Aerial view of the Five Hundred-Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope under construction in Guizhou Province, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese authorities announced that they will be relocating around 9,000 people in Guizhou Province to make way for the construction of a radio telescope designed to search for signs of alien life.
According to Li Yuecheng, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's (CPPCC) Guizhou Provincial Committee secretary-general, the move was in accordance with the proposal made by members of the committee last year to facilitate the construction of the Five Hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in the area.
Li explained that the relocation was initiated to create a "sound electromagnetic wave environment" for the telescope's operation, the Global Times reported.
He added that radio waves produced by electronic devices like cell phones, microwave ovens and even garage door openers, might cause interference in the telescope and affect measurements.
The official said that most of the residents to be moved are those living within a 5-km radius around the massive scientific project. The people will then be relocated to four different settlement areas in the Pingtang and Luodian Counties, with the whole work expected to be completed by the end of September.
Each of the affected residents will also receive a 12,000 yuan ($1,800) financial subsidy from the Guizhou provincial government, while ethnic minorities facing housing difficulties will be given an additional 10,000 yuan ($1,500), CNN reported.
A venture by the Chinese Academy of Science's National Astronomical Observatory, in partnership with the Guizhou provincial government, FAST began construction in 2011, after a 17-year search by Chinese scientists for a large enough natural depression to accommodate the telescope dish.
Upon its completion in September, the radio telescope will become the largest of its kind in the world, with a dish having a diameter of 500 meters. This will dwarf the Arecibo Observatory telescope in Puerto Rico, which currently holds the record at 300 meters.
Once operational, scientists said that the telescope will be able to detect much fainter radio waves coming from distant astronomical objects like pulsars and other galaxies. Furthermore, the telescope could be used to detect signals potentially coming from intelligent alien civilizations.
