--- title: "Harvard Astronomer Predicts What First Alien Contact Will Be Like" description: "In a new interview, a Harvard astronomer opens up about the hunt for alien life — and what first alien contact would mean for human civilization." date: "2019-01-12" modified: "2019-01-12" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/harvard-astronomer-predicts-first-alien-contact" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Exobiology" - "Space" tags: - "alien life" - "avi loeb" - "Harvard" - "SETI" --- # Harvard Astronomer Predicts What First Alien Contact Will Be Like ![In a new interview, a Harvard astronomer opens up about the hunt for alien life — and what first alien contact would mean for human civilization.]() *\Image: Miriam Espacio\* ## Alien Life Avi Loeb, the chair of the Harvard Astronomy Department, has long been preoccupied with the question of whether humans are alone in the universe. He's [speculated that fast radio bursts]() could be messages from extraterrestrials, [theorized about alien megastrucutres](), and [suggested that an interstellar object]() that cruised through our solar system could be a probe from another civilization. Now, in a [new interview]() with the German magazine *Der Spiegel*, Loeb opened up further about his thoughts about the hunt for alien life — and what First Contact would mean for human civilization. ## Biggest Step If humankind were contacted by aliens, Loeb said, it could be the one of the most extraordinary incidents in human history. "If you think about the history of humans, the perspective has changed as we have evolved — from a single individual to a family, a tribe, a country, and finally we even found other continents with people living there," he told *Der Spiegel*. "If we were now to find other beings beyond planet Earth, this would be the biggest step ever." ## First Contact What first contact would be like, Loeb said, is almost impossible to predict because of all the different ways that life could evolve outside of Earth. "I can't tell you what this moment will look like," he said. "But it will be shocking. Because we are biased by our own experiences. We imagine other beings to be similar to us. But maybe they are radically different." ## Favorite Alien But when *Der Spiegel* asked Loeb what he favorite fictional alien was, he demurred. "To be honest, I don't like science fiction personally," he told the magazine. "I have a problem when the action in a movie violates the laws of physics. In those cases, I cannot enjoy the experience aesthetically." **READ MORE:** ['Thinking About Distant Civilizations Isn't Speculative']() \[*Der Spiegel*\] ***More on alien life: [Astronomers Are Gearing Up to Listen for Evidence of Aliens from a Mysterious Interstellar Object]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()