China is removing over 9000 people from their homes to hunt for aliens

In what would make for a decent episode of The X-Files, the Chinese government is forcing more than 9,000 residents from their homes in order to better search for alien life in the cosmos.

Source

The worlds largest radio telescope is almost complete. China began building FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope), back in March 2011 to a tune of 1.2 billion yuan ($184,015,248), and is scheduled to be finished this September.


There’s only one small problem though, over nine thousand residents need to be relocated in order for it to operate efficiently. One Chinese official awkwardly described why the evacuation is needed.

Li Yuecheng, a senior Communist party official in Guizhou, said the relocations, from an area within a 5km radius of the project, would help “create a sound electromagnetic wave environment”.

A scientists behind the project claimed that if the telescope was filled with wine, each of the world's 7 billion inhabitants could fill about five bottles from it. Thanks for that useless, but interesting piece of information there China!

FAST is made up of 4,450 triangular-shaped panels designed to move and reflect radia signals from distant parts of the Universe to a 66,000 pound retina located in the center of the giant array.


Massive telescope's 30-ton 'retina' undergoes final test

Last year Shi Zhicheng, a Chinese astronomer, told the South China Morning Post that the telescope represented a giant leap in the hunt for alien life. “If intelligent aliens exist, the messages that they produced or left behind, if they are being transmitted through space, can be detected and received by Fast,” Shi said.

Officials believe that the telescope's location, isolated deeply in the Karst mountains, is the ideal place to detect possible extra-terrestrial messages. I guess scientific research is conducted with an iron fist in China as this isn't the first time citizens have been forced to move.

Massive relocation projects have long been a Communist party speciality. Millions of Chinese citizens have been displaced in recent decades to make way for hydro-electric dams and other infrastructure projects or as part of “poverty alleviation” schemes. Those forced from their homes often complain of poor compensation.

Well, “poverty alleviation” sounds great if I was complaining about being poor in the first place, but I'm not sure that is the case here.

Each of the involved residents will get 12,000 yuan (1,838 U.S. dollars)subsidy from the provincial reservoir and eco-migration bureau, and each involved ethnic minority household with housing difficulties will get 10,000 yuan subsidy from the provincial ethnic and religious committee.

An initial 1.2 million Chinese citizens were relocated during the creation of the Three Gorges dam and after it's completion, it was found that another 300,000 more had to be relocated due to landslides and water pollution.

That's really depressing.

"With a larger signal receiving area and more flexibility, FAST will be able to scan two times more sky area than Arecibo, with three to five times higher sensitivity," Li said.

FAST was first proposed in 1993 by Chinese astronomers, as one of several competing concepts for the international Square Kilometer Array project－a project by astronomers worldwide to build the next generation radio observatory.

I'm really excited for this project to be finished, but I can't help but feel for the families. You would think that if it was easy, they would have already made arrangements to leave while the telescope was being constructed.

The fact that so many have yet to leave indicates to me that they either don't want to go or don't have the means necessary. That's when Uncle Wang (Uncle Sam's Chinese equivalent), reaches out and "helps" you along.

I swear China, you better find some damn aliens or your going to have egg on your face!

a reply to: eisegesis

I'm looking at where this thing is being built and wondering why it's set back in obviously rocky terrain. Wouldn't the rocks around it potentially interfere with the signal reception if it's that sensitive?

The radio telescope here in Australia at Parkes is way apart from anything and set up high from the ground, and it doesn't have a bad track record.

Looks pretty, in google earth it seems remote so they must be clearing a pretty big chunk to remove 9000 people

1.2 billion yuan ($1,839,720)

I think you miss a couple of zeroes there, 1.2b is more like $180m

What a great thread! I had no idea, so thanks.

It is sad about the dislocated people, though China is not known for it's humanitarian considerations, so not surprising.

a reply to: eisegesis

Now that's impressive , hope they let us know when they find them.

a reply to: Indigent

I think you miss a couple of zeroes there, 1.2b is more like $180m

I took care of it, thanks for looking out!

originally posted by: heffo7
I'm looking at where this thing is being built and wondering why it's set back in obviously rocky terrain.

How else could something that large be built?

Wouldn't the rocks around it potentially interfere with the signal reception if it's that sensitive?

No, how could they?

The radio telescope here in Australia at Parkes is way apart from anything and set up high from the ground, and it doesn't have a bad track record.

That dish moves, this dish is 500metres in diameter...

Have we not been reading about all the 'empty' cities that have been built in China? Brand new cities and huge living complexes just sitting there empty? Anyone else hear about these?

Well why not compensate these 9000 into some of those modern apartments?

I have to laugh at the undertones of outrage in this post at 9000 people being inconvenienced by the Chinese Government.

Such a great human rights record and respect for life they usually have. This is so out of character for them.

Such a small population too China has. 9000 must be a large chunk of the Chinese people.

I'm guessing they will be well looked after and we wont be seeing an influx of Chinese refugees into Europe or Canada on wee boats.

To be honest right now I wish we lived in China away from all you crazy bastards. I'd kind of feel safer there.

Being serious though, I think they are spending money on the right things. If we can make contact with higher civilizations and expedite first contact we need to do it any way we can. ASAP

I'd move house in the name of that goal.

a reply to: eisegesis

Wow
That's big. They won't even have to turn it on and wait for messages.
The aliens will all be doing fly-bys to come and see why a massive eye has appeared on the funny little blue/green planet!
The type of mind that conceives structures like this is way beyond mine. Human ingenuity is a marvel at times.
Can't wait.

And as we can barely handle human management on this planet, we seek to find and communicate with an extra entity just to make things interesting?

Make too much noise in the woods and you move from being hunter to being hunted.

We still live like animals for the most part, I guess it is within out nature to seek out our apex predator.

a reply to: eisegesis

I guess they're not waiting for Wal-Mart to open a store in Alpha Centauri?

Aren't there already a few radio telescopes in the world?

It seems they don't trust the others already in place.

a reply to: Tranceopticalinclined

Make too much noise in the woods and you move from being hunter to being hunted.

Yep. Something I think we all need to give some thought to.

I think this is amazing, but it brings to mind a few questions/concerns... as a few of you have already noted.

One being the "make too much noise in the forest" notion, but IMO: we've been banging around quite a lot for quite for a while now, and I don't necessarily believe "they" will take much notice of a gargantuan human hearing-aid firing up. Who knows though? If intelligent signals are detected out there, then the obvious next step would be to "ping" towards them.

Something else that then comes to mind is the idea of one specific nation -as opposed to our entire human race- being the "first contact." Imagine the implications of China giving the first impressions to our distant neighbors!

I suppose it could be worse: North Korea could be the greeter for Planet Walmart but...

No... no they really couldn't.

Really, this depends on what we are to believe about alien existence/interaction as it already stands. I'm more in-line with the "they've long since been here and have always been involved" school, but this -and many other- mighty technological endeavors of late seem to tell of another scenario. Again, who really knows?

If anything, I believe we should work as the Human Race -as a single "planetary nation," rather than the splintered-up, nationalized, politically driven version we have running- at least in these regards. If China contacts ETs first, then China tells Earth's story as China wants to tell it, the same goes with any other nation, of course. However: if all space exploration were done under a single "human" program, we might have a better (and bigger) picture to show.

Might even be able to see it more clearly for ourselves as well...

a reply to: eisegesis

Why is a Chinese-made radio telescope in China using an English acronym?

And what makes anyone think aliens use radio?

originally posted by: Urantia1111
a reply to: eisegesis

Why is a Chinese-made radio telescope in China using an English acronym?

And what makes anyone think aliens use radio?

But there may be signals from the past, before the 'aliens' developed advanced technology. Anyway this is the level were at, we have to search for something, I applaud them for the fact they are trying and spending vast sums of money in the process.

Space exploration is so important in learning about who and what we are... it's a shame we can't settle our differences and unite as a human race..
By finding another advanced civilisation out there that would be the only way that will happen..

I'm actually very drunk right now...

a reply to: Misterlondon

Oh I don't know, I'd like to see them clean up their air, so the people can breathe. That might be a good place to invest money. You know in the cities they haven't been able to see the stars at night in years because the air is so full of smoke and pollution?

Now THAT is what they need to be raising hell about. Maybe that's why they are looking for aliens. They are hoping they can find someone to tell them how to be able to manufacture all their junk and breathe at the same time.

The real money to be made in China in the next few years is in Oxygen tanks.

*a little editorial comment not directed to you personally Mr. L.

originally posted by: ladyinwaiting
a reply to: Misterlondon

Oh I don't know, I'd like to see them clean up their air, so the people can breathe. That might be a good place to invest money. You know in the cities they haven't been able to see the stars at night in years because the air is so full of smoke and pollution?

Now THAT is what they need to be raising hell about. Maybe that's why they are looking for aliens. They are hoping they can find someone to tell them how to be able to manufacture all their junk and breathe at the same time.

The real money to be made in China in the next few years is in Oxygen tanks.

*a little editorial comment not directed to you personally Mr. L.

I feel this is important and one of the few thing valid and worthwhile to spend money on. Yes we can clean the air and end world hunger or whatever.. but corruption, greed and war to name but a few are the things we need to eliminate to have that perfect world.
We have learnt so much from money spent on space exploration.. the things we have learnt doing so are priceless.. worth ever penny in my opinion..