Australia launches world's fastest radio telescope to study the origins of the universe

Australia has launched world's fastest radio telescope in the remote Australian outback, which will exponentially increase astronomers' ability to survey the universe, mapping black holes and shedding new light on the origins of galaxies.

The Australia Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (Askap), with an array of 36 antennas each 40 feet across, started peering into the universe on Friday from a far-flung cattle station in Western Australia state.

The A$152 million (£96m) telescope will "listen" to radio waves from the cosmos that might give astronomers insights into the beginnings of the universe.

-->

Using new "radio cameras" called phased array feeds, the telescope will be able scan the sky much more rapidly than existing radio telescopes and will give the telescope a field of view about 150 times the area of the full Moon.

Read more: The Telegraph

Read more »

Russian drilling rig sinks off Sakhalin leaves 2 dead and 51 missing

[ via Reuters ] 18 Dec

An oil drilling rig with 67 crew on board capsized and sank off the Russian Far East island of Sakhalin when it ran into a storm while being towed, and 51 of the crew were unaccounted for, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday.

Fourteen crew members were rescued alive from the 'Kolskaya' jack-up rig, operated by Russian exploration company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka, two bodies were recovered and the rest of the crew were missing.

It appeared that the vessel had not been doing drilling work, so no oil spill was likely. The rig's destination was not immediately clear.

Read More.

Read more »