Sergio Gallucci

@theresejones0 Imagine having this kind of confidence and audacity. That's actually crazy. I am glad you're doing OK and feel empowered to act instead of presenting the (proverbial, no pun intended) other cheek to this kind of behavior.

Got a nice reminder last night at space prom; usually I'm known enough that people don't know to mess with me. Had a guy I didn't know cut in line, put his hand on my lower back for several minutes as he explained the house cocktail, then dropped his hand even lower (1/2)

@DrPhiltill @ChrisSPITZER7 Easily achieved by an array of scopes with synched PNT distributed between the orbital radii of Mercury and Mars. Easy peasy! 35 ly is unfathomably far away. It's not easy to see things far away. We very often comically overstate the visibility of civilization.

@ChrisSPITZER7 He argued here to build a telescope that could see an automobile on a planet 100 ly away: huffpost.com/entry/forget-s…

“Why most scientists don’t get too excited about UAP phenomena.” I was thinking to write this as an op-ed, but realistically I don’t have time. Here’s the outline for your reading pleasure. ==== 1. Scientists are generally not against the idea of aliens visiting and watching us ◦Either technological ET civilizations exist in our Milky Way or not ◦If they do exist, there’s (IMO) a strong chance they are watching us (based on observed exponential growth of tech in our own world) ◦Example: The movie Contact: monitoring us from a nearby star. (Not so impatient in that view, watching from lightyears away) ◦Seth Shostak argues for a 1AU telescope. ET would likely have that capability and thus already know we are here, even from very very far away. Because of deep time they have had plenty of time to get here. ◦Example: Astronomers looking for evidence of monitoring artifacts in our solar system. Appreciates deep time as lunar geology degrades those artifacts. Would an elemental signature survive in lunar soil? ◦Many scientists think that if any aliens are watching, they are likely machine intelligence that has solved problems of deep time and long distance, not biological that would be too limited in such a large cosmos ◦We are within 100 years of an in-space, autonomous, industrial supply chain that can scale up a million fold then a billion fold and spread to other stars. Geologically or cosmologically, the remaining time for us to get there is the blink of an eye. We are on the cusp of a true phase change in the nature of our civilization. Any civilization older than ours should already have it. ◦Establishment of superintelligent AI is possibly the most important period that should be monitored by ET, since it would make us rapidly capable of altering things on a galactic scale. So being watched closely right now is probably not considered crazy by many scientists. (Not by me, at least) ◦So AFAIK, scientists are not in principle against the idea of alien tech monitoring us or even being nearby to monitor closely. Aliens would’ve seen signs of biological activity on our planet for billions of years and have had plenty of time to get a closer view then later get here. ◦What we mostly disbelieve is all the UAP evidence (non-evidence) that is claimed for ET actually being here. ◦it depends on the bigger questions: (1) how prevalent is life, (2) does civilization survive long times, and (3) do they “ascend” in some way or remain engaged in the affairs of the galaxy for a long time? 2. Human cognition is bad ◦Scientific method was developed to counteract this ◦Most UAP phenomena are outside this scientific process: not testable, not repeatable. Most discussion on UAP have skipped the scientific process. It is not hard to see how skipping the process is leading to wrong conclusions ◦“But aviators are super human!” Give the response to that. (They are cognitive experts at particular skills to win aerial combat or deal with flight emergencies, but solving unknowns like UAP events requires withholding judgement for a long time while slowly evaluating conflicting evidence, which is an opposite skill to that of aviators. Explain why withholding judgement is crucial to the process to avoid cognitive bias. Perception is affected by our beliefs.) ◦Most non-scientists greatly overestimate their cognitive abilities, both collectively and individually, to get right answers. Many scientists do, too. We are truly bad at thinking. ◦Examples of rigor in human research, and subtle failures of rigor that have produced wrong results, showing why rigor is mandatory. Double blind needed in studies, etc. ◦Without the rigor, you get wrong results. Period. So none of this discussion about UAPs can be believed. Period. Continued… (1/2)

Finally over being sick and trying to catch up before 2024 hits. I have been reflecting. 2023 has been a really tough year. It's a classic Sergio moment to be embattled until the end. Either way, we're here. Thanks everyone for all the support.

Since I started a mini-sabbatical my body decided that it was time to fall apart, including finally catching covid after 3 years of dodging it. Finally getting back up, and now hoping to enjoy the close-out of the year with dedicated rest. Very reflective time.

A major congrats to SCOUT’s Co-founder & CTO, @e_g_sergio, on being named one of the 30-under-30’s @Forbes North America Science 2024 list! forbes.com/30-under-30/20…

Humbled to be on Forbes' 30 Under 30 this year; thankful for the recognition and for increased awareness of space sensing & sustainability as a domain of note. linkedin.com/feed/update/ur…

Follow-up on SINTRA general post, a deeper dive into what the SCOUT team is working on: scout.space/post/scout-to-…

Great to announce @SCOUTdotspace is working on this awesome program to enable better characterization and eventually safer operations within the space environment. We've got a great team! spacenews.com/sri-partners-w…

@LucRiesbeck indiscriminate & perhaps criminal rizz 😤

my fiancé: “being “cult leader material” isn’t a BAD thing! it just means you have rizz”

@buildingMadrid I love a good deal!

you buy brand new monitors for the office, we trawl government auctions and get them for less than $5 a piece, we are not the same

Really nice digs at @KinshipLanding, a good spot to settle into before kicking off a productive Space Symposium.

America's girth used to inspire transcendentalist, nigh religious experiences when experienced by previous generations. Nowadays I just want to get off this flight because my legs are going numb. Why is the continent so wide anyway?

The National Concert Band of America (which is the best community band I've ever heard) kicked off today's concert with both the U.S. and Ukrainian national anthems. Respect.

"Let's make it code up a star tracker" *it tries* "... that's not a bad start" OpenAI is a cool tool. It might offer an interesting way of easing the burden of complex problem setup if you get it to code up the busy work.

@fikocian Vantage = breadth + depth. I look at facilitating R&D pipelines as a great way to not let profitability alone drive technology, or not leave innovativion to chance/IR&D trade-offs. Subsisting on public funding alone? Problematic. But this is a spectrum rather than a dichotomy.

My biggest issue with public money it incentivizes "I could also submit a proposal for this thing" rather than "this is my profitable niche" type of behaviour. Which is obviously wrong

@buildingMadrid @TaylorCSargent Yes, e.g. occultation. Debris sizes detectable depend on sampling/signal frequency and modulation scheme/transmitter configuration, which can be played with to improve sensitivity. This is valid across the entire EMR spectrum: RF, MW, light, etc. Happy to do a deeper dive!

@TaylorCSargent @e_g_sergio please advise

Is it possible to deconstruct disruptions in satellite comms signals to identify and track space debris? I feel like it should be.

@rocketrepreneur Thank you for sharing so much of your trials and tribulations. It's like walking through a field which used to be where NewSpace trenches were laid. The cycles are brutal, the pivots are brutal, picking yourself up is brutal. But you do it.

I think I'd rather stick my hand in a blender going at full speed than deliberately try to do a reboot of a startup again. /fin

I don't think most people have been through a situation with rapid mass turnovers at work like what's happening at Twitter right now. I've been through too many of these, and I don't think most people appreciate the challenges of bouncing back from a situation like this.🧵1/n

@buildingMadrid VR-based design may be interface-limited right now. To draw something from our mind's eye into reality requires precise tracking of pointers as well as methods to coherently those objects in a 3D space, for which the best method right now is typing explicit coordinates/references

has anyone done VR (like Oculus) for CAD yet?

@buildingMadrid There's been studies attempting to/using it for life-scale engineering programs; JPL a few years back had some folks trialing Microsoft VR stuff for use in walking around and looking at clearances and fit on a rover for training on assembling those systems.

How do you create a culture of excellence? By creating a culture of challenge. Challenge your team to strive for the best, for transparency, for honesty, and expect them to challenge you in return. Hear Sergio’s insight on the full episode: orchid.black/podcast/32