Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb says 3I/ATLAS may have seeded Earth
Technology
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has a bold idea: the comet 3I/ATLAS, which zipped through our solar system last year, might have brought the ingredients for life to Earth.
He is talking about panspermia, the theory that comets and asteroids can spread life across the universe.
Loeb urges study of interstellar visitors
Loeb thinks the building blocks of life could have survived inside 3I/ATLAS's icy layers and been released as it passed near planets, kind of like a dandelion flower shedding its seeds.
He even suggests its unusual path could mean it was sent on purpose by an intelligent civilization.
While panspermia is still controversial, Loeb says we should definitely study these interstellar visitors more closely in the future.