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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 18, 2025

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Some hard science news, that nevertheless became part of culture wars.

As you probably heard, third recorded interstellar object is on the way. It stands out of sample of three, just like the previous two.

The usual suspects, most prominent Avi Loeb and John Brandenburg of ancient nuclear war on Mars fame sound an alarm to warn from incoming alien invader.

Mainstream science dismisses the concerns and sees the object as ordinary red colored D-type asteroid.

< tinfoil hat> well, what are they supposed to do? </tinfoil hat>

Not that "we" as mankind could do anything if ayys were really here. See just Avi Loeb's proposals.

What Should Humanity Do on the Day After an Interstellar Object is Recognized as Technological?

...

All nations must agree on a coordinated action plan

...

A representative international committee will be appointed to communicate with the alien visitors

Nah. I cannot imagine better way to ensure Earth's swift destruction than to introduce aliens to United Nations. Compared to this plan, doing nothing at all is the superior alternative.

The response must reflect specifically the detailed characteristics of the threat. It is inappropriate to imagine alien technologies based on our own experience on Earth, which spans only a century of scientific research after quantum mechanics and general relativity were discovered.

Statements like this always seem so weird to me. Do humans have a complete understanding of physics? No. Do we have a pretty good approximation for macro phenomena? Absolutely. Often for the kinds of physics described for UAP phenomena the things that would have to be wrong are not, like, the nuances of quantum field theory. It is shit like "conservation of energy was wrong." When people want to talk about alien technology they should be required to specify which presently accepted theories in physics they think are wrong.

Do we have a pretty good approximation for macro phenomena?

Absolutely not. Dark matter and dark energy make up 95% of the universe.