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Today, during an online lecture at the Science Week conference in Morocco, I noticed that a group of hijab-wearing students at the back of the lecture hall were interested in the science I was explaining. Seeing them gave me hope for the future of humanity. In that moment, I felt closer to their true wonder than my colleagues, who were culturally and physically similar to me but had lost their genuine curiosity. In two subsequent interviews with Moroccan reporters, I emphasized my feeling that scientific curiosity unites people.
The laws of physics have no borders. All atoms obey the same quantum mechanical equations, regardless of which country owns them. As a result, scientific knowledge should be shared with all human beings, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, culture, religion, socio-economic background, political affiliation, gender identity, geographic location, skin color, or genetic makeup. is. When it comes to what we have in common, science is real.
Over the past few days, I have had five independent international conversations with scientists from around the world. One of the conversations was with professors in Indonesia who were interested in sending talented students to work with me on the Galileo project. I responded positively and pointed out that one of these students could become the next Albert Einstein. The second discussion was with a representative from the Australian Space Agency, who was seeking advice on space exploration. The third time was an exchange with a Polish science curator, the fourth with a German space industry leader, and the fifth with a Japanese science educator. Science is international, as Louis de Broglie pointed out in 1949 when he proposed the idea of multilateral cooperation on CERN.
The unifying nature of science is best illustrated when it deals with things outside our solar system. Presidents of certain countries must not have access to data or materials from outside the solar system. All scientific knowledge about our cosmic neighborhood, including unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), should be shared.
Physics is concerned with the physical reality that we all experience, which is best measured by instruments. This is what I argued in my opening lecture at the Sol Foundation Conference at Stanford University on November 17, 2023. It’s amazing how many people approach UAP with religious or emotional beliefs. Their approach departs from the proper scientific narrative typified by the Galileo program. What scientists discover may differ from hypotheses that are not based on detailed quantitative measurements. The difference between science and belief systems becomes clear when we compare modern cosmology with the Biblical book of Genesis. In both cases, the universe began at the beginning, but details related to what happened after that differ greatly between his two versions.
It is important not to interpret low-quality data or eyewitness testimony based on scientific speculation about new physics. A few months ago, in his hour-long conversation with David Grush, I advised him to avoid mentioning “holographic principles” or “extra dimensions” in the context of UAPs. These concepts constitute mathematical conjectures in string theory that have no experimental support, according to the scientists who proposed them. If these concepts provide a solid basis for explaining real-life phenomena, the scientists who proposed them would receive a Nobel Prize to commemorate a validated theory of quantum gravity. Sho. New physics requires high-quality data, not partial data.
New scientific knowledge comes from precise measurements made with properly calibrated instruments. Obtaining such data requires significant effort and significant financial resources, often in the range of millions to billions of dollars.
The range of possible realities is much wider than the one physical reality that we all experience. What we know about that one reality is obtained through the tedious process of gathering scientific evidence. It took the Galileo Project’s interstellar exploration team a full year to recover material from the Pacific site of interstellar meteor IM1 and analyze a sample of the spherules in a new detailed paper. The work and funding required for people outside the research team to have a voice has been reduced by orders of magnitude.
Plural belief systems lack an independent arbiter and therefore tend to divide humanity into tribes. In contrast, the power of experimental data to rule out some ideas and validate others makes science a unifying force. As we learn more about physical reality, we can adapt and use it to our benefit for shared prosperity. Scientific progress is a symbol of our collective intelligence. As we learn that extraterrestrial civilizations have acquired more knowledge, we will progress by learning from them. If all advanced cultures are based on science, this may unite us with them.
It’s clear what needs to be done.As Virgil wrote in his epic poem Aneid: “Sic Itur Ad Astra”, literally translated as “This is how one departs for the stars”. Stay tuned for the next interstellar expedition currently being planned.
About the author
Avi Loeb Director of the Galileo Project, Founding Director of the Black Hole Initiative at Harvard University, Director of the Institute for Theoretical Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and former Chair of Astronomy at Harvard University (2011-2020). He serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board for Breakthrough His Starshot Project, is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and is past Chairman of the National Academies’ Board of Directors on Physics and Astronomy. He is the best-selling author of “.Extraterrestrial: First signs of extraterrestrial intelligence” and co-author of the textbook.life in the universe”, both published in 2021. The title of his new book is “interstellar‘ was published in August 2023.
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