Tinieblas y estrellas

How media hype and misunderstanding fuel pseudoscientific fascination Existe una versión en español de este artículo aquí  Introduction The word “cult” is used here in the sense given by the Merriam-Webster dictionary ([1], 2.c): “a group of people characterized by great devotion to a person, idea, movement, or work”.  In recent months I have observed (or at least it is my impression) the rise of a powerful cult around the physicist Abraham "Avi" Loeb and/or his idea that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is, in fact, not a comet but an alien spacecraft. Although I do not have objective statistics, my personal (and admittedly subjective) perception from interacting on social media with many of Loeb’s followers suggests a distinctive profile. They tend to be curious minds, eager to uncover the mysteries of the universe, genuinely interested in science, yet lacking not only in-depth knowledge of the current body of scientific understanding, but even the most basic grasp of...

(En español  aquí ) [Update, 10-Dec-2025:  In the original version of this article, it was stated that the ATLAS telescope network observes more frequently the ecliptic than the rest of the sky. This statement is incorrect and has been removed from the text. ]  S ummary      Recently, a new interstellar object passing through our solar system has been discovered: 3I/ATLAS. This object has sparked much curiosity and is being intensely studied by astronomers worldwide. A paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server suggests the possibility that this object might actually be an alien spacecraft secretly preparing to attack us at the end of this year. This peculiar idea is based on a series of coincidences supposedly too unlikely for a natural object. In this article, written for a general audience without requiring prior knowledge, I counter each of these alleged improbabilities. The first sections (Sections 1 and 2) present general reflections on the danger ...

(In English here ) [Actualización, 10-dic-2025: En la versión original de este artículo se decía erróneamente que la red ATLAS observa predominantemente en la eclíptica respecto al resto del cielo. Esta afirmación era incorrecta y ha sido eliminada del artículo.] Resumen     Recientemente se ha descubierto un nuevo objeto interestelar pasando por nuestro sistema solar, 3I/ATLAS. Este objeto ha despertado mucha curiosidad y está siendo intensamente estudiado por los astrónomos de todo el mundo. Un artículo subido al servidor de preprints  arXiv sugiere la posibilidad de que este objeto sea en realidad una nave alienígena preparándose en secreto para atacarnos a finales de este año. Esta peculiar idea es sustentada en una serie de coincidencias, supuestamente muy improbables para un objeto natural. En este artículo, escrito para un público general sin necesidad de conocimientos previos, contraargumento cada una de esas improbabilidades. Las primeras secciones (secciones 1...