Summary

Avi Loeb (Harvard Biography, Wikipedia) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in outer space. He is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

The Galileo Project & its goals
The Intelligence Community and Outer Space
Government positions on the existence of extraterrestrial life
Connections between intelligence and astrophysics

Reflections

The enormity of our universe
Evidence over opinion or speculation

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

“And my hope is that realizing that we have a smart neighbor that we can learn from would convince us to change our priorities from fighting over territories on this small piece of rock, trying to kill each other, to something more noble, just looking up and having bigger aspirations because there is so much more real estate out there than you find here on Earth.” – Avi Loeb.

Resources

SURFACE SKIM

Spotlight Resource

Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars, Avi Loeb (Mariner Books, 2023)

SpyCasts

I Helped Solve the Final Zodiac Killer Cipher with David Oranchak (2024)
The 18-Year-Old Soviet Spy on the Manhattan Project: Ted Hall with Director Steve James (2023)
Espionage and the Metaverse with Cathy Hackl (2023)
The Information Battlespace – Foreign Denial and Deception with Bill Parquette (2023)

Beginner Resources

What is Astrophysics? A. Belter, Space (2022) [Short article]
What You Need to Know About Astrobiology - The Search for Life in the Universe! NASA, YouTube (2020) [2 min. video]
Glossary of astronomical terms, International Comet Quarterly (n.d.) [Glossary]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

In Plain Sight: An Investigation into UFOs and Impossible Science, R. Coulthart (HarperCollins, 2023)
Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, A. Loeb (Mariner Books, 2022)
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, N. deGrasse Tyson (W. W. Norton & Company, 2017)

Primary Sources

Wildcard Resource

This week, our recommended music accompaniment to this episode is, of course, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie.
This 1972 album, a classic example of the Glam Rock and early Punk era, includes the single “Starman,” which Andrew mentions in this episode.

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#718 - It had to end... but not like this!