China To Operate The Largest Radio Telescope Ever In Hopes To Find Intelligent Alien Life

China is looking to level up the research for intelligent life outside planet Earth as it is preparing for the world’s largest radio telescope. Nearly 10,000 people will be relocated from their homes to give way to the project that is expected to intensify the search for intelligent being in the universe. The presence of people in the area could interfere the telescope’s electromagnetism, which is the reason residents should evacuate their homes.

The FAST will surpass the largest telescope in Puerto Rico with its 500m-wide Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico only has around 300m in diameter. The telescope, which is due to be operational later in 2016, costs about 1.2bn yuan. It has a high level of sensitivity that necessary to accomplish what they are looking outside of the galaxy, according to the director-general of the Chinese Astronomical Society, Wu Xiangping.

China is increasing its spending in astronomy and accelerating its multi-billion-dollar space exploration program. Interestingly, it also eyes to be the first team to discover not just alien life, but extraterrestrial being with an intellect that is expected to be more advanced than humans.