There’s nothing new. It’s a big space rock passing through empty space, not even coming close to us or interacting in any significant way with anything in the solar system.
That’s all the 3I/ATLAS news. Bye!
Oh, but wait, we can rely on Avi Loeb to invent news. Apparently, some “experts” are alarmed!
3I/ATLAS Alarms Experts—NASA, Avi Loeb, Nostradamus and Baba Vanga Clash Over Earth’s Fate
I am amused that the A-team for studying an astronomical body is Avi Loeb, Nostradamus, and Baba Vanga (a Bulgarian psychic). Do not downplay the importance of AI in interpreting images of the body. Here’s a rather speculative reconstruction of 3I/ATLAS.
Yeah, right.
Loeb restrained himself and did not post that image. Instead, he posted an picture of an antimatter-propelled spaceship.
For a little sanity, let’s see what real scientists think of that idea.
Mainstream scientists [Loeb is not one] have met the claim with skepticism. Dr. Samantha Lawler, an astrophysicist at the University of Regina, told EarthSky: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the evidence presented is absolutely not extraordinary.” NASA officials, cited by The Guardian, said 3I/ATLAS “behaves like a natural comet in all observable ways.” Astronomers emphasize that non-gravitational acceleration is typical in icy bodies when sublimating gases create jets that push them slightly off course.
Cosmologists have also dismissed the antimatter theory as inconsistent with known cosmic distributions. Studies published on arXiv indicate that if antimatter concentrations of that scale existed, they would produce gamma-ray backgrounds already detectable by instruments such as Fermi. Loeb himself acknowledged the contradiction, writing that large antimatter bodies “should have been destroyed soon after the Big Bang.”
Loeb is a crackpot, and a high-ranking member of the Harvard faculty. What does that say about Harvard?
3I/Atlas is an alien turd hurled at the Solar System by intelligent life far superior to us because of our deeply ingrained stupidity. As it passes through the Solar System it will disrupt the orbits of planets and asteroids leading to a flurry of earth destroying impacts to get rid of human life before we do something really disastrous for life in the galaxy.
How’s that for a crock of shit? Maybe that will get me a byline in the IBT which I can leverage into a meal or two.
New images of 3I/ATLAS show an anti-tail
You know, just like comets have.
Nostradamus is at a disadvantage in having been dead for over 450 years.
obviously it’s the San-Ti from alpha centauri.
i learned this from the science non-fiction book by Liu Cixin.
Oh, they actually did mean that Nostradamus. I just assumed they were referring to someone using that as a username and I was amused that we give credence to user names these days.
Baba Vanga has also been dead for 25 years apparently.
Maybe it’s passing by to communicate with whales. I believe I saw that on a science documentary somewhere. It was hosted by pale, pointy-ear guy.
I’ve seen that antimatter-propelled spaceship for sale at the Pleasure Chest.
It’s an intelligence test, to see if humanity is okay to join the galactic community.
We fail. As should be completely obvious after Trump’s re-election.
@robro #1:
In psychology, IBT stands for Irrational Beliefs Test. Maybe Loeb should take it.
Did the AI read Vonnegut’s short story “The Big Space F**k”?
“Loeb is a crackpot, and a high-ranking member of the Harvard faculty.”
Harvard, hang your head in shame.
… or maybe he read Rendezvous with Rama, that first image looks a lot like how AC Clarke described Rama once it was close enough to earth to ID it.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112537.Rendezvous_with_Rama
Frankensteen @ 12
And like R.w.R., this, too, will be a nothing-burger.
What does that say about Harvard?
That they really respect the concept of tenure?
Has the world always been like this or is the 21st century particularly insane?
He’s quite the busy beaver: https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/Opinion.html
If you want material produced by more entertaining cranks, I shall post a link to the next God Awful Movies the moment Noah, Eli and Heath post it.
Meanwhile, you can try “GAM 196 Alien Intrusion ; unmasking a deception” about space aliens being demons in disguise.
Or “GAM 190 Flat Earth Cues”. Or “GAM 247 Signs”. The last film by M Night Shyamalan somehow got a wide audience.
Am I the only one who misread that as “Baba Yaga?”
Radio Signal Crushes Alien Theory About Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Steve @18:
No. I was expecting a claim that 3I/ATLAS is actually a hut with chicken legs.
Which, to be honest, is exactly as likely as Loeb’s ideas.
Maybe since Ace passed on recently, this is Frehley’s Comet.
Maybe we could all chip in and send Loeb a purple track suit and a plastic bag.
Nostradamus (Quatrain 41, Century II) wrote:
Which obviously settles the matter.
Lost in our disdain over this brouhaha is the fact that some news organization is giving this crackpot oxygen.
Matt, so is some blogger. (ahem)
Matt G @24
John Morales @25
What P.Z. is giving him is more akin to Hydrogen Sulfide
Oxygen oxidises.
Oxygen doesn’t oxidise in fluorine.
Oxygen oxidised!
(The main joke was the eponymous term)
One thing I like in that “reconstruction” of the alien spaceship is the row of white lights along the side, like a 1950s passenger jet plane. Implications: deep space has an up and a down, and the passengers lucky enough to be near a window want to look out along the sides to while away the journey; and that the aliens see using electromagnetism in the Earth visible light spectrum, meaning their home planet has an atmosphere with similar transparency to ours in that range. Or no atmosphere at all, of course. No doubt they are now practising “Take me to your Leader” in English, using their anciently evolved (or God- given) 1 earth atmosphere, 80% nitrogen, gas vibration based communication system with a frequency range of 100-4000Hz or so. No imagination, some aliens.
Bolded for headline.
Do they tho’?
Clash? More like Avi Loeb, Nostradamus, and Baba Vanga say – or have attributed to them – some nonsense and NASA ignores them.
Over Earths fate? Hmm. More like over the nature of what Comet 31 /Atlas is.
Spoiler, it is a remarkable rarely seen interstellar – but quite natural comet. Almost certainly given lack of extraordinary evidence to prove otherwise. Occam’s razor and all.
@Snarki, #8
I agree that we would fail, but not because of Trump’s re-election. It would be nice if people stop thinking of the US as being representative of all humanity. Over 90% of the world’s population is outside the US and had no hand in his election. Biillions of people have lives, livelihoods and world views utterly distinct from those of Americans. The American right wing constantly places “the West” at the heart of their bullshit narrative, which is rarely more than an extension of their belief in Americam exceptionalism, with more than a touch of white supremacy. The rest of us should avoid sounding like them. So maybe the US would be judged on Trump, but the rest of us have plenty of our own horrendous failings to be judged on.
It’s funny how large chunks of the UFO fandom, who regularly denounce scientists because they don’t accept UFO claims at face value, are making a big Appeal to Authority argument with Loeb. “He’s a Harvard scientist, so he must be right!”
I think Loeb is just trying to be the next Michio Kaku, someone with mainstream science credentials who finds playing to people with fringe beliefs gets him a lot more attention.
If aliens are involved they probably sent it towards us so they can eavesdrop on the Internet and laugh at us. “Hey, look at DisclosureFan66 on Reddit, he thinks we’re coming to give them the wisdom of the Space Brothers! What an idiot!”
Gam 196 “Alien Intrusion: Unmasking a Deception”
The demon aliens are coming to probe our butts!
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=llUWbX4M618
You know, whenever people discuss stuff like this, we should jump in and cry “Loeb is paid by the demons! Those things are not aliens!”
Don’t worry. You can defeat the aliens with a simple baseball bat.
GAM 247 “Signs”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=NY-48LpRpBU
Creationists HATE interstellar comets because they confirm the astronomer’s model that 1) planets are formed from billions of planetesimals and 2) once formed, the giant planets kicked the remaining planetesimals either into the Oort cloud, or out of the solar system completely, so they wander the galaxy. If the galaxy is 3) billions of years old, then these interstellar wanderers have time enough to reach other stars, so they occasionally pass through another solar system. Mainstream astronomy PREDICTED the existence of interstellar comets and was beginning to get worried that none had been seen, while creationists were gleefully anticipating another “failed prediction!” Now we have 3 interstellar comets, and instead of crowing, creationists are eating crow!
did anyone see the northern lights last night?
they are supposed to be caused by charged particles from the sun getting funneled to the poles by the earth’s magnetic field, where they ionize gas way up high making pretty neon signs in the sky.
but i know the truth.
it’s chemtrails from 3I/ATLAS.
Image further enhanced with AI
https://www.pachd.com/free-images/food-images/taco-01.jpg
Well, they also had John Mack on their faculty.
If the first picture is anywhere near accurate, I’d say were looking at proof that “intelligent” life still craves a Carnival tour now and then, no matter where they’re from. I hope they have travel insurance.