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Abraham (Avi) Loeb is the Frank B. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science at Harvard University and a bestselling author (in lists of the New York Times,Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, L'Express and more).
He received a PhD in Physics from
the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem in Israel at age 24 (1980-1986),
led the first international project supported by
the Strategic
Defense Initiative (1983-1988), and was subsequently a
long-term member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton
(1988-1993). Loeb has written 8 books, including most recently, Extraterrestrial (HarperCollins, 2022) and Interstellar (HarperCollins, 2023) and nearly a thousand papers (with
h-index
of 123 and i10-index of 562) on a wide range of topics, including
black holes, the first stars, the search for extraterrestrial life and
the future of the Universe.
Loeb is the Director of
the Institute for Theory and Computation (2007-present)
within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
, and also serves as the Head of
the Galileo Project (2021-present).
He had been the
longest serving Chair of Harvard's
Department of Astronomy (2011-2020) and the Founding Director of
Harvard's Black
Hole Initiative (2016-2021).
He is
an elected fellow of
the American
Academy of Arts & Sciences,
the American
Physical Society, and
the International Academy of
Astronautics. Loeb is a former member of the
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) at the White House, a former chair of
the Board
on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies (2018-2021) and
a current member of the Advisory Board for "Einstein: Visualize
the Impossible" of the Hebrew University.
He also chairs the Advisory Committee for
the Breakthrough
Starshot Initiative (2016-present) and serves as the Science Theory Director
for
all Initiatives
of the Breakthrough Prize
Foundation. In
2012, TIME
magazine selected Loeb as one of the 25 most influential people in
space and in 2020
Loeb was
selected among the 14 most inspiring Israelis of the last
decade. Click here
for Loeb's commentaries.
Staff Assistant:
ITC Administrator:
BHI Administrator:
Theory Div. Admin.:
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*Extraterrestrial: 28 editions in 25 languages worldwide (2021).
*Extraterrestrial summary, HMH (2021).
IN THE NEWS:
*A Tale of Two Nobel Laureates (September 21, 2023).
*Loneliness is Pointless (September 16, 2023).
*Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars (September 13, 2023).
*A Piece of Sky (September 9, 2023).
*Escaping Earth as a Sign of Intelligence (September 4, 2023).
*Practice What You Preach (September 3, 2023).
*Reconstructing the First Interstellar Meteor, IM1 (September 2, 2023).
*The IM1 Spherules from the Pacific Ocean Have Extrasolar Composition (August 29, 2023).
*Sporting Science (August 26, 2023).
*A Salute to Nature (August 24, 2023).
*Letters from Earthlings and Beyond (August 14, 2023).
*Opening Interstellar Packages In Our Mailbox (August 12, 2023).
*Seeking a Higher Intelligence (August 8, 2023).
*Recruiting Panelists from the the Bar at Harvard Square (August 4, 2023).
*An Extraterrestrial Messiah? (July 29, 2023).
*An Unprecedented Hearing on Extraterrestrials at the US House of Representatives (Diary report 43) (July 26, 2023).
*Celebration of Life-As-We-Know-It! (Diary report 42) (July 23, 2023).
*The Count is Up to 360 Spherules! (Diary report 41) (July 21, 2023).
*The One Thing that Senators, Scientists and Artists Agree On! (Diary report 40) (July 17, 2023).
* We Are All in the Same Boat (Diary report 39) (July 16, 2023).
* A Harvest of 92 New Spherules in One Day (Diary report 38) (July 14, 2023).
* A Billion Years Delivery by FedEx (Diary report 37) (July 11, 2023).
* Starting the Analysis of Spherules from the Interstellar Expedition (Diary report 36) (July 7, 2023).
* Summary of the Successful Interstellar Expedition (Diary report 35) (July 3, 2023).
* On the Way Back from IM1's Site (Diary report 34) (June 28, 2023).
* A Toast of Champagne for Fifty IM1 Spherules and Beyond (Diary report 33) (June 27, 2023).
* From Ocean to Table (Diary report 32) (June 27, 2023).
* Might an Iron Peanut or Bean Be Worth Ten Thousand Spherules
or Nothing at All? (Diary report 31) (June 27, 2023).
* Running Along IM1's Likely Path (Diary report 30) (June 26, 2023).
* The Spatial and Size Distribution of Spherules Are Correlated With IM1's Likely Path (Diary report 29) (June 26, 2023).
* The Flowers Above the Grass Level (Diary report 28) (June 25, 2023).
* We Have 25 Spherules from IM1's Site (Diary report 27) (June 25, 2023).
* Two Are Better Than One (Diary report 26) (June 24, 2023).
* Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Diary report 25) (June 24, 2023).
* Our Largest Spherule Looks Like an Alien Emoji (Diary report 24) (June 23, 2023).
* What a Wonderful World (Diary report 23) (June 23, 2023).
* Finding a Needle in an Ocean (Diary report 22) (June 23, 2023).
* Hunting for More IM1 Spherules (Diary report 21) (June 22, 2023).
* We Have Discovered Spherules from the Path of the First Recognized Interstellar Meteor, IM1 (Diary report 20) (June 21, 2023).
* Inspiration from a Visit to a Terrestrial Marketplace (Diary report 19) (June 21, 2023).
* Background Wires at the DoD Coordinates of IM1 (Diary report 18) (June 21, 2023).
* Where Are the Spherules of IM1? (Diary report 17) (June 20, 2023).
* Black Powder in the Debris Field of IM1 (Diary report 16) (June 20, 2023).
* We Recovered Shock-Resisting Steel in the Debris Field of IM1 (Diary report 15) (June 19, 2023).
* Corroded Iron and Volcanic Debris in IM1's Path (Diary report 14) (June 18, 2023).
* Analysis of the Materials Retrieved from Runs 4 and 5 in IM1's Path (Diary report 12) (June 18, 2023).
* A Rich Harvest of Wires and Fragments from IM1's Path (Diary report 12) (June 18, 2023).
* Finally, Too Much Food on the Table! (Diary report 11) (June 18, 2023).
* Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust (Diary report 10) (June 17, 2023).
* You Cannot Make a Lemonade Without Lemons (Diary report 9) (June 17, 2023).
* An Anomalous Wire Made of Manganese and Platinum in the Pacific Ocean Site of the First Interstellar Meteor (Diary report 8) (June 16, 2023).
*Strange Wires and Diverse Fragments in the Pacific Ocean Site of the First Interstellar Meteor (Diary report 7) (June 16, 2023).
*Do Aliens Have Hair? (Diary report 6) (June 16, 2023).
*First Sample of Fragments from the Pacific Ocean Floor (Diary report 5) (June 15, 2023).
*Scooping the Ocean Floor (Diary report 4) (June 15, 2023).
*Arriving at Silver Star (Diary report 3) (June 14, 2023).
*Seeking Extraterrestrial Artifacts in the Pacific Ocean (Diary report 2) (June 13, 2023).
*It's Easier to Seek Extraterrestrial Facts From the Ocean Floor Than to Get Them From Government (June 11, 2023).
*The Multiple Groups of UAP Studies Within Government (June 9, 2023).
*Interstellar Space Trash is Our Treasure (June 7, 2023).
*Terrestrial Relics from Non-Human Spacecraft (June 5, 2023).
*An Interstellar Twist to Human History (June 4, 2023).
*Breaking News: We Are Not the Smartest! (June 2, 2023).
*NASA, AARO and the Galileo Project Agree on the Need for a Scientific Study of UAP (May 31, 2023).
*Self-Replicating Machines (May 29, 2023).
*The Search for Extraterrestrials May inspire an Uplifting Future for Humanity (May 27, 2023).
*Nature Made It Difficult to Weaponize Black Holes (May 26, 2023).
*Ideas Are Not Good Enough Without Good Data (May 24, 2023).
*Nothing Lasts Forever (May 22, 2023).
*The Horizon for Intergalactic Travel (May 20, 2023).
*2023 Cosmos Award (May 20, 2023).
*A Log of Our Exponential History (May 18, 2023).
*Is Spacetime Continuous or Discrete? (May 16, 2023).
*Will Your Home Be Hit by a Meteorite? (May 15, 2023).
*On the Benefits of Systematic Versus Anecdotal Evidence (May 12, 2023).
*Would you Press a Button on an Extraterrestrial Gadget? (May 11, 2023).
*Interstellar Diary (May 10, 2023).
*Chasing `Oumuamua (May 8, 2023).
*Space Trash in Our Cosmic Neighborhood (May 7, 2023).
*A Play About Life Beyond Earth (May 5, 2023).
*Follow the Extraterrestrial Water (May 4, 2023).
*Training AI on Desired Content (May 2, 2023).
*The Cosmic Distribution of Love (May 1, 2023).
*Our Survival in the Milky Way (April 29, 2023).
*A Blind Date with Interstellar Matter (April 27, 2023).
*The Density of What Matters in the Universe (April 26, 2023).
*AI Alignment Resembles Helicopter Parenting (April 24, 2023).
*Water as Rocket Fuel on the Moon or Mars (April 24, 2023).
*The State of the Universe (April 23, 2023).
*Elon Musk is Wrong About Aliens! (April 21, 2023).
*Fellows of the Galileo Project (April 21, 2023).
*Afterthoughts on the Second UAP Senate Hearing (April 19, 2023).
*The Shots Heard Round the World (April 18, 2023).
*Tracking Extraterrestrial Packages with AI (April 16, 2023).
*Alien Mothership, Politico (April 14, 2023).
*Reflections of a Farm Boy: "From Farm to Table" Science (April 14, 2023).
*Philanthropy by Inspiration (April 12, 2023).
*Extraterrestrials Offer Benefits, Not An Existential Risk (April 10, 2023).
*On the Virtue of Real Action in Place of `Virtue Signaling' (April 9, 2023).
*Planetary Defense Warning Stations (April 8, 2023).
*The New Society of AI (April 6, 2023).
*The Cosmos is Different from Our Backyard (April 4, 2023).
*Overcoming Our Auriga Moments (April 2, 2023).
*Will Future AI Systems be Legally Liable? (March 31, 2023).
*Dating Interstellar Objects with the Webb Space Telescope (March 30, 2023).
*Extraordinary Evidence Requires Extraordinary Funding (March 29, 2023).
*What is the Proper Pronoun for GPT-4? (March 27, 2023).
*The Simplicity of Telling the Truth (March 25, 2023).
*`Oumuamua Was Not a Hydrogen-Water Iceberg (March 23, 2023).
*Is `Oumuamua a Hydrogen-Water Iceberg? (March 22, 2023).
*Exotic Propulsion (March 21, 2023).
*2084 (March 19, 2023).
*Open-Minded AI (March 17, 2023).
*Science is an Infinite Box of Chocolates (March 15, 2023).
*Interstellar Interpretation of Plato's Cave Allegory (March 13, 2023).
*How to Navigate Academia (March 11, 2023).
*A Gift from a Silver Star (March 9, 2023).
*Keep the Branch We Are Sitting On! (March 8, 2023).
*Physics of the Phenomenon, Podcast with Micah Hanks (March 6, 2023).
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