The story of 'Oumuamua, the first visitor from another star system | Karen J. Meech | TED

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Published 2018-07-19
In October 2017, astrobiologist Karen J. Meech got the call every astronomer waits for: NASA had spotted the very first visitor from another star system. The interstellar comet -- a half-mile-long object eventually named `Oumuamua, from the Hawaiian for "scout" or "messenger" -- raised intriguing questions: Was it a chunk of rocky debris from a new star system, shredded material from a supernova explosion, evidence of alien technology or something else altogether? In this riveting talk, Meech tells the story of how her team raced against the clock to find answers about this unexpected gift from afar.

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All Comments (21)
  • @velveetaslingshot
    It definitely is intelligent. It took one look at earth and kept going!
  • @alexkalish8288
    They left - Their Report said, no intelligent life in this system. The octopus however has potential.
  • @ericmathis3746
    At my University we got to listen to a physicist speak. It was one of the most amazing and interesting lectures I've ever attended/heard. After he was done lecturing, he opened it up for questions. Most of the questions were about intelligent life. I stood in line waiting for my turn at the microphone. My question was simple, do you believe there is intelligent life in our known universe? He was surprised it took so long for someone to ask this question, so he turned it on me and asked me to answer it first. My answer was this: there are 100 billion Stars in our galaxy, and there are over 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. There are approximately 6 billion earth-like planets that we know of in just our galaxy alone.. Which means there are a countless number of earth-like planets in the known universe. To shorten it up, I stated that it is mathematically impossible that we are the only planet and not just our known universe, but right here in the Milky Way galaxy where life took hold. And even if less than 1% of those planets where life took hold has intelligent life, then there are trillions and trillions of planets with intelligent life in the known universe. And how many of those civilizations are a thousand years more advanced than us? Or 50,000 years? Or a million years? Or even a billion years? So of course I believe that there is intelligent life that has the capability of cruising by Earth to check out what's going on with the youngsters... Let's just say he agreed...
  • @emilyeah
    Karen J. Meech - what a GREAT SPEAKER, so clear and concise. A great example of a true teacher.
  • @dr.zoidberg8666
    Man... we all need astronomy talks like this in our lives to keep us humble & remind us of how small we really are. Keep making stuff like this, TED. I'll watch it all.
  • @mbopa06
    Very well spoken, she has the ability to help a layman like myself understand information that would normally go over my head
  • @xobr
    see if this astronomer was my astronomy teacher, i wouldn’t have dropped out of it at all because she just refascinated me about our solar system and I hope she gets the things she wants so that we’re ready for another solar visitor and she can be satisfied to learn about the things she loves this karen deserves the world
  • @barneysdad9193
    An excellent presentation. She pitched it just right plenty of tech detail but lightly spread so that you could keep up. Great talk from a very knowledgeable woman. Thank you.
  • @velocityx6920
    "Visited Earth Today (GONE WRONG)" ~Some random alien on spacetube
  • @jgonsalk
    This should be the standard of TED talks. Real experts telling us amazing stories.
  • @PaulSinnema
    This once again shows how we are part of this big Universe we all live in. If just everyone of us was aware of this fact there would be less war, hunger, pain, suffering, misery. Thank you for sharing this beautiful observation Karen.
  • @KJC63
    "Very close to the earth...and we didn't know about it" ....that quote is pretty frightening.
  • @jackiepaul7224
    She is an awesome speaker. Very clear, concise. I am impressed!
  • @frankwhite1816
    Excellent presetation! Loved it! :-) Thank you Karen Meech.
  • @Barcet1976
    Whatever it is it doesn't change the fact that sooner or later we should be ready to accept that we can't be the only ones in this massive universe
  • @tarletonwatson4186
    Due to the small fraction of time that humans have been on earth, I would hesitate to say that this is the 1st "visitor" to our solar system. Rather, it would be the 1st to be viewed by humans.
  • @elizabethdickerson1136
    It’s actually really scary that we have all this amazing technology and these amazing men and women that are obviously 1000 times smarter than I. Who did this get so close to earth with out anyone realizing it. What are we doing now so we will know next time ( if there is a next time )
  • @tolitsdterrible4785
    The poor rock didn't know how popular he is. He could have stopped right here and become a celebrity.