With 3I/ATLAS set to fly-by Earth in two weeks, Harvard scientist Avi Loeb is debating whether our interstellar visitor is friend or foe -- an answer that potentially lies in its chemical makeup. NASA / Hubble

Benevolent interloper or interstellar poison pill?

With 3I/ATLAS set to fly by Earth in two weeks, Harvard professor Avi Loeb is debating whether our interstellar visitor is friend or foe — an answer that potentially lies in its chemical makeup.

“There is much more methanol than hydrogen cyanide,” the astrophysicist told The Post. “In principle, methanol is an important agent for the origins of life.”

“If the solar system didn’t have the building blocks, it could have gotten them from the visits of objects like 3I/Atlas in the early solar system,” Loeb told The Post. Chris Mich

See Full Page