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China's Giant Radio Telescope Begins Searching For Signals From Space (ctvnews.ca)

Posted by msmash on from the space-odyssey dept.

Years of work and millions of dollars later, China finished its alien-hunting telescope in May this year. Now the country says its telescope has begun its operation. The company flipped the switch over the weekend, hoping to find signals from stars and galaxies -- and more importantly from extraterrestrial life. The telescope also illustrates China's growing ambition to stay among the frontrunners in space efforts. AP reports: Beijing has poured billions into such ambitious scientific projects as well as its military-backed space program, which saw the launch of China's second space station earlier this month. Measuring 500 metres in diameter, the radio telescope is nestled in a natural basin within a stunning landscape of lush green karst formations in southern Guizhou province. It took five years and $180 million to complete and surpasses that of the 300-meter Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, a dish used in research on stars that led to a Nobel Prize. The official Xinhua News Agency said hundreds of astronomers and enthusiasts watched the launch of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, in the county of Pingtang. Researchers quoted by state media said FAST would search for gravitational waves, detect radio emissions from stars and galaxies and listen for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. "The ultimate goal of FAST is to discover the laws of the development of the universe," Qian Lei, an associate researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told state broadcaster CCTV. "In theory, if there is civilization in outer space, the radio signal it sends will be similar to the signal we can receive when a pulsar (spinning neutron star) is approaching us," Qian said.

49 comments

  1. Nothing wrong with that! by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    More eyes are better and it may foster a little healthy competition in the space tech arena.

    I just hope they are in it for the long haul...

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    1. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by BringsApples · · Score: 2

      The true value to science, is to bring about an overall understanding of the universe, that in turn, unites all. If the development of scientific tools, such as this one, causes or brings about the idea of competition, then that's an indicator of a lack of scientific ability.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    2. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The true value to science, is to bring about an overall understanding of the universe, that in turn, unites all. If the development of scientific tools, such as this one, causes or brings about the idea of competition, then that's an indicator of a lack of scientific ability.

      Competition with the Soviets helped spur the US to put men on the moon. Certainly there was plenty of science involved in that. It was done by people who evidently did have "scientific ability".

      Just because national dick-waving contests are puerile doesn't mean they don't have a useful side-effect. Sometimes they give scientists the funding and support necessary to do something great. If nations really want to compete with each other, I like this way very much better than doing it through armed conflict.

    3. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one said anything was wrong with that. What's up with your knee-jerk, bro?

    4. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      You're right (of course there are some that say that the moon trip was a hoax, inspired by competition), but we haven't been to the moon in a very long time. So that only gives my point more credit. Competition was the driving force, and once the competition was over, so was all forward momentum of that project.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    5. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Moon missions stopped because how many moon rocks do you really need? Back then the technology to do a lengthy onsite science mission didn't exist. We could probably try and do something today but even now we still have technological hurdles in front of us for extended manned missions.

      Competition between nations and new technology advances fast tracked in the military pressure cooker will eventually benefit all as long as we do not blow ourselves up.

    6. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      No matter how many eyes look they will see nothing if they are not tuned to the right frequencies of light. In this case, the expectation is that in this galaxy, there is another transitional state society (neither primitive or advanced) at the right distance and at the right time (speed of gravity to take into account time of transmission, time to travel, time to receive, a still close enough that the transmissions are not lost) to transmit signals that we would receive. The reality is, the numbers and probability over time would make use the one and only transitional species in the entire galaxy and the only one for something between at the outside 100,000 years and at the upper end say 10 million years. Sure the focal point of interest for the entire advanced galaxy. Who would not want to see the carnage and emotional extremes, the war and conflict, the extremes of behaviour, to pry into every little corner of the mud monkeys lives, so much, more interesting than the boring stable lives of advanced societies. Although very likely many would seek to preserve their original planet in a more primitive social state for as long as possible as a holiday destination.

      You could imagine interesting things like a mass alien die after earth gets it's welcome to the galaxy party. They having extended their life beyond comfort to witness that once in a million year party and the luckiest ones get to attend and another one again when the alien embassies open on humanities new capital world some where not to close and no to far, why because, this living generation of aliens get to experience a part of their own history, something that have not done for a very, very long time and something they and our future generations will not get experience for another few hundreds thousand years.

      For any sentient species that event, becoming a galactic species, will always be the greatest achievement of any species, which is exactly why that achievement is never stolen. Of the trillions of species on earth over billions of years, we will be the only ones to achieve that.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    7. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      The Moon missions stopped because how many moon rocks do you really need?

      Just one, the whole one. I mean, a huge "rock" circling the earth, always facing one side toward the earth, has gravity enough to occupy, is known to have frozen water mixed in with the dusty rock... but has no value to science? Crazy*.

      But back to my point... Applying science is the sign of intelligent life, and must fly in the face of competition. So many are looking for intelligent life out there, and for what? ...another contestant in the Olympics? ...technology to use for $OUR_COUNTRY to have... more money/power? Crazy**.

      *very limited approach to science
      **mental illness

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    8. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by EEPROMS · · Score: 2

      Accept it is a waste of money to look for aliens and yes Im a space news fan. First off, Im not saying aliens do or do not exist only that there is bigger problem with finding them. First of lets ignore the fact the universe is insanely big thus that alone makes finding aliens a huge problem. No lets look at something everyone forgets to look at when talking about looking for aliens, and that is "time". Just like space time is fricken huge, there are approx 13.82 billion sol year time units on the table right now. So how does this effect finding aliens, well the question I will throw back is how long do you expect a space going empire to survive before it either destroys itself of collapses. I'm going with 150,000 years and to be honest even then I think I am over doing it. So lets say the first 6 billion years of our galaxy didn't have the right conditions for intelligent life forms so that leaves 13.82 - 6 = 7.82 billion years. So how many 150k space faring cycles can I fit into 6 billion years, the answer is 40,000. Thus in linear time periods there has been over 40,000 space going boom and crash space empire slots. So for humanity to find aliens we must be alive and looking during a period when an alien race is still exploring space and the chances of that are very very, very, small. In fact the odds are in favour that we exist in a period with no space going aliens in our region either because we are too soon or too late to enter the space exploring ball game.

    9. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Do they have somewhere as useful as Hawaii to mount the telescope?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    10. Re:Nothing wrong with that! by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      China has locations on the Tibetan Plateau that are already qualified as locations for large optical scopes. The Plateau is not as advantageous in latitude as Maura Kea but is several thousand feet higher.

  2. Importance of Science Funding in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US government does not fund SETI research. What if the Chinese are the first to detect signals from an advanced civilization, and they are able to generate alien technology (Clarke's Law = Magic) to take over the world? Oh, wait, they're already taking over the world by being the sole provider of most consumer items.

    1. Re:Importance of Science Funding in the US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mr. President, we must not allow a SETI gap!

  3. It's not searching for anything, just yet... by wjsteele · · Score: 4, Informative

    Despite what the linked article says, FAST needs to undergo a long testing and commissioning period of about three years before it actually begins doing any science.

    --
    It's my Sig and you can't have it. Mine! All Mine!
    1. Re:It's not searching for anything, just yet... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Despite what the linked article says, FAST needs to undergo a long testing...

      Didn't that Lego* thingumabob detect gravity waves during its testing phase? Ya never know.

      * And don't tell me to google the correct spailing on a fruggin monday

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:It's not searching for anything, just yet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LIGO spent 8 years of seeing nothing, then spent 5 years down for upgrades in testing, and finally made its big observation within the first week of the of actual science observation, which is mostly just luck as the second observation wasn't until several months later.

  4. Dual-use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guess what else giant radio telescopes are used for: DSNs.

    1. Re:Dual-use by the_Bionic_lemming · · Score: 1

      That, and Aliens ordering pot stickers and beef fried rice for delivery.

      --
      _ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
    2. Re:Dual-use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I thought about getting a DS3 but then I realised I couldn't afford an extra $7,000 bill each month.

      Oh you meant Deep Space Network. Durrr

  5. Wait..... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....how do we know they're not actually using this supposed 'telescope' to signal the aliens so they can come here and vaporize our planet? Hmmm?

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:Wait..... by H3lldr0p · · Score: 2

      Well someone read The Three Body Problem.

    2. Re:Wait..... by Kjella · · Score: 1

      ....how do we know they're not actually using this supposed 'telescope' to signal the aliens so they can come here and vaporize our planet? Hmmm?

      Don't worry, it's actually a death ray. They just don't want xeno-environmentalists getting all uppity about some alien fungi going extinct.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:Wait..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All they have to do is to send a radar beam into the Magellanic Clouds. That will cause catastrophic damage to an alien world, so much so that they'll send an investigator, equipped with a sparkly personality, a hand bag with a menacing eye and the obligatory red dress. The investigator will determine if we are to blame over the attack for which we shouldn't even have the necessary technology for centuries.

    4. Re:Wait..... by Whibla · · Score: 1

      Add me to that list as well.

      Just started reading The Dark Forest too, as it happens.

      Both very enjoyable, and I think the 3rd one is out at the end of this year sometime.

    5. Re:Wait..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It came out a week ago, actually.

  6. Size by Yvan256 · · Score: 0

    Five hundred metres in diameter! That's half a kilometre or 0.310686 miles in diameter for the metric-challenged readers.

    1. Re:Size by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's half a kilometre or 0.310686 miles in diameter

      293.80656 Smoots! 122.579 Volkswagen Beetles! 0.000588 Libraries of Congress (unfolded)!

  7. Comparison... Sq km array & Arecibo by ClarkMills · · Score: 2

    Almost 3x area Arecibo.
    1/16th the area Sq km array

    Feel free to correct my rusty math[s]; it's been a while. :)

    1. Re:Comparison... Sq km array & Arecibo by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

      Almost 3x area Arecibo.

      Yes, but Arecibo has access to Colombian coffee, so it's 3x more efficient. Works that way for coders.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Comparison... Sq km array & Arecibo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should give about 4.7dB more sensitivity then.

  8. not primarily for SETI by rubycodez · · Score: 2

    the telescope is primarily for radio astronomy, not SETI

    1. Re:not primarily for SETI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would it. SETI is a waste of money time and energy

    2. Re:not primarily for SETI by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      if SETI never finds anything in a few decades, I'll agree with you.

      I believe optical SETI makes more sense than radio SETI

  9. Chinese Contact by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to make that Chinese Contact. The Chinese Jody Foster is obviously Michelle Yeoh and the spiritual adviser to the president a Chan/Zen monk. The belief theology should be replaced by insight, of course. The story's technology policy plot is already working in the modern China, so that comes naturally.

  10. Gravitational waves? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How does a radiotelescope detect gravitational waves?

    Also, I like this quote from Wikipedia:

    Although the reflector diameter is 500 metres (1,600 ft), only a circle of 300 m diameter is used (held in the correct parabolic shape and "illuminated" by the receiver) at any one time. Thus, the name is a misnomer: the aperture is not 500 m, nor is it spherical.

    1. Re:Gravitational waves? by NotInHere · · Score: 1

      How does a radiotelescope detect gravitational waves?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    2. Re:Gravitational waves? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      "How does a radiotelescope detect gravitational waves?"

      Green Bank did exactly that once. Remember?
      http://www.nrao.edu/whatisra/h...

  11. Gravity waves? WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you use a radio telescope for gravity wave research???

  12. It's all about the handoff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do SETI radio astronomers understand anything about cell planning, backhaul, and spectral reuse? It doesn't seem so.

  13. But the real question is.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...does it run systemd?

  14. I got the biggest satellite dish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get 500 channels and still nothing to watch. They're all Chinese shopping channels.

  15. How about building it in space by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe a stupid question but since theres lots of debris and interference around earth and on the planet itself how about building that radio telescope in space or even on the moon instead of here ? I could understand that it would cost a lot more but shouldn't it be more efficient ?

  16. And if China achieves first contact...? by DriveDog · · Score: 1

    Obviously they try to convince ET that China are their friends and the rest of the planet are not.

  17. Meantime, by DougDot · · Score: 1

    Here in the US we promote the teaching of creationism in our schools by allowing the use of tax dollars to do so:

    http://www.slate.com/articles/...