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South Africa Wins Science Panel's Backing To Host SKA Telescope
ananyo writes "A scientific panel has narrowly recommended South Africa over Australia as the best site for the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an enormous US$2.1-billion radio telescope. While the project's member states have yet to make a final decision on where the telescope will go, the odds are now that the African bid will ultimately win out against the joint bid from Australia and New Zealand to host the project. The SKA radio telescope will be made up of some a 3,000 dishes, each 15 metres in diameter. The project will try to answer big questions about the early Universe: how the first elements heavier than helium formed, for example, and how the first galaxies coalesced. The telescope is so sensitive that it could even pick up television signals from distant worlds — something that might aid in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence."
that it's not over yet.
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The bleeding hearts of Europe want to patronise the Africans once again with a perceived leg up rather than guarantee the long term stability and viability of the project. Why isn't the LHC based in South Africa?
I will admit that I don't know the cultures of both places very well, but between the two...
Wouldn't you go with Australia based on population density alone? This is a radio telescope, something you want in someplace remote. You pick a square kilometer out in the middle of the outback, there's going to be like NO local interference. South Africa has approximately 40 times the population density, and they seem to be spread around the country a little more evenly than Australia.
I don't have time to read TFA, so please tell us what SA has over Au?
We are talking about a project that worth BILLIONS, and that the structures (radar and all) must be kept in a place
I don't mean to be patronizing - but I just can't see how Sa can win over Au in term of safety
Or is PC --- as in Political Correctness --- an important criteria in choosing Sa over Au?
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As long as it's above the noise floor, it would be recognizable. Not necessarily as TV, but as some sort of intentionally created signal. I doubt we'd be able to watch it though.
The real home run, though the odds are miniscule, would be if the timing works out that we pick up extraterrestrial signals right around the time that some other civilization is learning the basics of frequency modulated radio, so that they're just mapping frequencies of sound directly to frequencies of light. That would actually allow us to hear alien speech, which would obviously be amazing.
Of course, that assumes that they use verbal communication, and that their technology progresses similar to ours, and that the window of time that they used this technology (a couple centuries at most if they're similar to us) just so happens to fall in the time that we're listening, instead of millions of years before or after. So I'm not holding my breath, but it sure would be cool.
This isn't a rumour, it is a sub-recommendation feeding into the main decision. The recommendation that the physical site and associated costs are better for the South African bid is fact.
Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.
It is in the middle of the karoo, which is a desert. The biggest security threat would be dirty deeds done with sheep.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
The continent of Africa, as a whole, is woefully underdeveloped for astronomy (like it is for lots of other things). Yes, South Africa has some decent stuff, like SALT, based on the Hobby-Eberley scope in Texas, which is quite large. And the Canaries have plenty of observatories near Africa, but they're under Spanish control. A SKA would probably include some outlying dishes one or even two countries removed from South Africa, which would help make science more visible in those countries as well. /Biased since I work in astronomy and am married to an African. ;)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Just going down the list of countries associated with South Africa's bid:
Compared with:
The SKA is intended to operate for 50 years. The fact that only one African SKA country has had a revolution in the last 18 years is promising - but still, I'd expect a couple more (if not South Africa itself) to be unstable during that time. Conversely, it would be surprising if Australia or New Zealand experienced political instability on that level.
I am very much hoping that highly intelligent beings have received our signals, understood our culture, and are beaming back final episodes for series that were cancelled in mid-season. There are many series that need better endings. But which ones depends on how far away they are. If they are closer, they could be now sending a better ending for Joanie Loves Chachi. If they are farther away, they could produce a better ending for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I just hope they do not become big fans of that famous TV show, The Invaders.
'God forbid they've received our terrestrial signals!'
I wonder what they would fear most, tv evangelicals or our science fiction?
Just as light pollution is a problem for astronomers, Radio Spectrum Pollution is a problem for radio astronomers. Won't this be a big problem in South Africa?
With that constant drone of vuvuzelas, you can't hear a damn thing in that country.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
It still might do ok in the right time slot.
If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
The southern hemisphere is better for radio astronomy and SETI. It has more interesting targets, including the most interesting nearby stars and the galactic center. Also, there are more radio telescopes in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere already, including Arecibo and the new 500 meter FAST dish being constructed in Southern China.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Seriously, most technological societies will probably go through a very brief period where they broadcast megawatt signals all over their planet. Following their adoption of cellular, mesh and other similar low power systems, they will appear to 'go dark' in the RF spectrum to distant observers.
Now if we can pick up their power grid frequencies, that will be useful. Are they like us good Americans, using 60 Hz? Or commie socialist Europeans with 50 Hz?
Have gnu, will travel.
Unfortunately, they did not receive the final episode of "Single Female Lawyer"
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.