* Astronomy

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RE: Square Kilometre Array

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South Africa wins science panel's backing to host SKA telescope

A scientific panel has narrowly recommended South Africa over Australia as the best site for the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an enormous radio telescope. But the project's member states have yet to make a final decision on where the telescope will go.
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Australian bid falters for $2.5b telescope

Australia's chances of hosting the world's largest radio telescope have been dealt a crippling blow after a scientific panel recommended the $2.5 billion project be awarded to a rival consortium led by South Africa.
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Scoping the cost of the world's biggest new supercomputer

The world's most powerful telescope - the new Square Kilometre Array (SKA) - is likely to need the world's biggest computer to handle the incredible amount of data it will produce - and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) is working out how to do it without breaking the bank.
ICRAR - a joint venture between Curtin University and The University of Western Australia - is working with the Canadian Astronomical Data Centre (CADC) to cost a new computer system to handle everything the SKA needs for the best price.
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Telescope array can benefit UK firms

The system engineer working on the world's largest telescope told delegates at a national space conference in the North East that there were "substantial opportunities" for British companies to get involved in the project.
Tim Stevenson said there were opportunities to supply a wide range of goods and services for the £1.2bn revolutionary Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project during his speech at Spacetech, a conference held at NETPark (the North East Technology Park) in Sedgefield, County Durham.
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SKA radio telescope decision imminent

As a decision nears on the siting of the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope - one of the largest scientific research instruments ever planned - the promoters of the Australia and New Zealand bid are fighting a view that would see the endeavour split between the two short-listed sites, Australia/NZ and southern Africa.
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The massive Square Kilometre Array space telescope project has been rocked by the mysterious death in Britain last week of one of the $2.6 billion venture's original proponents.
The head of the international SKA Organisation, which is driving the project, has told science journal Nature it was unclear what impact the death would have on the impending decision whether to build it in Australia or Africa.
British police are still trying to piece together how 50-year-old Oxford University astrophysicist Steven Rawlings died at the Oxfordshire home of his colleague on January 11.
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South Africa aims for Square Kilometre Array

Ambitious is an understatement. The South African scientific community in conjunction with the government recently submitted a bid to build nearly 3,000 radio telescopes in nine African countries to help answer some of the most vexing questions in astrophysics.
It should shed light on how the first galaxies formed, what effect dark energy had on their formations and how Earth-like planets first took shape around nascent stars.
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Major step towards the world's biggest and best radio telescope

The next step towards the world's biggest and best radio telescope has been taken in London today (23 November 2011).
Seven of the international governmental and research organisations behind the Square Kilometre Array have announced the formation of the SKA Organisation. This not-for-profit company will enable SKA to formalise relationships with international partners and take the project forward towards construction readiness.
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South Africa's readiness to host the world's largest radio telescope - the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) - has reached new heights with the country's historical hosting of the 62th International Astronautical Congress (IAC).
SA is being pitted against Australia to host the SKA next year. The prestigious space conference, themed "African Astronaissance" opened in Cape Town on Monday attracting thousands of space players from around the globe.
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