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Allen Telescope Array In Action
DIY News writes "36 of an eventual herd of 350 dishes are now operational in a remote area 250 miles northeast of San Francisco. These antennas, 20 feet in diameter and the height of a football goal post, are the first installment of the Allen Telescope Array, and they are ideal for short SETI projects while the array is being built." From the articel: "The young ATA's first foray into SETI will be known by the straightforward (if not overly galvanic) name of Inner Galactic Plane Survey. The word 'survey' may surprise many who are familiar with this telescope's design. After all, it's being finely tuned to speedily examine large numbers of star systems in a so-called "targeted search". The completed array will be exceptionally nimble at such individual scrutiny, and will leave previous targeted searches in the data dust."
While I'm all for SETI, it seems we have so many other things to learn first. Personally, I'm a big fan of the work done at the coolest of all "Arrays", the Very Large Array located in New Mexico. It's a sight to behold, and the information they gather through radio information has been extremely valuable over the years.
I'm sure it's that more impressive as it is in the middle of nowhere...there is a visitor center there (unstaffed) and the last time I went through there they sold postcards, pictures, etc., and had a box where you were kindly asked to deposit your payment. That tells me they were interested in the science first, the glitz and glamour of space.com is probably very low on their list.
--- There is a man in a smiling bag.
Uhhh...no! The would not be a waste of time. The culture shock this would have all around the world would shatter our very perspective of the universe around us.
While we wont be able to communicate back with them in real-time, it would spawn a whole new field of science dedicated to the decoding of the transmission and any potential science discoveries to be learned from the original aliens that transmitted their discoveries. It could potentially be a passive version of a "galactic alien library" beamed out to space! Second, it would spur the desires for the younger generation to dive into math, science, and engineering in hopes to one day discover meathods for FTL travel. While the idea is far-fetched, at least there is now a definitive goal to strive for.
Life is not for the lazy.
This Allen Telescope Array has been getting advertised for at least 15 years now and all they've gotten is 10% of it erected and not a single bit of data yet. They must be spending $1 a year on it.
Wouldn't it be farther along if they didn't build it on the most expensive real estate in the world? Maybe instead of spending 15 years building 10% of it outside Sacramento they could compromise and build it 1 mile east of Calif* for a trillion dollars less.
Are they ever going to finish it or is it just supposed to be neverending publicity for Paul Allen?