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Post by swamprat on Mar 8, 2012 13:43:34 GMT -6
World’s largest telescope to detect threats from outer spaceWritten By Allison Barrie Published March 08, 2012 If there are space invaders out there, it won’t be long before they can no longer stage a sneak attack, thanks to a project to build the most sensitive radio telescope ever -- one that’s the size of a continent. Known as The Square Kilometer Array (SKA), it will explore the universe, identify any potential alien threats to our planet and hopefully answer some fundamental questions from astronomers. Its thousands of receptors, spaced roughly one kilometer apart, will be linked across an entire continent. They’ll be arranged in five spiral arms like a galaxy, 3,000 50-foot-wide dishes that extend out from a central core at least 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers) -- about the distance from New York City to Albuquerque, N.M. The board of directors behind the telescope met for the first time in late January to kick off the project. Their first decision: where to house such a beast. After all, if it’s located in Australia, the antennas could span the entire continent. If it’s in South Africa, another location being considered, they would stretch to the Indian Ocean islands. Optical telescopes can reveal only so much of the universe. The SKA’s radio telescopes, on the other hand, pick up radio-frequency signals unobscured by, say, cosmic dust. They will survey the sky 10,000 times faster than any other telescope and with 50 times the sensitivity and 100 times the survey speed of current imaging instruments. Among the SKA’s missions: finding an answer to the question, “Are we alone?” From a defense perspective, that’s a coy way of asking whether there are aliens out there with the capacity and appetite to attack us. The SKA will be able to detect very weak extraterrestrial signals and search for complex molecules, the building blocks of life. Many new planets outside our solar system have been discovered in recent years, but it’s not clear whether they host life. For the first time, it will even be possible to detect the relatively weak signals of televisions and radars from nearby stars. Spying such an artificial transmission from a planet around a star would be a pretty good clue that we’re not in this by ourselves. How were stars born and black holes formed? The SKA will study the very first ones, as well as stars and galaxies that shaped the development of the universe. It will even be able to detect black holes forming during the Dark Ages. SKA will also take on Einstein. The board of directors speculate that it may challenge the theory of general relativity and probe the nature of gravity. Initial construction is due in 2016, and the SKA is expected to be fully operational by 2024. By 2019, well before the full array is completed, the team expects some exciting science results will be achievable. All that science won’t come cheap, of course. The SKA is expected to cost approximately $2.36 billion. But those bucks buy an awful lot of power: The SKA’s central computer will have the processing power of approximately 1 billion PCs, and it will produce enough raw data to fill 15 million 64GB iPods every day. The SKA dishes will produce 10 times as much data the world’s Internet traffic. In fact, one of the largest design challenges was how to relay the huge amount of data across such large distances. The solution: Enough optical fiber to wrap twice around the Earth -- and take the Earth’s defense to an entirely different scale Read more: www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/08/worlds-largest-telescope-to-detect-threats-from-outer-space/#ixzz1oYVJbf7L
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Post by Steve on Mar 8, 2012 14:40:47 GMT -6
Prefer Australia, at least the huge array will still be within the boundaries of a single governing country. It would be intolerable to miss the most important signal humanity might receive all due to disruption of service because of local squabbling between tribal factions on Earth.
But if located in the future in Australia, then would the southern hemisphere of the sky only be covered? Would we need a similar array in the northern hemisphere? The Russian republics, or Canada?
No objections to it being located in the United states, except the construction would be stymied for decades by various environmental laws somehow. If it was otherwise, we would be a nation of nuclear power plants independent of middle eastern oil and high speed bullet trains like other first world countries.
The tone of the article seems to imply as if this is a new radar DEW line, not a telescope for exploration. Are scientists beginning to reconsider their own dogmas the great distances between stars precludes visitation? For example, for centuries the United States relied on the Atlantic Ocean for any early warning of a foreign threat. Now that distance can be crossed in 20 minutes with ICBMs, and has been such for over half a century now. Would scientists now dare to reconsider? And what then would that suggest next logically in rationally considering some reports of possible UFOs? Science reconsidering UFOs? Oh heaven forbid!
The SKA also it would seem would also eclipse the SETI array in northern California - putting it effectively out of business.
Steve
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Post by swamprat on May 25, 2012 14:12:28 GMT -6
Decision time on site for giant radio telescopeBy Chris Wickham LONDON | Thu May 24, 2012 (Reuters) - The location of a huge radio telescope strong enough to detect extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe could be settled on Friday when the group in charge of the project meets in the Netherlands. When completed in 2024 the "Square Kilometre Array" (SKA) will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15 meters wide, together with many more antennae, that will stretch over 3,000 km (1,864 miles). Scanning the sky 10,000 times faster and with 50 times the sensitivity of any other telescope, it will be used to study the origins of the universe and will be able to detect weak signals that could indicate the presence of extraterrestrial life.A joint bid between Australia and New Zealand to host the telescope is pitted against South Africa for a $2 billion project that will bestow an economic boost and major scientific prestige on the winner. Radio telescopes work best in remote locations away from interference from other radio signals, hence the decision to site this one in the more sparsely-populated southern hemisphere. MORE THAN SCIENTIFIC EYE CANDY
The SKA is more than just a scientific bauble for the winner. Global tech companies are already earmarking development funds linked to the project, which will rely on computing technology that does not even exist yet to process the flood of data it will collect. Scientists estimate that the SKA will need processing power equivalent to several million of today's fastest computers.International Business Machines Corp and Astron, the Netherlands institute for radio astronomy, announced in April a 33 million euro ($42 million), five-year deal to develop extremely fast computer systems with low power requirements for the SKA project. "If you take the current global daily Internet traffic and multiply it by two, you are in the range of the data set that the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope will be collecting every day," said IBM Researcher Ton Engbersen at the announcement of the deal. The first phase of construction is set to start in 2016, and by 2019 about 10 percent of the array should be built, extending some 100 km from the telescope's core. Expansion to 3,000 km should be complete by 2023 and the project will be fully up and running the following year. ANSWERS TO BIG QUESTIONSIn an interview with Reuters, the leaders of the project said they hope the array will help to answer some of the biggest questions about the formation and make-up of the universe. "For me, one of the most exciting questions is what is the universe made of," said John Womersley, Chair of the Board of Directors of the SKA organization. "We know that 5 pct of universe is made of atoms but what about the dark matter and other stuff that makes up 95 pct of the universe? "Connecting to discoveries from the Large Hadron Collider, we will get a consistent picture of what the universe is made of." The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator and is testing some of the most basic theories in physics by smashing particle beams together to simulate the conditions in the universe a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Michiel van Haarlem, Director General of the group, said the telescope's capabilities will expand over time. "In stage one, finding out about the first stars and galaxies that formed in the universe, pulsars and gravitational radiation. Then in the second stage the role of magnetic fields in the formation of galaxies and looking for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life) type things." The Britain-based consortium behind the telescope includes Canada, China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom as well as Australia and South Africa. www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-science-telescope-idUSBRE84N0YK20120524
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Post by skywalker on May 25, 2012 19:31:03 GMT -6
I vote for Australia also. There is a lot of open land down there yet the country is still modern and relatively free of strife and conflict...unlike South Africa which still has quite a bit of racial tension. The US has a very good working relationship with Australia also. I'm kind of wondering what the real purpose of this satellite telescope system really is? I seriously doubt that scientists are building it to detect the threat of an alien invasion. They probably just want to see further and with greater detail so they might actually get a better look at some of the nearby solar systems and the planets that are orbiting within them. Even if they did secretly want to look for approaching aliens, do they really think they would be able to see them? Have they never heard of cloaking or invisibility? Our military can almost make things invisble right now by using tiny cameras with tiny little projectors...how much more advanced would an alien race that can travel between the stars be? They could probably sneak right up to the earth and start abducting people and the scientists would never even know it.
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Post by skywalker on May 25, 2012 19:32:11 GMT -6
That doesn't mean they shouldn't build the thing though. I'm all in favor of anything that expands our scientific knowledge.
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Post by swamprat on May 26, 2012 11:39:19 GMT -6
Uh oh!! They decided to split it up between both continents!
This is beginning to look like a very expensive debacle! Giant Radio Telescope Gets Split Location to Probe Extraterrestrial LifeJessica Menton | May 25, 2012 The world's biggest and most advanced radio telescope, capable of detecting signs of extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe, will be split between the two leading bidders for the project; South Africa and Australia with New Zealand. The decision was made at a meeting of the nation’s controlling the project in the Netherlands on Friday. When completed in 2024 the "Square Kilometer Array” will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15 meters wide, together with many more antennae that will stretch over 1,864 miles. Scanning the sky 10,000 times faster and with 50 times the sensitivity of any other telescope, it will be used to study the origins of the universe and detect weak signals that could indicate the presence of extraterrestrial life. A joint bid between Australia and New Zealand to host the telescope had been pitted against South Africa for the two billion dollars project that will bestow an economic boost and major scientific prestige on the winner. The lobbying has been intense with the Australians raising concerns about the security of such an expensive project in South Africa, which suffers from high rates of violent crime. South Africa has accused the other side of dirty tricks and selectively leaking data to boost its bid in what are supposed to be secret deliberations. The first phase of construction is set to start in 2016, and by 2019 about 10 percent of the array should be built, extending some 100 km from the telescope's core. Expansion to 3,000 km should be complete by 2023 and the project will be fully up and running the following year. tv.ibtimes.com/giant-radio-telescope-gets-split-location-to-probe-extraterrestrial-life/5809.html
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Post by skywalker on May 26, 2012 16:05:05 GMT -6
They will have it completed by 2023 and by then we will probably have better technology that will make the whole thing obsolete like SETI is.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2012 17:39:19 GMT -6
If they did find alien life would they tell the general population ?
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Post by swamprat on May 30, 2012 5:26:38 GMT -6
And now the problems begin...... South Africa's telescope success may threaten gas plansJon Herskovitz Reuters May 29, 2012 JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's winning the rights to host the bulk of the world's biggest radio telescope looks set to clash with plans to use the high-pressure pumping method fracking, which can cause earth tremors, to extract gas from its vast shale deposits. Last week, South Africa won the rights to locate about 70 percent of the "Square Kilometre Array" (SKA), a $2 billion project capable of detecting signs of extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe. The project will bring the construction of more than a thousand highly sensitive receptors spread across hundreds of kilometers of arid terrain in the Northern Cape province. The area is subject to an astronomy law that prohibits activity interfering with star gazing, which could include hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" - where drillers blast large amounts of sand and water laced with chemicals deep underground to free natural gas and oil from shale deposits. "There is no decision by government on that (fracking). We must understand the science before any license is given, but I will use the astronomy advantage act if necessary," Science Minister Naledi Pandor told a news conference last week. The Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act of 2007, meant to bolster South Africa's bid for the array, gives the Science Ministry a mandate to cut down trees, re-route air flights, silence radio signals and prohibit anything that harms astronomy in the region. The area is home to gas reserves now being investigated by energy company Royal Dutch Shell and petrochemical group Sasol. According to an initial study commissioned by the U.S. energy information administration, South Africa has 485 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources, most of which are located in the Karoo Basin. The amount is the fifth largest of 32 countries included in the study and is pitched as a long-term solution for the energy problems of Africa's largest economy. "The SKA will be situated in our license application area," Janine Nel, a spokeswoman for Shell South Africa Upstream, said. "We will comply with legislation in this regard and ensure that any future exploration activities we may undertake respect these regulations." Environmentalists and other critics say fracking, which has made available major new unconventional sources of gas and transformed the U.S. energy sector, can cause earth tremors and contaminate water. The process is banned in several countries. Independent energy industry analyst Chris Yelland said South Africa is committed to the telescope project and it is up to scientists and engineers to see if fracking can co-exist with it. "No one can give a definitive answer at this point on whether it is possible," Yelland told Reuters. FRACKING MORATORIUM About a year ago, South Africa imposed a fracking moratorium on oil and gas exploration licenses in the semi-arid region to gain time to examine the concerns of environmentalists who say the process would ruin the area and to study the potential gains. Energy Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment. The telescope project will take years to build and the government appears in no rush to see how it will apply its astronomy law on mining and fracking. When completed in 2024, the telescope will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15 meters (50 feet) wide, together with many more antennae, that together will give a receiver surface area of a square kilometer. The bulk of the project will be in South Africa and partner African countries. Australia and New Zealand also won the rights to host a smaller portion of the project. Scanning the sky 10,000 times faster and with 50 times the sensitivity of any other telescope, it will be able to see 10 times further into the universe and detect signals that are 10 times older. www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-science-telescope-frackingbre84s0yd-20120529,0,702403.story
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