--- title: "Harvard Professor Says Godlike Aliens May Be Creating Universes in Labs" description: "Harvard alien-hunter Avi Loeb posited that superhuman aliens could be building universes in labs and that his haters are just \"jealous.\" " date: "2023-08-15" modified: "2023-08-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/avi-loeb-alien-labs" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Exobiology" - "Space" tags: - "aliens" - "avi loeb" - "SETI" - "the digest" --- # Harvard Professor Says Godlike Aliens May Be Creating Universes in Labs ![Harvard alien-hunter Avi Loeb posited that superhuman aliens could be building universes in labs and that his haters are just "jealous." ]() *Bubble universes. Computer illustration of multiple bubble universes as predicted by the Eternal Inflation theory. The inflationary theory proposes that after the Big Bang, a condition known as a false vacuum created a repulsive force that caused an incredibly rapid expansion, much faster than the ordinary expansion observed today. Since this expansion is faster than the speed of light, areas of inflation would form bubbles that would be completely isolated from each other. This artwork could also represent the creation of separate parallel universes as fluctuations in a quantum foam. \Image: Getty Images\* ## Uni Versus In a new interview, perpetually provocative Harvard astronomer and alien hunter [Avi Loeb]() posited both that super-human aliens could be building "baby universes" in labs and that his haters are just "jealous." When discussing his work and theories in a [chat with *Fox News*](), Loeb showed his tendency toward [imaginative, deeply speculative theories]() of extraterrestrial life. "You can imagine that the superhuman civilization that understands how to unify quantum mechanics and gravity might actually be able to create a baby universe in the laboratory," he told the news outlet, "a quality that we assign to God in religious texts." This kind of statement is par for the course for Loeb. In fact, a [recent *New York Times* article]() focused not on the astronomer himself, but on the way he's — ahem — alienated his peers with his headline-grabbing claims about what he believes are [interstellar interlopers]() and [crashed spaceships]() at the [bottom of the Pacific Ocean](). Case in point: during the *Fox* interview, Loeb insisted that if he'd been there when Moses found the burning bush that spoke with the voice of God with modern equipment, he "could have advised" the prophet "about the surface temperature of the bush, the amount of energy \[in a\] period of time emitted from it and whether it's indeed an unusual phenomenon." ## Sick Of It To be fair, none of this theorizing about *potential* alien life is particularly new. And it's no longer career-ending to be open about a belief in extraterrestrial life, as a growing number of academics, political and government officials, and everyday people can attest. Believing that we aren't alone in the universe, or even that evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life has already been discovered, is no longer the sole realm of conspiracy theories, but rather of [Congressional hearings]() and [*New York Times* exposés](). But as Arizona State University astrophysicist Steve Desch told the *NYT*, folks do indeed seem to be "sick of hearing about Avi Loeb’s wild claims" — or at least, are sick of the way he's characterized himself as a modern-day Galileo, punished by the capital-E establishment for his quest for a truth that goes against the official grain. (Seriously, he [named his organization The Galileo Project]() for that very reason.) Whether Loeb is a prophet, [a charlatan](), or a science lover who just loves to go off in interviews, is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. As for his haters, the Harvard astronomer told *Fox* that they're just suffering from "academic jealousy" — an incredible clapback, if we do say so ourselves. **More on alien hunting:** [*SETI Institute Shreds UFO Whistleblower's Claims About Alien Corpses*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()