harvard & aliens & crackpots: a disambiguation of Avi Loeb

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Strong rec DemocracyFTW2 · 2023-07 · on “Professor believes alien fragments found in 2014 Papua New Guinea meteor”

posted here a few days ago: [ harvard & aliens & crackpots: a disambiguation of Avi Loeb ]( [this video] ) by Angela Collier. It's 1h6m long but I was surprised about myself that I watched the entire thing and I guess it's because of the high quality of the presentation and the occasional deadpan remark that keep you awake. Talk about Avi Loeb specifically start at 24 minutes. The most damning part of her takedown is probably when she shows zoom footage of a physicists' video conference and other snippets where Loeb is literally foaming with expletives directed mostly at fellow physicists, y'know, the Establishment who just wouldn't follow his by-now predictable but wholly unsupported jump from "

Strong rec DemocracyFTW2 · 2023-08 · on “Astrophysicist Avi Loeb: ‘UFOs should be the subject of mainstream inquiry'”

Yeah, that guy again. Required viewing: acollierastro harvard & aliens & crackpots: a disambiguation of Avi Loeb [this video]

Recommends maxbond · 2023-07 · on “Physicist who found spherical meteor fragments claims they are alien”

This isn't the first time Loeb has shouted "aliens!" Previously he said Ouamuamua was aliens based on a hunch, and after the news got their hands on it and declared aliens to the public, astronomers were understandably peeved with him and asked him not to shout "aliens!" unilaterally based on a hunch. Loeb didn't take it well. There's an amazing clip where he rants about how he is the only one serious about finding extraterrestrial intelligence... To a room full of career SETI astronomers. Here's a video essay about him. (People who have a strong preference for direct/to the point videos would probably be better served seeking out another source, I feel like this video adds interesting conte

Recommends hikingsimulator · 2023-08 · on “A Harvard Professor Became the World’s Leading Alien Hunter”

Since it's on topic, I'd like to share a small youtuber who does science communication. She covered Loeb and the topics of crackpots in science [1]. Her other video on string theory and how it damaged science communication is really good too. [1] [this video]

Recommends adolph · 2023-08 · on “A Harvard Professor Became the World’s Leading Alien Hunter”

Thanks to hikingsimulator's link below, here is Loeb interacting with Tarter [0]. The entire video is worth listening to and the vlogger is refreshingly fair minded. 0. [this video]

Recommends Eji1700 · 2023-08 · on “Discovery of Spherules of Likely Extrasolar Composition in the Pacific Ocean [pdf]”

> He's written "over 800 scientific papers". Is that... a good thing in his field? No...it really isn't. If you want a very accurate and in depth breakdown of why, i suggest you watch this: [this video] If you don't want to do the whole thing, just jump to his lovely little interaction with Jill Tarter. Then look at all the comments trying to somehow give this snake oil salesman credibility. He's a publicity chaser who's past his prime and cashing in on his reputation and abusing his position. The fact harvard is profiting from it frankly is a disgrace.

Recommends DemocracyFTW2 · 2023-08 · on “Discovery of Spherules of Likely Extrasolar Composition in the Pacific Ocean [pdf]”

OK so maybe I should've just linked e.g. to that very detailed (and sort of lengthy, but entertaining) video by acollierastro "harvard & aliens & crackpots: a disambiguation of Avi Loeb" ( [this video] ) which is definitely not flamewar-ish. Guess I've gotten somewhat thin-skinned given the volume of faux / overblown science news of late. For those reading this, there's yet another post here ( [LINK] ) that links to a harvard.edu article that gives more details on why the collectors of the spherules believe they have reason to assume that (1) they are really from the suspected meteorite, (2) the material's composition doesn't resemble materials known from other meteorites. Many questions remain t

Cites 7thaccount · 2023-03 · on “Could UFOs be alien probes? A new 2023 Harvard study explores it [pdf]”

I watched his chat with SETI in full and it was unprofessional to say the least. I stand by that. Here's an article talking about it: [LINK] As to the part on the papers, I was open that it was just hearsay and asked for someone with better background to weigh in. Here's a physicist going into some depth on what I referred to: [this video]