A rendering of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, which is now nearly complete. (credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Sometimes, when we build huge telescopes to see deep into the Universe, we end up learning more about ourselves back here on Earth. That appears to be the case during the last week as two bits of telescope news came out of Hawaii and China.
First came news from the Thirty Meter Telescope project, a collaboration of international institutions led by the California Institute of Technology. The team would begin considering alternate sites for the large optical instrument it originally planned to build on Mauna Kea. The announcement followed months of delays due to protests by native Hawaiians. The protesters believe the 55-meter-tall facility would desecrate sacred ground.
Then came reports out of China that, as the country finishes building the world's largest radio telescope, it plans to move 2,029 families—a total of 9,110 people—who live near the telescope in the south-central Chinese province of Guizhou. According to Chinese officials, relocating the nearby residents will create “a sound electromagnetic wave environment” for the telescope. (Perhaps they might have considered this before choosing the site?) Residents will receive about $1,800 for housing compensation.
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