ZURICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 22, 2023--

Scientists have found material from outside of our solar system for the first ever time, according to a controversial Harvard Professor. The “spheres” were found in the Pacific Ocean in June. But early analysis has now indicated that the material came from outside of our solar system, carried by an interstellar object that crashed into the Earth in 2014, according to Avi Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at Harvard University. The material could even be of “extraterrestrial technological origin” because of some unusual characteristics of the material, he said. Professor Loeb has previously claimed that the asteroid may have been artificial, such as an alien spacecraft. “This is a historic discovery because it represents the first time that scientists analyze materials from a large object that arrived to Earth from outside the solar system,” Professor Loeb wrote in his announcement. Professor Loeb has made a number of claims about potential extraterrestrial life and visitors from other solar systems. While has made a number of contributions to astrophysics, he is perhaps best known for his suggestions that Oumuamua, the first interstellar object to visit our solar system, could have been an “alien probe”. His regular and often unusual claims have led to some censure from fellow scientists, who say that he is given to sensationalism and is damaging the usual process of discovery. His pronouncements can be attention-grabbing and undermine the usual work of science to check extraordinary claims with extraordinary evidence, they have said. “People are sick of hearing about Avi Loeb’s wild claims,” Steve Desch, an astrophysicist at Arizona State University, told The New York Times in July, when Professor Loeb revealed details of his search. “It’s polluting good science — conflating the good science we do with this ridiculous sensationalism and sucking all the oxygen out of the room.” Professor Loeb made the most recent claims on Medium, where he has been documenting his trip to the Pacific Ocean to collect materials. In recent years he has been taken with a fireball that fell to Earth in 2014 – and has been looking to collect any fragments from it. He has claimed that details about the fireball indicate that it had come from outside of our solar system. Those claims have proven controversial – though they have been accepted for publication in the prestigious Astrophysical Journal, after initially being rejected – because scientists have argued there is not significant enough proof to indicate it really was an interstellar visitor. Nonetheless, in recent months Professor Loeb and his team have been scouring the Pacific Ocean for any fragments from that object, and in June they announced that they had successfully gathered some examples. Those samples have since undergone testing by scientists. Now Professor Loeb says that analysis shows that the materials are “from a meter-size object that originated from outside the solar system”. A number of details about the material indicated that it was of interstellar origin, he said. He pointed particularly to the amount of beryllium, lanthanum and uranium (or BeLaU) in the objects. That set them apart from other samples not found in the path of the object – and also from objects that would normally be expected to have been formed on the Earth, the Moon or Mars, he said. Professor Loeb said he he was confident that more objects would be found like “IM1”, the name he has given to that object he claimed to be an interstellar visitor. He suggested that there could be “a few million such objects reside within the orbit of the Earth around the Sun at any given time” and that “some of them may represent technological space trash from other civilizations”. He also criticised those many scientists who have expressed scepticism about his claims, joking that he was “running away from colleagues who have strong opinions without seeking evidence, and I am running towards a higher intelligence in interstellar space” and saying that he wishes his critics “happiness and prosperity”. Read More We just received the first ever pictures taken near the Moon’s uncharted south pole Rare blue supermoon brightens the night sky this week India set to launch spacecraft to Sun after successful moon landing Rare blue supermoon brightens the night sky this week India set to launch spacecraft to Sun after successful moon landing Japan forced to suspend launch of historic first Moon lander

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TikTok has filed a lawsuit challenging Montana’s recently announced ban of the video sharing app. The social media firm argued that the new law, which is set to come into effect on 1 January next year, is an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The company, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, said the attempt to block users from accessing TikTok is based on “unfounded speculation” that the Chinese government could access their data. The lawsuit by TikTok itself follows one filed last week by five content creators who made the same arguments, including that the state of Montana has no authority to take action on matters of national security. Both lawsuits were filed in federal court in Missoula. Republican Govenor Greg Gianforte signed the bill last Wednesday and the content creators’ lawsuit was filed hours later. TikTok has not shared and would not share US user data with the Chinese government and has taken measures to protect the privacy and security of its users, including storing all US user data in the United States, the company stated in its complaint. Some lawmakers, the FBI and officials at other agencies are concerned that the video-sharing app could be used to allow the Chinese government to access information on US citizens or push pro-Beijing misinformation that could influence the public. Chinese law compels Chinese companies to share data with the government for whatever purposes it deems to involve national security. TikTok says this has never happened. “TikTok is spying on Americans. Period,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, whose office drafted the bill, told a legislative committee in March. Knudsen’s office has said they expected lawsuits and were prepared to defend the new law. The federal government and about half the US states, including Montana, have banned TikTok from government-owned devices. Montana’s new law prohibits downloads of TikTok in the state. It would fine any “entity” – an app store or TikTok – $10,000 per day for each time someone “is offered the ability” to access the social media platform or download the app. The penalties would not apply to users. Even if the law comes into force in 2024, security experts have warned that it would be nearly impossible to prevent TikTok users from accessing the app. Oded Vanunu, head of products vulnerability research at the cyber security firm Check Point, said last week that it would be difficult for any single state to ban the app, as easily available technologies like virtual private networks (VPNs) would allow users to bypass any geolocation blocks. Additional reporting from agencies Read More TikTok ban in numbers: Charting the controversial rise of the world’s most popular app Schoolboy almost dies from swallowing magnets for TikTok challenge Woman shares honest review of New York City apartment TikTok mom slammed after making 5-year-old son run in 104 degree heat

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