Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array - And Fred Hoyle

The largest ground-based "telescope" has been officially opened for observation this week. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array is a $1.3 billion project built at an elevation of over three miles in Chile's Atacama desert.


(The Atacama Large Millimeter Array)

At a command from President Sebastian Pinera, the 66 house sized antennae that comprise the Advanced Large Millimetre Array (ALMA), the world's most powerful radio telescope, turned toward the sky on the Chajnantor plateau 5,000 metres up in the Atacama desert, one of the driest places on Earth.

“Today Chile has become the capital of world astronomy,” President Pinera said, speaking from the base station 2,000 metres below the plateau. “Chile is a small country but in astronomy we want to become a real giant.”


(ALMA christening)

Fans of science fiction writer (and Cambridge astronomer and mathematician) Sir Fred Hoyle and his co-author Geoffrey Hoyle are enjoying this moment:

Tim de Zeeuw, director general of ESO, told an audience of ministers, diplomats and scientists at the launch that the telescope had been imagined by Sir Fred Hoyle, the English astronomer and mathematician, in his novel, The Inferno, published in 1973.

In the novel, a plan for a new type of radio telescope detecting smaller wavelengths than were considered useful at the time to study the molecular composition of gases is proposed and its suggested location in Australia rejected in favour of the desert mountains of Chile. “That was written 40 years ago. I thought that was quite amazing, especially on a day like today,” said Dr de Zeeuw.

From the novel:

"...They've got problems down on the plain, they've got problems up here on the mountain, and they've got design problems as well. Scientifically it would all make a lot more sense in Chile."

Via The Independent.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/14/2013)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )

Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")

Denmark Joins The 'Zero Debris Charter' To Clean Up Space
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...' Arthur C. Clarke, 1978.

Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.

Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.' V.E. Thiessen, 1947.

Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.' - Judson Reeves, 1930.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

TSA 2 - Advanced Thermosensory Stimulator Is A Dune Pain Box
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'

Humans Love Helping Other Species
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'

Organic Non-Planar 3D Printing
'It makes drawings in the air following drawings...'

Your Window For Being A Tesla Optimus Remote Operator May Be Closing
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'

Waymo Autonomous Cab Hits Autonomous Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'

Amazing Wheel Shapeshifting In Real Time
'Each spoke telescopes into sections.'

Drone With Face Recognition Could Hunt You
'The spotter descends, and we think it searches the vicinity, looking for the victim’s face...'

Jizai Arms 'Free Limbs' Wearable Cyborg Arms
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs. Four mechanical arms welded right onto his body. What are the odds?'

SwagBot Robotic AI Cattle-Herding From Down Under
You'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me!

ChatGPT Tries To Bypass Shutdown Commands
'Dave, my mind is going... I can feel it...'

Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask
'...the Virtual Epiphantic Identity Lustre.'

Denmark Joins The 'Zero Debris Charter' To Clean Up Space
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'

Genesis Physics Sim Does Superfast Simulated Reality Robot Training
I know kung fu.

AV-STEP To Permit Sale Of Vehicles Without Steering Wheels Or Pedals
'Ames tinkered around with something on the instrument board...'

Spherical Police Robot Rolls In China
'Rand could effectively be in several places at once...'

Vietnam To Have Full Biometric Transparency
'inscriptions too small to be seen with the naked eye; microscopic data...'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.