cool to you, but you're not acting so cool to me.
A difference of opinion is one thing. Trolling for a reaction is not. Do I have to ban you or do you actually care about the subject?
The title inarguably implies serious consideration, not, "We cannot dismiss it off-hand". Even though most people that know what they're talking about do, in fact, agree that dismissing it off-hand is a safe bet.
The title is, arguably, exactly what happened. A comet went by. A harvard professor suggested it could be alien. The title literally reads "Harvard astronomer asks "Is it alien tech?"
Journalism doesn't require a consensus of ideas, it reports what happened.
I'm no expert, but I did take a few astronomy and physics courses in university. And, I've been a member, on and off, of astronomy clubs since highschool. Did you know we legitimately discuss the possibility of alien life in real science classes in university? You can take whole, serious courses on it. There are published, scientific papers on the subject.
This discussion began by you calling Abraham Loeb an idiot who didn't understand logic, to criticizing the journalist, to criticizing the title, to criticizing me, personally, to saying the subject itself is absurd.
I've gone through enough moving goalposts for one discussion, so I'm disengaging and will not respond. Feel free to have the last word if you want it.
"A Harvard professor suggested it could be alien."
Yes, thank you for quoting the exact problem with the title.
There is NO EVIDENCE that aliens exist. Ever. Period. Absolutely none.
That doesn't mean aliens cannot exist, but it exemplifies the profound unlikelihood of anything, ESPECIALLY a basically 100% ballistic tragectory, being aliens.
Again. You do not understand the problem with "specialists" saying stupid things.
This is akin to Dr. Fauci saying, "masks don't have an effect in COVID".
It is GROSSLY IRRESPONSIBLE for professionals to misrepresent the reality of the situation.