![\"Avi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251103_131133_1616035191.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Avi Loeb (Image via Getty)<\/p>\n
Harvard professor Avi Loeb recently reacted to Elon Musk\u2019s remarks about the unusual nickel-to-iron ratio displayed in the interstellar object 3I\/ATLAS, made in an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a video by THE HANNIBAL TV, uploaded on November 2, 2025, Loeb opined that while Elon was correct about most asteroids having a high percentage of nickel, he missed out on noting that the objects are equally iron-rich.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, there are many asteroids that have a lot of nickel. In fact, when they collide with Earth, that\u2019s the kind of location that you want to go to to get nickel. That\u2019s entirely true,\u201d Loeb mentioned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what he\u2019s missing is that, along with these objects being nickel-rich, they are also iron-rich. In nature, we find nickel and iron together because they\u2019re both produced in the same supernova explosions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Friday, Elon appeared on Joe Rogan\u2019s podcast, where he was asked about the anomalous composition of the interstellar object. He said that most comets and asteroids are made \u201cprimarily of nickel,\u201d and produce nickel-rich deposits when they land on Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Loeb argued that comets and asteroids also have high percentages of iron, which did not apply to 3I\/ATLAS. Moreover, he pointed out that the interstellar object was not \u201cmostly nickel,\u201d but was \u201cmostly carbon dioxide on the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
Understanding the anomalies in interstellar object 3I\/ATLAS and Loeb\u2019s opinion of Elon\u2019s open-minded approach to the object<\/p>\n
On the Joe Rogan podcast, Elon mentioned that asteroids and comets are primarily made of nickel when asked about the high nickel-to-iron ratio as studied in 3I\/ATLAS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Loeb argued that while nickel was one of the components, asteroids and comets also contain a high percentage of iron.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He explained that both nickel and iron are products of the \u201csame supernova explosions of stars,\u201d saying that the two cannot be produced in isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come together. In fact, in the solar composition, there is more iron than nickel. So you really need to separate the nickel from the iron to get it to the proportion as observed in the plume of gas around the 3I\/ATLAS,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Loeb then pointed out that the only place where such an “exaggerated proportion” of nickel relative to iron can be produced is through the industrial production of nickel alloys.<\/p>\n
The \u201cextreme abundance ratio\u201d of nickel as compared to iron is one of the ten anomalies listed by Loeb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The unnatural composition is what makes 3I\/ATLAS stand out from the other comets, including 2I\/Borisov. It is one factor Loeb considers\u00a0while contemplating the possibility of 3I\/ATLAS having an unnatural or technological origin.<\/p>\n
In the video, Loeb also mentioned that the 3I\/ATLAS is not made primarily of nickel because, based on studies, its gas plume contains a high proportion of carbon dioxide and only 4% water by mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is listed as another anomaly on Loeb\u2019s list, which questions the object\u2019s natural origins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the podcast, Elon did not classify 3I\/ATLAS as either a comet or alien technology. Instead, he remained open to both outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Loeb appreciated Elon\u2019s approach, saying:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the right attitude to be open-minded. It\u2019s a sign of humility. We shouldn\u2019t assume that we know the answers in advance, and if something looks strange, you know, we should be curious and figure it out based on data.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In contrast, he called out his critics for dismissing his open-mindedness and discussion of anomalies, and conclusively declaring the interstellar object 3I\/ATLAS a comet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stay tuned for more updates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Avi Loeb (Image via Getty) Harvard professor Avi Loeb recently reacted to Elon Musk\u2019s remarks about the unusual…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-114864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}