Avi Loeb - UAP, Von Neumann Probes & The Monolith

Are UAP self-replicating extraterrestrial probes exploring the galaxy? Dr. Avi Loeb discusses the UAP Phenomena, Von Neumann Probes, Freeman Dyson's "Astrochicken", and Arthur C. Clarke's "The Monolith". In Avi Loeb's article, “What Came First: the Astro-Chicken or the Egg?”, he speculated on the possibility of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) being self-replicating interstellar Von Neumann probes, and compared Freeman Dyson's biological "Astrochicken" with machine-based "AI Astronauts" similar to "The Monolith" in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey". The vast scale of the galaxy makes encountering a Von Neumann Probe a likely scenario for first contact: ET could send a probe to each of the 400 billion stars in the Milky Way in less than 50 “generations” or replication events, and the biologically-inspired self-replication of these probes ensures their "descendants" could remain active for millions, perhaps billions of years. We also discuss the possibility that extraterrestrial probes have been observing life on Earth for millenia, as discussed in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey", and the possibility of finding artifacts on the moon as described in James P. Hogan's "Inherit the Stars", and the possiblity of Oumuamua being similar to the artifact in Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous With Rama". Dr. Loeb concludes by discussing the goals & progress of the Galileo Project, and the funding levels required to adequately conduct the mission of searching the skies and the stars for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Dr. Avi Loeb, the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. Avi is a theoretical physicist who works on astrophysics and cosmology, formerly the longest serving chair of Harvard's Department of Astronomy, the founding director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative and director of the Institute for Theory and Computation within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Among his many achievements, Avi is a best-selling author, has published over 700 papers and essays, made major contributions to scientific topics including black holes and gravitational microlensing, and received recognition and awards from dozens of prestigious scientific organizations and academic institutions. Links & Resources: The Galileo Project: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/galileo Galileo Project Commentaries https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/Opinion.html What Came First: the Astro-Chicken or the Egg? https://avi-loeb.medium.com/what-came-first-the-astro-chicken-or-the-egg-eb22282e705f