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>> TRUE ABOUT YOUR PARTNER, I DON'T KNOW. >> AND THIS IS REALLY COOL. TO A HUMBOLDT PARK BAKERY CELEBRATING TEN YEARS. AND THEY ACTUALLY ARE CELEBRATING BECAUSE OF THEIR PODCAST, WHICH I THINK IS INCREDIBLE. AND WE GOT TO TALK ABOUT THIS. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THINGS AND IN THE SKY, NASA STARS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS. NASA BACK INTERNATIONAL ASTEROID WARNING NETWORK LAUNCHED AN EMERGENCY DEFENSE PROBE AFTER THE INTERSTELLAR COMET, ALSO KNOWN AS THREE EYE ATLAS, EXHIBITED UNUSUAL BEHAVIOR. AND WE'RE TALKING TO THE MAN WHO THINKS THERE'S WAY MORE TO THIS COMET THAN MEETS THE EYE. THIS IS INCREDIBLE.
>> HAVE YOU BEEN FOLLOWING THIS ONLINE?
>> I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING, AND IT LOOKS LIKE ALL OF THE WORLD IS FOLLOWING, TOO.
>> YEAH, WELL, AND I'M ONE OF THOSE NEW PEOPLE WHO ARE FOLLOWING. SO IF WE ASK YOU SOME SILLY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. HARVARD ASTROPHYSICIST. YOU'RE THE PERSON WE'VE GONE TO A COUPLE TIMES FOR THIS TOPIC, PLUS OTHER INTERSTELLAR THINGS. BUT LET'S TALKBOUT THE THE NEW THINGS WITH THREE EYE ATLAS. THAT'S THE CORRECT WAY TO PRONOUNCE IT, CORRECT?
>> YES IT IS. THE NAME IS SIMPLY THAT IT REFERS TO THE THIRD INTERSTELLAR OBJECT OBJECT FROM OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM THAT IS VISITING US, ONLY THE THIRD IN HISTORY, BECAUSE JUST OVER THE PAST DECADE WE HAD THE SURVEY TELESCOPES TO FIND SUCH THINGS. AND ATLAS IS A TELESCOPE HALF A METER IN DIAMETER IN CHILE THAT DISCOVERED IT ON JULY 1ST, 2025. AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHY IT'S VERY FITTING FOR US TO DISCUSS IT AS WE APPROACH HALLOWEEN.
>> YOU KNOW, AVI, FIRST OF ALL, WE LOVE TALKING TO YOU BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HAVE GREAT INSIGHT. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS.
>> AND YOU MAKE IT EASY TO UNDERSTAND, WHICH IS NICE.
>> AND WE TALKED TO YOU, I THINK IT WAS EARLIER THIS MONTH ABOUT THE SAME TOPIC, BUT THERE'S SOME NEW INFORMATION NOW IN TERMS OF PHOTOS THAT HAVE BEEN RELEASED. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SO FAR BECAUSE OF THESE NEW PHOTOS?
>> WELL, THE SHARPEST PHOTO WE HAD WAS FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, AND IT SHOWED A GLOW IN FRONT OF THE OBJECT TOWARDS THE SUN RATHER THAN WHAT WE SEE USUALLY AROUND COMETS, WHERE YOU SEE AN EXTENSION OF A COMETARY TAIL THAT GOES AWAY FROM THE SUN BECAUSE DUST AND GAS ARE BEING PUSHED BY THE SOLAR RADIATION AND WIND. IN THIS CASE, IT WAS LOOKING DIFFERENT. AND THE OBJECT IS ALSO INFERRED TO BE VERY LARGE, COMPARABLE TO MANHATTAN ISLAND. AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS VERY SURPRISING BECAUSE IT'S AT LEAST A THOUSAND TIMES MORE MASSIVE THAN THE PREVIOUS TWO INTERSTELLAR OBJECTS. SO THE QUESTION WAS, YOU KNOW, IS IT SOMETHING OTHER THAN A NATURAL OBJECT? IT FOLLOWED A TRAJECTORY THAT WAS ALIGNED WITH THE PLANETS AROUND THE SUN. SO PERHAPS IT'S ON SOME RECONNAISSANCE MISSION. AND MOST RECENTLY, WE NOTICED OVER THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER THAT THE THE GLOW IS CHANGING DIRECTION. IT'S NOW IN BOTH DIRECTIONS TOWARDS THE SUN AND AWAY FROM THE SUN, AND WE OBTAINED A VERY HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE FROM THE HIGH RISE CAMERA ON BOARD THE MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER. THAT'S A MISSION THAT NASA LAUNCHED A WHILE AGO, AND THAT CAMERA SHOULD GIVE US AN EVEN CRISPER IMAGE THAN THE ONE FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE BY A FACTOR OF THREE. SO WE ARE WAITING FOR THAT. THE PROBLEM IS THE IMAGE WAS TAKEN ON OCTOBER 2ND, AND THAT'S A DAY AFTER THE GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN. AND THE CLAIM IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE SHUTDOWN, NASA IS UNABLE TO RELEASE THE DATA, EVEN THOUGH IT'S ALMOST A MONTH NOW THAT WE ARE WAITING FOR THAT. THAT'S THAT WILL GIVE US ALSO A SIDE VIEW OF THE OBJECT. AND NOW ACTUALLY THIS WEEK, THE OBJECT IS APPROACHING CLOSEST DISTANCE FROM THE SUN. THAT'S ON OCTOBER 29TH. AND THE PROBLEM IS WE CAN'T OBSERVE IT FROM EARTH BECAUSE IT'S ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF OF THE SUN. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SUN DURING THE DAYTIME RIGHT NOW, THE ATLAS IS FLYING BEHIND IT, PERHAPS FOR A REASON. YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECT, THAT'S THE BEST TIME FOR IT TO DO A MANEUVER WHEN IT'S CLOSEST TO THE SUN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SUN'S GRAVITY. THAT'S WHAT WE DO WITH OUR OWN SPACECRAFT. AND SO THE QUESTION IS, WILL IT APPEAR ON A DIFFERENT PATH AFTER PASSING CLOSE TO THE SUN? AND OF COURSE, IF THAT HAPPENS, YOU KNOW, THE STOCK MARKET MAY CRASH BECAUSE IT WOULD MEAN THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SOME RISK INVOLVED. HOWEVER, IF IT IT CONTINUES ALONG ITS ORIGINAL PATH, YOU KNOW, IT COULD STILL BE THAT IT RELEASES SOME PROBES THAT GO TO THE VARIOUS PLANETS AND MANEUVER. SO WE SHOULD KEEP OUR EYES ON THIS BALL OF LIGHT TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER IT'S A NATURAL OR TECHNOLOGICAL. OFTEN, YOU KNOW, IN SCIENCE WE DON'T FACE A SITUATION WHERE WHAT WE DISCOVER HAS IMPLICATIONS TO OUR DAILY LIFE. AND THIS IS A VERY UNUSUAL CASE WHERE, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF THE RISK IS SMALL, IF YOU SAY IT'S MOST NATURALLY, MOST MOST LIKELY A ROCK, YOU KNOW, IT COULD HAVE HUGE CONSEQUENCES IF IT IF IT'S NOT A ROCK. SO THEREFORE WE HAVE TO DISCUSS THAT AS A POSSIBLE, YOU KNOW, BLACK SWAN EVENT THAT WE, WE HAVEN'T ANTICIPATED.
>> WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. LIKE A BLACK SWAN EVENT ALSO, I MEAN, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT I GUESS I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHEN THE STOCK MARKET, BECAUSE I THINK THE AVERAGE VIEWER MAYBE ISN'T AS WELL VERSED IN THIS TOPIC. HOW WOULD IT AFFECT THE STOCK MARKET? SOMETHING IN OUTER SPACE.
>> RIGHT. SO WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE DINOSAURS THAT WERE KILLED BY A GIANT ROCK THE SIZE OF MANHATTAN ISLAND 66 MILLION YEARS AGO. AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS UNEXPECTED. THE DINOSAURS FELT VERY PROUD OF THEMSELVES DOMINATING EARTH, BUT THEY DIDN'T LOOK UP AND THIS ROCK KILLED THEM. NOW, THAT'S A RISK FOR HUMANITY AS WELL. AND WE THINK THAT WE CAN PREVENT SUCH DAMAGE BY MONITORING ROCKS THAT MAY COME CLOSE TO EARTH. BUT THAT ASSUMES THAT THESE ARE ROCKS THAT WE CAN FORECAST HOW THEY WILL BEHAVE. JUST IMAGINE ALIEN TECHNOLOGY, SOME SPACECRAFT THAT CAN MANEUVER IN WAYS THAT WE CANNOT ANTICIPATE. IT'S MUCH MORE COMPLICATED. AND OF COURSE, IF WE EVER ENCOUNTER THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A BLIND DATE OF INTERSTELLAR PROPORTIONS. YOU DON'T KNOW WHO IS ON THE OTHER SIDE. OF COURSE, YOU'RE HOPING THAT IT'S A FRIENDLY VISITOR, BUT IT COULD BE A SERIAL KILLER. SO, YOU KNOW, THERE WILL BE A SENSE OF URGENCY AND UNCERTAINTY. JUST LIKE YOU SEE A VISITOR TO YOUR BACKYARD. AND THE CONCERN IS THE VISITOR WILL SHOW UP IN YOUR FRONT DOOR, YOU KNOW, SO YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT TO DO ON A SHORT TIME. AND, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD INVOLVE, OF COURSE, POLICYMAKERS AND POLITICIANS. BUT AS A SCIENTIST, THE FIRST THING THAT I CAN ALERT TO IS TO AT LEAST CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE MIGHT SEE A VISITOR FROM INTERSTELLAR SPACE THAT COULD BE POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, ASSOCIATED WITH ALIEN TECHNOLOGY, THAT SO THAT WE MONITOR THOSE THINGS AND COLLECT AS MUCH EVIDENCE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IN A BLIND DATE, MY ADVICE TO ANYONE THAT GOES ON A BLIND DATE IS FIRST, OBSERVE THE OTHER SIDE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN BEFORE YOU HAVE AN OPINION, BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING. AND THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN THIS CASE.
>> YOU KNOW, AVI.
>> YOU MENTIONED THE FACT OF THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE IN SOME WAYS THIS COULD BE THE PERFECT STORM, RIGHT? IF IT IS POTENTIALLY A SPACESHIP OUT THERE OR AN ALIEN MOTHERSHIP OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE DON'T OFFICIALLY KNOW. SO MY QUESTION TO YOU IS, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT ACTUALLY IS? AND IF IT IS POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING DEALING WITH ALIENS, WHAT SHOULD WE BE PREPARING FOR? YOU MENTIONED THE STOCK MARKET. IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO KIND OF BRACE OURSELVES FOR THIS? BECAUSE THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE TERRIFYING OR EVEN CATASTROPHIC?
>> I'M SCARED.
>> YEAH. WELL, YEAH. THAT'S RIGHT. I MEAN, IN THE CONTEXT OF INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE ALWAYS PREPARED FOR LOW PROBABILITY EVENTS WITH HUGE IMPLICATIONS, BECAUSE WHEN YOU DON'T PREPARE FOR THAT, YOU ARE SURPRISED. AND THAT COULD BE QUITE DANGEROUS. HOWEVER, WE WERE NEVER PREPARED FOR THIS KIND OF SCENARIO. WE ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT ROCKS COMING FROM THE SKY. THESE ARE METEORS, AND I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU THAT WE SHOULD CHANGE THE WAY WE ADDRESS, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE ARE ENTERING A NEW ERA. THERE IS THE RUBIN OBSERVATORY IN CHILE THAT WILL FIND INTERSTELLAR VISITORS EVERY FEW MONTHS. AND SO WE SHOULD BE READY FOR SUCH A SITUATION. AND THE QUESTION IS, WHAT KIND OF A PLAN SHOULD WE MAKE IN CASE WE NOTICE SOME ALIEN TECHNOLOGY? I SENT A WHITE PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS, THE INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION, BRINGING UP THIS POINT THAT WE SHOULD BE BETTER PREPARED. BUT I DO THINK, YOU KNOW, REALISTICALLY SPEAKING, THAT THE POLITICIANS WILL TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AFTER THE FIRST ENCOUNTER. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE WILL HAVE TO ESTABLISH AN ALERT SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES. PROBES IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM THAT ALERT US TO ANY INCOMING TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECT, AND THEN WE HAVE TO DECIDE HOW TO DEAL WITH IT, SHOULD WE INTERCEPT THEM. AND MY VIEW ON THAT IS THAT IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE, THE DETAILS OF, OF WHAT THESE VISITORS ARE. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO FIGURE THEM OUT TO LEARN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THEM AND, YOU KNOW, COME CLOSE TO ANY OF THEM AND TAKE SOME CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPHS TO INFER WHAT, WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT. AND BUT IT MAY WELL BE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE ARE REPRESENTING A TECHNOLOGY FAR MORE ADVANCED THAN OURS, THAT THAT WE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO MUCH, AND THEN IT WILL INTRODUCE A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS AND THE, YOU KNOW, IT'S SOMETHING WE HAVEN'T DISCUSSED IN THE PAST, BUT NOW I THINK WE SHOULD.
>> OCTOBER 29TH IS THE DATE YOU SAID. RIGHT. SO WE ALL NEED TO BE BRACING FOR FOR EVERYTHING. MAYBE HALLOWEEN WON'T GO THE WAY WE THOUGHT. OKAY, I WANT TO ASK YOU ABOUT THIS BECAUSE YOU DID WRITE THAT INTERESTING ARTICLE, THAT PIECE THAT YOU WERE SAYING THAT YOU PUT OUT. I THINK THAT WAS LAST WEEK. AND YOU MENTIONED THERE THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT KIND OF LIKE THE FIRST TIME. SO DO YOU THINK INTERSTELLAR BEINGS HAVE VISITED EARTH IN THE PAST? AND IF THE ANSWER IS YES, WHEN AND WHAT WERE THE RESULTS? DID THEY JUST COME THROUGH SPACE AND THEN GO BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM? DO WE KNOW?
>> WELL, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. YOU KNOW, RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY IS ONLY 8000 YEARS OLD. AND THAT'S ONE PART IN A MILLION OF THE AGE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY. SO WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. BEFORE WE START, YOU KNOW, HUMANS STARTED RECORDING THEIR HISTORY. I DISCUSSED IT ON FRIDAY WITH JOE ROGAN IN AN EPISODE THAT SHOULD COME OUT SOON, PERHAPS TOMORROW, OR I MEAN, DEFINITELY THIS WEEK. AND MY, YOU KNOW, I'M COMPLETELY OPEN MINDED ABOUT THAT. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TRAFFIC WE HAD OF SUCH VISITS AND WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS WERE IN THE PAST AND, AND WHETHER THEY PUT ANY MONITORS IN OUR BABY ROOM. YOU KNOW, OUR CIVILIZATION IS SO YOUNG, THEY MIGHT THINK OF US AS A BABY THAT NEEDS SOME MONITORS IN THE BABY ROOM. AND, AND THEN IF THEY SEE ANY ANYTHING WORRISOME, THEY MIGHT ACTUALLY SHOW UP IN A WAY THAT WE DON'T ANTICIPATE. SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT, YOU KNOW, IN FACT, JUST TODAY, I WAS I'M FINISHING A PAPER ABOUT AN OBJECT THAT WAS DEFINED AS A QUASI MOON, A MINI MOON THAT WAS ADDED, PERHAPS TO THE ACTUAL MOON THAT WE HAVE. IT WAS DISCOVERED JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO NEAR EARTH. AND THIS IS AN INTERESTING QUESTION AS TO WHETHER SUCH AN OBJECT. SUDDENLY WE SEE A MINI MOON THAT IS AROUND US. IS THAT THE MONITOR? YOU KNOW, INSTALLED BY SOME INTERSTELLAR VISITOR? WE HAVE TO KEEP OUR EYES ON THE SKY AND FIGURE THINGS OUT BASED ON DATA BASED ON EVIDENCE, RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, SPECULATIONS. AND I'M JUST SUGGESTING THAT WE KEEP THIS IN MIND BECAUSE THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS IGNORE ANY, ANY POTENTIAL RISK FROM ALIEN TECHNOLOGY.
>> YOU KNOW, I DID SEE SOME ARTICLES POSTED AND IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE IT WAS THE BEST SOURCES, SO MAYBE I DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE IT WITH THAT SECOND MOON, QUOTE UNQUOTE. I HAVE A TWO PART QUESTION FOR YOU, ONE TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, QUOTE UNQUOTE EVIDENCE. I GUESS WE'RE SEEING THAT THREE EYE ATLAS COULD BE A MOTHERSHIP. AND RATHER THAN JUST AN OBJECT, BECAUSE I SAW REPORTS THAT A THAT A TAIL WAS CHANGING DIRECTIONS ON IT. AND THEN ANOTHER PART IS WHAT WE HAVE ON THE BOTTOM OF OUR SCREEN THERE. YOU KNOW, THAT'S MANHATTAN SIZE. COMET. HOW MUCH DAMAGE COULD THAT DO?
>> OH, SO THE SIZE IS, FIRST OF ALL, QUITE SURPRISING BECAUSE AS I SAID, IT'S A AT LEAST A THOUSAND TIMES MORE MASSIVE THAN THE PREVIOUS TWO VISITORS. AND YOU JUST DON'T EXPECT SOMETHING AS HUGE AS THAT TO COME. BEFORE YOU SEE, LET'S SAY A THOUSAND MORE SMALLER OBJECTS. AND SO AND ALSO THE TRAJECTORY WAS ALIGNED WITH THE PLANETS, WHICH IS VERY SURPRISING BECAUSE THE CHANCE OF THAT HAPPENING AT RANDOM IS 1 IN 500. SO IN THAT SENSE, THAT'S THAT RAISED MY ALERT TO THE OBJECT. AND AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE JUST NEED TO GET MORE DATA ABOUT IT. THERE IS ALSO NICOLE SHED BY THIS OBJECT MUCH MORE THAN, THAN IRON. AND AND THAT IS A SIGNATURE OF A TECHNOLOGICAL MANUFACTURING OF NICKEL ALLOYS. SO THE OBJECT IS STRANGE, BUT IT COULD BE THAT ALL OF THESE QUITE RARE PROPERTIES ARE BY CHANCE, YOU KNOW, LIKE WE NEED TO, TO FIGURE THEM OUT, UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY'RE COMING FROM. AND, AND ESPECIALLY KEEP OUR EYES ON IT FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT IT DOESN'T MANEUVER AND IT DOESN'T RELEASE ANY MINI PROBES THAT COULD AFFECT THE EARTH AND IN AN UNEXPECTED WAY. AND SO ALTOGETHER, YOU KNOW, I RANKED IT FOUR ON A SCALE WHERE TEN IS DEFINITELY TECHNOLOGICAL AND ZERO IS DEFINITELY NATURAL. THIS IS NOW CALLED THE LOEB SCALE. AND, YOU KNOW, I SAY THAT IT IS SUFFICIENTLY UNUSUAL FOR US TO KEEP AN EYE ON IT, BUT IT MAY NOT BE ANY IT MAY NOT RAISE ANY REASON FOR CONCERN AS OF NOW, UNTIL WE NOTICE SOMETHING THAT DEFINITELY MAKES IT TECHNOLOGICAL, FOR EXAMPLE, WE CAN SEE THAT IT MANEUVERS IN WAYS THAT ROCKS DO NOT. WE CAN SEE SOME ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS COMING FROM IT, OR WE CAN DETECT A RADIO SIGNAL FROM IT. YOU KNOW, THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF WAYS BY WHICH YOU REALIZE SOMETHING IS TECHNOLOGICAL. WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT YET, BUT WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT AND ON IT WILL BE CLOSEST TO EARTH, ACTUALLY ON DECEMBER 19TH, WHICH IS JUST THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I HOPE IT WILL NOT RUIN ANY HOLIDAY EVENTS. SO THAT'S WHEN WE SHOULD GET AS MUCH DATA ABOUT IT FROM EARTH. AND THEN ON MARCH 16TH, 2026, IT WILL COME CLOSEST TO JUPITER. IT CAME VERY CLOSE TO MARS. BY VERY CLOSE, I MEAN, RELATIVE TO THE SIZE OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND VERY CLOSE TO IT WILL COME VERY CLOSE TO TO JUPITER. AND THESE ARE FEATURES THAT WE ALSO DIDN'T EXPECT, BECAUSE IF IT WERE TO ARRIVE AT A RANDOM TIME, YOU KNOW, IT WOULDN'T COME SO CLOSE TO THESE PLANETS. THEY MOVE AROUND THE SUN OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. AND WHY WOULD IT BE AT THE RIGHT TIME, AT THE RIGHT PLACE, TO BE SO CLOSE TO THEM? AND THAT WAS PERHAPS ANOTHER SIGNATURE OF PLANNING OR FINE TUNING OF ITS ARRIVAL.
>> ABBY, YOU MENTIONED THE LIGHT. YOU MENTIONED HOW IT MOVES. I'M NOT YOU. YOU'RE AN EXPERT IN ALL OF THIS. I BLAME EVERYTHING ON THE CHINESE SPY BALLOONS. BUT IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, THOUGH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CAPABILITIES TO EVEN BUILD SOMETHING LIKE THIS, WHO WOULD BE BEHIND AN INTERSTELLAR SPACESHIP? WHO HAS THE TECHNOLOGY? IF WE'RE THINKING NOT ALIEN TO EVEN BUILD OR CREATE SOMETHING OF THIS MAGNITUDE IN THE FIRST PLACE? I SEE YOU'RE SHAKING YOUR HEAD. SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE AN ANSWER TO THAT, BUT THAT WAS THE FIRST PLACE MY MIND WENT.
>> YEAH, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. I SHOULD SAY THAT ARTHUR C CLARKE, YOU KNOW, HE HAS THIS SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL, RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA, WHERE HE IMAGINED THE SITUATION WHERE A CYLINDRICAL SPACECRAFT ARRIVES IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE ASTRONOMERS NOTICE IT, AND IT HAS A SIZE OF TENS OF KILOMETERS. WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. SO HE ALREADY IMAGINED SUCH AN ARRIVAL. NOW TO YOUR QUESTION. YES, IT REQUIRES A HUGE AMOUNT OF ENERGY WELL BEYOND WHAT WE CAN CONSTRUCT. YOU KNOW, WE EVEN STARSHIP, THE BIGGEST ROCKET THAT WE BUILT, IS SMALLER THAN HUNDRED METERS. AND THIS ONE, I'M TALKING ABOUT AN OBJECT THAT IS AT LEAST 50 TIMES BIGGER THAN THAT. SO WE DEFINITELY DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO IMAGINE HOW HOW YOU BUILD SUCH A THING, HOW YOU LAUNCH IT. AND BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THE SUN IS RELATIVELY YOUNG. THE SUN IS A YOUNG STAR. IT FORMED ONLY IN THE LAST ONE THIRD OF COSMIC HISTORY. SO MOST OF THE STARS FORMED BILLIONS OF YEARS BEFORE THE SUN. AND JUST IMAGINE A CIVILIZATION LIKE OURS THAT EXISTED A FEW BILLION YEARS BEFORE US. YOU KNOW THAT CIVILIZATION HAD ENOUGH TIME TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES THAT GO WELL BEYOND WHAT WE CURRENTLY POSSESS, AND IT HAD THE BENEFIT OF TIME. AND YOU MAY ASK, OKAY, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR THEM TO ARRIVE AT OUR BACKYARD? THAT, AGAIN, IS LESS THAN A BILLION YEARS. SO EVEN WITH THE VOYAGER SPACECRAFT, THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE ALREADY USED, VOYAGER WILL BE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE MILKY WAY GALAXY IN A BILLION YEARS. SO IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE THAT THEY WOULD REACH US AS LONG AS THEY DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO LAUNCH SUCH A HUGE THING. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE FINAL POINT I'LL MAKE IS THAT THERE ARE LOTS OF RISKS ON EARTH. YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT CLEAR HOW LONG HUMANITY WOULD SURVIVE. AND THE ONE THING WE SHOULD CONTEMPLATE IS, YOU KNOW, BUILDING A HABITAT IN SPACE THAT WE CAN GO TO FROM EARTH JUST TO SAVE HUMANITY. IF THERE IS A HUGE CATASTROPHE LOOMING OVER THE HORIZON. AND, YOU KNOW, WE HAVEN'T CONTEMPLATED THAT, WE HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT IT. BUT IF WE INVEST A SIGNIFICANT FRACTION OF THE MILITARY BUDGETS WORLDWIDE TOWARDS GOING TO SPACE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT $1 TRILLION A YEAR OR SO. YOU KNOW, THAT'S THE LEVEL OF FUNDING. IF WE PUT $1 TRILLION A YEAR INSTEAD OF TO TO FIGHTING EACH OTHER ON EARTH, BUT TO EXPLORE SPACE, WE CAN IN PRINCIPLE BUILD A SPACE PLATFORM THAT WOULD ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE COMFORTABLY WITHIN A CENTURY FROM NOW. I DON'T SEE A MAJOR ISSUE. IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF RESOURCES. PUTTING ALL THE ARCHITECTS YOU KNOW, THE BEST SCIENTISTS POSSIBLE AND PUTTING MONEY INTO IT SUCH THAT WE CAN ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE IN SPACE FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. AND, YOU KNOW, I'M TALKING ABOUT THE CENTURY. THAT'S A VERY SHORT TIME. AND IF YOU HAD A BILLION YEARS TO SPARE, YOU KNOW, THEN CLEARLY YOU CAN IMAGINE A FUTURE WHERE HUMANS WILL BE IN SPACE AS LONG AS THEY SEE IT AS A PRIORITY FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. AND IF WE CAN THINK ABOUT THAT, IT MEANS THAT OTHERS MAY HAVE DONE THAT ALREADY. I DON'T SEE ANY FUNDAMENTAL REASON THAT PREVENTS IT. IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF PUTTING OUR ATTENTION TO EXPLORING SPACE, RATHER THAN TO KILLING EACH OTHER OR PROTECTING OURSELVES AGAINST EACH OTHER, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT WE ARE DOING. AT A BUDGET OF $2.4 TRILLION A YEAR, YOU KNOW, WORLDWIDE. SO IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES. AND THE POINT IS THAT THIS WOULD BE POTENTIALLY A WAKE UP CALL IF WE NOTICE THAT SOMEONE ELSE DID IT, SUDDENLY WE WOULD REALIZE THERE IS A SMARTER KID ON OUR BLOCK AND THAT KID IS MORE ADVANCED THAN WE ARE, YOU KNOW? AND IT MAY INSPIRE US TO CHANGE PRIORITIES AND WORK TOGETHER BECAUSE WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT. YOU KNOW, ALL HUMANS ON EARTH ARE IN THE SAME BOAT. MAKES NO SENSE FOR US TO BE IN CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER ALL THE TIME, RATHER THAN WORK TOGETHER AND AND EXPLORE SPACE.
>> VERY WELL SAID.
>> AND YOU WERE. THANK YOU.
>> YOU WERE THE SMARTEST KID ON YOUR BLOCK. I KNOW IT GROWING UP 100%.
>> WHEN YOU HAVE A SCALE.
>> NAMED AFTER YOU, I THINK. I THINK YOU GOT IT MADE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING THE PROGRAM AGAIN. WE LOOK FORWARD TO TALKING TO YOU. MAYBE IT WILL