Frequency range also means they can pick up FM radio stations from anywhere in the world (and beyond!!). Wonder if I can get local planning permission for that kind of aerial :-)
Crikey, that's FAST: China clocks 84 pulsars in 2 years using world's largest radio telescope
The world's largest single-dish radio telescope, an enormous white circle half a kilometre in diameter, has helped scientists uncover 84 new pulsars since it began collecting data two years ago. Jiang Peng, chief engineer at the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou Province, southwest China, …
COMMENTS
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Thursday 4th July 2019 11:52 GMT KittenHuffer
In one way pulsars are not the great hope they used to be
In the early days of pulsar discovery it was hoped that pulsars would be a useful way to find your way around the galaxy. The golden discs on the Voyager spacecraft actually contain pulsar maps that can be used to identify the location of our solar system.
Unfortunately, it is now known that pulsars precess over time and the area of space swept by their radio beams changes. This means that by the time (40k+ years) any LGM get their hands on those discs they will be useless as a way of finding the remains of our civilisation.
Though even if they could find our solar system they’d probably just find TWO Venus like planets amongst the rocky worlds of the inner system.
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Thursday 4th July 2019 12:54 GMT KittenHuffer
Re: In one way pulsars are not the great hope they used to be
Now that's a down vote that I really don't understand.
I suppose it could be from one of the "Global warming is fake news!" crowd. But then if they're smart enough to have spotted that tucked away in my comment I'd have thought they were smart enough to realise it's real.
Anybody else have any ideas what I did or said to offend?
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Saturday 6th July 2019 15:26 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: In one way pulsars are not the great hope they used to be
In reality, ET is going to be governed by the same limits and laws of physics as we are.
With no access to FTL travel, they will stop their plans of world domination, when they realise it's hard to drop tactical nukes that don't also take out our KFC supplies. After 1000s of years, the'd be desperate for a quick snack!
We always suspected there to be a reason KFC is both so greatly desired, yet so rarely found. They only place them outside strategic locations. ;)
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Friday 5th July 2019 23:25 GMT W.S.Gosset
Re: Acronym
Many moons ago, a chap I knew at uni was with engineering in the Victorian railways and did a big presentation on the then-proposed high-speed link between Melbourne & Sydney. As a laugh, his team presented it under, and suggested, the title Fast Alternative Rail Transport.
Unfortunately, the senior managers (A) didn't get it, (B) loved the name.
... He had to take them aside later and gently point out what its acronym was.
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Saturday 6th July 2019 08:31 GMT Stoneshop
Re: Acronym
As a laugh, his team presented it under, and suggested, the title Fast Alternative Rail Transport.
Back in the day, DEC had a moniker for a certain range of systems: Reliability, Adaptability, Maintainability and Performance, so RAMP.
That didn't go well[0] when Sales came visiting at Philips Eindhoven.
[0] nl: ramp --> en: disaster
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