2024 - We may be able to detects signs on alien life with world's largest and most powerful telescope ever

[TetsuoShima]

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 located in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The decision to split the location of the $2 billion 'Square Kilometre Array' followed an intense battle between the bidders - South Africa one side and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand on the other.

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.

Scientists leading the project rejected the suggestion that the decision, which will mean higher costs, meant science had taken a back seat to political expediency.

'We were all aware of the political dimensions of this,' said Jon Womersley, Chair of the Board of Directors of the SKA organisation, but he added: 'It's a scientifically motivated way forward.'

There is already infrastructure in South Africa and Australia, including radio telescope dishes that were built as precursors to the new array. They will now be incorporated into the SKA.

The consortium estimates that the decision to split the project will add about 10 percent to the 350 million euro ($440 million) budget for the first phase of construction.

When completed in 2024 the telescope will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15 metres wide, together with many more antennae, that together will give a receiver surface area of a square kilometre.

'This hugely important step for the project allows us to progress the design and prepare for the construction phase of the telescope,' said Michiel van Haarlem, Director General of the consortium.

'The SKA will transform our view of the universe; with it we will see back to the moments after the Big Bang and discover previously unexplored parts of the cosmos.'

To process the data coming back from the Square Kilometre Array, IBM is designing a computer which will digest twice as much information every day as the entire internet, sifting through radio waves from space in an effort to unravel the origin of the universe.

The machine will be attached to a 1,900 square mile array of telescope antenna, and will be built to 'suck in' in radio telescope data which will 'see' 13 billion years into the past, back to the dawn of the universe and the Big Bang.

The machine will be millions of times more powerful than the fastest PCs today - and will deal with 100 times more information than the output of the Large Hadron Collider.

Ton Engbersen of IBM resarch says, '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.'

Upon completion in 2024, the telescope will be used to explore evolving galaxies, dark matter and even the very origins of the universe dating back more than 13 billion years.

IBM is to investigate using 3D 'stacks' of computer chips to achieve the enormous computing power required by the Square Kilometre Array.

This extremely powerful survey telescope will have millions of antennas to collect radio signals, forming a collection area equivalent to one square kilometre but spanning a huge surface area - approximately the width of the continental United States.

The SKA will be 50 times more sensitive than any former radio device and more than 10,000 times faster than today's instruments.

The SKA is expected to produce a few Exabytes of data per day for a single beam per one square kilometer. After processing this data the expectation is that per year between 300 and 1500 Petabytes of data need to be stored.

In comparison, the approximately 15 Petabytes produced by the large hadron collider at CERN per year of operation is approximately 10 to 100 times less than the envisioned capacity of SKA.

The directors of the Square Kilometre Array project are to meet in Amsterdam on 3 April to discuss the location of the huge telescope, scattered across 1,900 square miles of Earth's surface.

It will start building in 2016.

'It will have a deep impact on the way we perceive our place in the universe and how we understand its history and its future,' says Michiel van Haarlem, interim director general of the SKA project. 'We know we are going to discover things.'

The SKA will consist of thousands of dishes across 1,900 miles, with a total surface area of one square kilometre, that will provide so much data that one astronomer has declared it will completely change our view of the universe.

Dr Ian Griffin, from the UK Association of Science and Discovery Centres, told MailOnline: 'The SKA project will provide astronomers with a fantastic new tool which may well revolutionise our understanding of the universe.'

'With its huge area the telescope will show incredibly fine detail in galaxies, help test the theory of relativity by studying exciting and mysterious objects like black holes and allow astronomers to learn more about the early history of the universe.'

The scientific community also believe that the SKA represents our best ever chance of finding out if there's life beyond our solar system.

To do this will require ground-breaking technology. The SKA's 15m-dishes, which will detect electromagnetic radiation emitted by objects in space, will be the most sensitive ever built - able to detect an airport radar on a planet 50 light years away.

These dishes will be complemented by low and medium frequency aperture arrays, which provide a large field of view and are capable of observing more than one part of the sky at once.

It will be carried on enough optical fibre cable of such quantity that it could be wrapped twice around the world.

As yet, a location for it hasn't been decided, but Southern Africa and Australia are both n the reckoning.

They all offer areas with ideal conditions for telescopes, which must be well clear of electronic interference, such as that generated by mobile phones.

It's hoped that construction will begin in 2016, with the dishes coming online eight years later.

A prototype of SKA called KAT-7, which consists of seven 16-metre dishes, is undergoing testing in South Africa's Karoo desert.

http://gtack.com/p.php?p=enbr1yuf&s=3

[koko12]

This is freaking cool. I love this stuff. The only downfall is that it's 11 years away. I wonder if this will be the device which gives us actual pictures of habitable alien worlds. Can't wait.

[compy222]

the technology here is just incredible.

nice to occasionally see something in OT that gives me a little hope for the human species.

[ATL_Av8r]

Keep Jake Busey away from it. He'll **** up everything

[winstonsmith84]

nice to occasionally see something in OT that gives me a little hope for the human species.

I'm pretty sure actual proof of alien life will the one of the most devastating things to life as we know it. We can joke about it now, but once we find them, or they find us, we are ****ed. Not some slime on Aphla-315c, but some real life forms like us.

[TetsuoShima]

I'm pretty sure actual proof of alien life will the one of the most devastating things to life as we know it. We can joke about it now, but once we find them, or they find us, we are ****ed. Not some slime on Aphla-315c, but some real life forms like us.

If we find a civilzation that is just as technically advanced as ours I highly doubt we're in any danger. Even saying a simple "hello" to eachother would most likely take hundreds or maybe thousands of years at our current technological level. How fast they're advancing compared to us - well that's a different question. What their motives are? Another different question. But I remain optimistic that they won't be malicious - otherwise they probably would've killed themselves by now.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but do radio waves work the same way as light? Like if we detect something billions of light years away would that mean the signal is also billions of years old? If so, who knows if they'd even be alive by now. Either way, fascinating **** to think about.

Then there'd be the other side to it...on our side - Earth. There would most likely be a lot of people who wouldn't know how to handle the situation. The fact that there's life on other planets would probably obliterate organized religion. Or they'd just use their classic line of "God made them too"

[strskatr05]

I'm pretty sure actual proof of alien life will the one of the most devastating things to life as we know it. We can joke about it now, but once we find them, or they find us, we are ****ed. Not some slime on Aphla-315c, but some real life forms like us.

I've thought about this on more than one occasion. How the eff would people react if we actually found another life form? Some of us would be fine, but most would panic.

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

[winstonsmith84]

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

B.I.N.G.O.

[TetsuoShima]

I've thought about this on more than one occasion. How the eff would people react if we actually found another life form? Some of us would be fine, but most would panic.

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

I enjoy conspiracy theories but I think this particular conspiracy theory actually might be the most valid out of all the crazy one's out there. It most likely would cause a huge deal of panic given the amount of retards on this planet. Guess we'll never know what actually goes on behind closed doors.

[strskatr05]

I enjoy conspiracy theories but I think this particular conspiracy theory actually might be the most valid out of all the crazy one's out there. It most likely would cause a huge deal of panic given the amount of retards on this planet. Guess we'll never know what actually goes on behind closed doors.

I've thought this for some time now. Glad me, you and BLB are all on the same page when we finally do find another life form

[peoples_car]

Science; how does it work??

[A.Wilder]

Radio waves travel at the same speed as light iirc. I think it's amazing to think about how short we have been in the universe considering its age. Our recorded history only goes back 3-4,000 years with any degree of accuracy in a solar system that is billions of years old. I often ponder the theory that to an advanced alien race would look at us much the way we look at ants. Primitive.

[TetsuoShima]

I've thought this for some time now. Glad me, you and BLB are all on the same page when we finally do find another life form

But then you have to think about it. Time doesn't really matter. It's not like other intelligent life form's home planet formed 4.6 billion years ago like Earth did, and then for actual intelligent life to form for us happened about ~100,000 years ago. They could've started a few million or billion years before our planet even formed. If they had survived then don't you think something would've happened by now if they were malicious?

If they are extremely advanced then they have obvioulsy survived for millions and perhaps billions of years so that means they probably got past their growing pains (war, hate, territory, beliefs, resources) and have found a way to probably outlive their own star. There wouldn't really be any reason for them to invade if they got past all those problems. They probably do know about us but just as we walk past an anthill without giving a care in the world about it - they probably do the same to us.

Or perhaps they're observing us seeing if we'll make it past our own growing pains to evolve into what they are and become part of something sort of a "universal intelligent beings community" with other advanced civilizations where they act as something of a universal police in case some bad apples start trouble around the universe.

I'm getting carried away here but you get my point. Love thinking about this stuff.

[compy222]

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

well, given the statistical probabilities associated with any form of life...there is life "as we know it" out there. you're talking BILLIONS of chances that a planet somewhere has life.

with that being said, i kind of doubt if we encounter a sentient civilization that they're going to immediately be all peachy/fuzzy. its not going to be like star trek and the vulcans show up to be nice to us...think about a civilization that might be tens of thousands of years or more ahead of us - 500 years ago we were still basically playing with sticks and stones.

[ATL_Av8r]

I've thought about this on more than one occasion. How the eff would people react if we actually found another life form? Some of us would be fine, but most would panic.

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

Look what happened with Roswell in 1947. People got all up in arms thinking it was aliens from a spacecraft crash when it was the Soviets all along. At the time, releasing to the masses that a Soviet aircraft had penetrated deep into American airspace and could deliver "the bomb" anywhere in Middle America would have caused everyone to go ape****. It taught the government that they need to cover up **** like that and that at the time they were TERRIBLE at cover-ups.

[cryption]

This is too cool. The arrays are so impressive with the amount of technology and sensitive equipment in a single area. Such cool stuff

[20thAna3282]

It's all fun and games until these guys start showing up

[TheDarkEnergist]

This is so cool. I'm glad that even without NASA, space exploration is still a serious endeavor for many people. I'm not terribly concerned about alien life. There are many, many, MANY speedbumps on the way to traveling from planet to planet quickly but still it'd be awesome to know for certain that there's something else out there.

I mean with all the space/stars/elements that contribute to life out there...there has to be.

[A.Wilder]

I'm always blown away at the night sky in a dark place far away from any city lights. The view is breathtaking. Might need to drive out to the country on my day off.

[Noob Saibot]

Holy crap, I have the weirdest space boner right now. Just thinking about the size of the universe makes me hard. I love the fact that we are so insignificant, it's a humbling thought that more douchey, self centered people should get on board with. I just hope I'm around to see the images from our beginnings, and to finally have some answers. /spacerection.

[VegasJetta]

Keep Jake Busey away from it. He'll **** up everything

I don't think anyone got this... or they did and just don't care. haha

[TheDarkEnergist]

I don't think anyone got this... or they did and just don't care. haha

I got it. But that movie was so god damned terrible that I got mad and punched my computer at the mere thought of it.

[ATL_Av8r]

I don't think anyone got this... or they did and just don't care. haha

I just wanted others to out themselves into admitting they watched that abortion of a movie

[winstonsmith84]

Look what happened with Roswell in 1947. People got all up in arms thinking it was aliens from a spacecraft crash when it was the Soviets all along.

Whoa. I've read a lot of crazy ****, but I think this one might be a cake taker. I've never heard of a Soviet/Roswell connection until this point. I'm going to have to research this one. I've got a theory, but I'm not sure it would pan out. I need to see what crazy Mexican radio station was on a line with Roswell for radio homing. The theory on this one is crazy. Goofed up Mengle kids on life support in a radio controlled reengineered Nazi plane? Possible, not plausible. Now, I might by simple Soviet penetration of US airspace but....

[rexxmann]

Which makes me think...do we already know of lifeforms and just aren't being told so there isn't widespread panic?

In general, people are bad at keeping secrets and that's a BIG secret.

[abawp]

Keep Jake Busey away from it. He'll **** up everything

I say we let him be a maintenance guy anyway, we'll have two anyway. I'm sure Richard Branson could fill the role of the philanthropist

[TheDarkEnergist]

I just wanted others to out themselves into admitting they watched that abortion of a movie

Oh and, for you know what. You didn't have to do that, but it's much appreciated. I consider it a service rendered for the benefit of all of us.

[Jack-the-Tripper]

Why bother....if they are technically advanced they will find us, if they are more primitive then us they're not of any use...so again; why bother?

[rexxmann]

well, given the statistical probabilities associated with any form of life...there is life "as we know it" out there. you're talking BILLIONS of chances that a planet somewhere has life.

with that being said, i kind of doubt if we encounter a sentient civilization that they're going to immediately be all peachy/fuzzy. its not going to be like star trek and the vulcans show up to be nice to us...think about a civilization that might be tens of thousands of years or more ahead of us - 500 years ago we were still basically playing with sticks and stones.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

I'm afraid that if we do encounter intelligent life it will be so far advanced that we won't even recognize it. Besides, unless faster-than-light travel is possible, nobody is visiting anyone else in the galaxy, let alone the universe. I'd be very excited to just find etxra-terrestrial life, even if it is just single-cell.

[compy222]

I'm pretty sure actual proof of alien life will the one of the most devastating things to life as we know it. We can joke about it now, but once we find them, or they find us, we are ****ed. Not some slime on Aphla-315c, but some real life forms like us.

i meant that post more along the lines of "its good we're thinking past just our own miserable existence," not that we'll discover new and much angrier alien overlords...

i guess you could think that though.

[SOAR]

I'm pretty sure actual proof of alien life will the one of the most devastating things to life as we know it. We can joke about it now, but once we find them, or they find us, we are ****ed. Not some slime on Aphla-315c, but some real life forms like us.

[JPawn1]

i really do

[2.0T_Convert]

I'm afraid that if we do encounter intelligent life it will be so far advanced that we won't even recognize it. Besides, unless faster-than-light travel is possible, nobody is visiting anyone else in the galaxy, let alone the universe. I'd be very excited to just find etxra-terrestrial life, even if it is just single-cell.

I thought the idea of faster than light travel is not possible.

In which case it doesn't matter unless there is a fleet of warships launches thousands of years ago already right at our space doorstep then none of us will see ET.

[Robstr]

I wonder if this will be the device which gives us actual pictures of habitable alien worlds. Can't wait.

Not really, it's a radio telescope. While you can produce images of some objects it's a bit different.
To get an actual picture of things like we'd see them you need to be in the IR-visible-UV ranges.

Besides that, there's a reason we send probes to places to take pictures instead of just pointing a powerful telescope at it.
There's some physics involved that make it pretty much impossible to zoom in on a distant planet and look at it like you'd use binoculars to spy on your neighbor.

I don't see why the proof extraterrestrials exist would cause such panic. Sure, there will be hiccups, but the we didn't flip a large-scale **** on proof the earth was round, or orbited the sun.
Obviously hostile aliens would just own our **** if they showed up but no one can say what aliens would be like. They might uplift us to fight a war and we go Krogan on them.

[FigureFive]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

I'm afraid that if we do encounter intelligent life it will be so far advanced that we won't even recognize it. Besides, unless faster-than-light travel is possible, nobody is visiting anyone else in the galaxy, let alone the universe. I'd be very excited to just find etxra-terrestrial life, even if it is just single-cell.

There's the rub. I'm fully on board with the likelihood that there is intelligent life out there. However, even if there is I think it's highly UNlikely we'll ever encounter it do to the distances involved. Any signals this array picks up will be millions of years old by the time it receives them, so it's not like we'll be able to send them a telegram or anything.

On the flip side, a fair number of scientists have suggested that given enough power it is theoretically possible to warp space in order to travel great distances without actually moving faster than light. Basically, it comes down to expanding the space behind you and contracting the space in front of you. You and your space craft essentially remain motionless while you warp the space around you to bring a far off place right up to your doorstep. Until we unlock the secret to a suitable power source, though, it's all just theoretical. Such a maneuver would require more energy than is contained in an entire galaxy or possibly the entire universe.