{"id":850,"date":"2023-10-24T03:58:59","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/the-truth-behind-chinas-biggest-alien-search\/"},"modified":"2024-07-07T17:15:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-07T09:15:55","slug":"the-truth-behind-chinas-biggest-alien-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-truth-behind-chinas-biggest-alien-search\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth Behind China\u2019s Biggest Alien Search"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world is flooded with conspiracy theorists and theories. But these aren\u2019t the only people interested in secrets that swarm the heavens above. Scientists and Physicists have seemingly spent years trying to decipher the enigmas of the universe \u2013 suppose<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The world is flooded with conspiracy<\/a> theorists and theories. But these aren\u2019t the only people interested in secrets that swarm the heavens above. Scientists and Physicists have seemingly spent years trying to decipher the enigmas of the universe \u2013 supposedly though in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Existence of life beyond our planet is an inevitable fact. If we\u2019re here, it would be no mistake to believe that the universe has a bigger purpose to serve a bigger reason. Yet the technology to achieve this is beyond us humans as we are more accepting of our limitations than capabilities to uncover reality as a whole.<\/p>\n

Most humans, except the rare few. One who was a hidden gem of a scientist \u2013 In China.<\/p>\n

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Professor Nan Rendong, the popular astronomer in China and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), died from illness in Beijing on the night of the 22nd of September, at the age of 72.<\/p>\n

Nan was the founder and major contributor to China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the world’s largest radio telescope located in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province. The telescope, launched about a year ago, is as large as 30 football fields and capable of detecting intelligent extraterrestrial life in remote galaxies.<\/p>\n

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FAST celebrated its first anniversary on Monday, but its founding father was not there to enjoy the moment. Nan died just 10 days before the celebration. He underwent surgery after being diagnosed with the disease two years ago.<\/p>\n

Reading more into his life and works it was very apparent that Professor Nan was a quiet man with the loudest of minds. He spared no efforts in his research and made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese astronomy. \u00a0The astronomer was known to often look up at the starlit sky in the dead of night, pondering life’s big questions that only a few of us would so often consider. Who are we? Where are we from? Are we alone in the universe?<\/p>\n

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This curiosity as well as his patriotism prompted Nan to bid farewell to the good salary and world-class research environment he had while working as a visiting professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Nan had been in charge of FAST since 1994, leading the research team to work around the clock, pouring all his energy into the project.<\/p>\n

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In the stunning landscape of jagged limestone hills in southwestern China, engineers put the finishing touches on a grand astronomy facility in September of 2016: FAST nestles in a natural depression that gathers radio signals from the cosmos. This world\u2019s largest radio telescope catalogs a combination of pulsars; probes gravitational waves, dark matter, and fast radio bursts; and listens for transmissions from alien civilizations. The dish will aid efforts to map the distribution<\/a> of hydrogen throughout the Milky Way and other galaxies, with changing states of hydrogen being an indicator of exoplanets that could potentially sustain life.<\/p>\n

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Professor Nan aimed to build the largest super-sensitive “ear” of Earth to seek distant sounds in the universe and decode cosmic messages, and he surpassed his excellence not only by completing the project, but by also fulfilling his ambition.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The project, once viewed by many as an impossible mission, completed its main structure installation. It is capable of enlarging and searching for sun-like stars, using technology five times more powerful than what was previously available. It can receive electromagnetic signals from 10 billion light-years away, and perhaps bring the search for extraterrestrial life closer to what would be an astonishing conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

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