China to switch on world's largest radio telescope in search for aliens

They're probably out there, but who will find them first?

A massive new telescope, the largest of its kind, will shortly go online to hunt for evidence of extraterrestrials.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - China is about to switch on the world's largest radio telescope. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) will be switched on this September 25.

The telescope was built in Southwestern China. The scope is so powerful, and so sensitive that a nearby village was relocated to prevent interference with the subtle signals it can detect. Its massive size is the secret to its sensitivity. The bigger the scope, the more energy it can gather from deep space.

The telescope will be used to peer deep into space to help unlock the mysteries of the creation of the universe. More powerful telescopes can see fainter radiation, and therefore can peer farther into space, which is also further back in time. The reason for this is that radiation takes time to reach the Earth from the edge of the universe. A telescope that can see an object 13 billion light years away is also seeing the object as it appeared 13 billion years ago.

After an initial stint peering into deep space, the telescope will be leased to astronomers hoping to detect signs of alien life. These astronomers pay for hours on telescopes around the world and spend their time listening to the static of space. They hope if an alien civilization exists it is communicating with radio waves which can be detected by the telescope.

Even if the signal is extremely faint of distant, the telescope should be able to detect it. The discovery would answer a long-lasting question about whether or not we are alone in the universe. Most scientists think there are other civilizations out there, but there is no evidence of a single one to date. This problem is known as the Fermi Paradox, the idea that the universe is so vast there must be other intelligent life out there, but for some poorly understood reason, we cannot communicate with it.

The telescope will be switched on later this month and will begin tests to ensure all the systems work properly. Then it will spend a few years looking as far as it can into deep space to answer questions about the beginning of our universe.

After that, the telescope will be available to hunt for extraterrestrials.

While the telescope is capable, it may not provide the first clue that terrestrial life exists. The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in October of 2018. That telescope will be able to survey the light from planets that orbit nearby stars. The light may betray the existence of "biomarkers," that is chemicals in the atmospheres that do not occur unless life is present.

The James Webb telescope will be able to survey the closest several hundred stars and their planets, but the mission is not expected to launch for another two years. And the telescope, should it detect signs of life, would not be able to detect any radio signals, which would be a sign of intelligent life.

However, if the James Webb telescope does detect life, you can be sure the Chinese telescope will quickly follow to see if the life is intelligent, and broadcasting anything interesting.

---

The California Network is the Next Wave in delivery of information and entertainment on pop culture, social trends, lifestyle, entertainment, news, politics and economics. We are hyper-focused on one audience, YOU, the connected generation. JOIN US AS WE REDEFINE AND REVOLUTIONIZE THE EVER-CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE.