In the interview with Avi Loeb he spoke about the field of astrophysics and many uncertainties that come in the field. One of the most surprising things that I heard listening to his interview was the field of astrophysics is very counterintuitive. The reason this is is because as people discover more things it often challenges the things that they have already discovered. In his interview, Loeb stated that "dark matter could decay," which is something people would never expect, but as time goes on the universe is constantly changing and what we know now could not be the same in a few years.
top of page
bottom of page
I also found myself quite surprised by some of the insights Dr. Loeb shared! I would never have guessed, based on how findings about astronomy are presented in school, how so many basic questions about our universe are still very much in flux — like your point with dark matter, and how little we still know about its characteristics. I think Dr. Loeb made an excellent point when he said we are in a sense failing students of astronomy in the way that we teach it in schools — stamping out the basic curiosity that has undergirded so many of our most important scientific discoveries throughout history.