Avi Loeb | The Search for IM1, the 'Silver Star' Expedition for Interstellar Space Trash Tech-Spherules - a podcast by Alex G. Orphanos, Science Communicator

On this week's episode, we were honored to speak with Avi Loeb for the second time. We were gratiously invited to his home to record and chat all-things space, IM1, and his latest expedition. Dr. Loeb is the Baird Professor of Science and Institute director at Harvard University and the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial” and "Interstellar".

He explains the origins, hypothesis, and research behind searching for the debris of an interstellar object (IM1) that impacted the atmosphere of Earth over the Pacific Ocean. The speed of this object was detected and confirmed by the US Space Command. Avi and his Expedition crew aboard the all-aluminum 'Silver Star' ship dragged a magnetic sled over the ocean floor in search of 'spherules' or melted droplets from IM1's reentry. The 'spherules' would contain evidence of the materials that make up IM1's surface, and the team recovered some! 

This week we share the more curious nature of science with an example of real-life scientific research conducted with a crew, based on real, known physics that provides a platform to test against the potential for "space trash tech-spherules" and the simple "space rock" hypothesis.

The beauty of this experiement is (like all good experiments) it sets the grounds for observed reality to show us what is really going on. Are the spherules made of technological remains, like sillicone and alloys - or some fascinating superalloy from another star system formation? With millions of readers following along with the adventure on Medium, its clear that this interstellar expedition has captured the attention of 'the people' and most important - those who were not already interested in science. 

Thank you to Avi for coming back on the podcast and for sharing about his journey and thoughts on the role of a scientific mindset in our lives. Check out his new book 'Interstellar' coming to a retailer IRL or digitally soon. 

Let us know if YOU think in the comments or email us at todayinspacepodcast@gmail.com!

SOURCES:

https://avi-loeb.medium.com/

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Spread Love, Spread Science Alex G. Orphanos

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