Avi Loeb

I don't care much about money.

This doesn't really attract me.

It's really trying to figure out something important about our existence that motivates me.

Well, take us back then, because you skipped a part that I want to hear about.

So you're on the farm, you're collecting eggs, you're riding tractors.

I don't think a lot of people know about the Talpia program and how...

selective that is.

And you got in there when you were 18 years old?

Yes.

So what is that program?

What is that like for an 18-year-old from the farm?

The program was established a year before I joined it.

And it was meant to select a group of between 20 and 30

recruits out of thousands.

And this is military science program, yes?

Yes, so the goal is to attract the very best minds in physics, technology, so that they would work on projects that are useful for the defense of the country.

It's very selective.

We went through two days of IQ tests and other types of tests.

I was really surprised that they admitted me.

I was good in physics, but I didn't plan a long-term career in physics.