Artist's impression of the dishes that will make up the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope. The square kilometre array is one of the most ambitious science projects ever conceived and when completed will be the world's most powerful radio telescope, thousands of times more capable than anything currently available.
It could explain the origin of dark matter, which makes up about 90 per cent of the universe and reveal how galaxies and stars were formed.
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But what has scientists most excited is its potential to reveal things not yet dreamed of."What's really exciting is the unknown, unknowns that the SKA will discover," said Brian Boyle, who is leading the bid to have the array centred in Australia.
"If we could predict what the SKA was going to discover we weren't being ambitious enough.
"It's going to revolutionise our understanding of the universe.
"When we use the word transformational, we literally mean that because it transforms our thinking from our present paradigm to something that we can't even contemplate today."
Australia and New Zealand are jointly bidding against South Africa for the right to build the square kilometre array, with a final decision to be made by the international science community in February.
The 1.5 billion euro project involves the construction of about 3000 dishes which, when linked together, have a total collecting surface of about one square kilometre.
If the bid is successful it will be based in an area of the Western Australian outback at Murchison which is highly prized because it offers a quiet zone, an area unaffected by competing radio signals.
The director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, Peter Quinn, said the SKA's strength would be its ability to process immense amounts of data.
"This telescope generates the same amount of data in a day as the entire planet does in a year," Professor Quinn said.
Much of that data will be stored in facilities in Perth but storage and processing centres will also be established in a range of other countries.
"So it's presenting challenges to the IT industry which are beyond the scope of what this whole planet can provide," he said.
"The amount of data this telescope produces, the amount of information it has to process, is going to drive the IT industry for the next that 10 to 15 years."
The SKA has the backing of the federal government with Industry Minister Kim Carr describing it as project of immense international significance.
He said Australia would be taking on an enormous responsibility to bring the SKA in on budget, on time and with the expected capabilities.
"It's probably the most important piece of infrastructure we're likely to be involved in over the next generation." Senator Carr said.
"This is the sort of project that is iconic and will produce enormous inspiration for many, many people.
"But, not only that, it will provide enormous employment opportunities in high-wage, high skilled jobs.
"This is a project that will go for 50 years."
Australian scientists involved in the bid are currently responding to a series of questions and must present their reports by September 15.
A decision on the location will be made in early 2012 with construction of the array expected to take until about 2020.
When it starts probing the depths of the universe it could finally answer what the astronomer-in-charge at the Australian Astronomical Observatory, Fred Watson, calls the "big picture" questions in science, including whether or not there is intelligent life on other planets.
"It will have the potential to reveal all kinds of things ranging from the possibility of picking up signals from aliens, if they exist," Professor Watson said.
"More seriously, it will look at the early universe, trying to work out how galaxies were formed.
"Insights into that are of extreme value to scientists for all kinds of reasons.
"One of which is to confirm the picture we have of the origin of the universe and its early evolution is correct.
"But more especially to tell us things we simply don't dream about at the moment.
"Always with these things the most exciting discoveries are the ones that are completely unexpected.
"So who knows what a facility like this might produce?"
AAP
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/new-telescope-may-link-us-to-alien-life-20110707-1h4bb.html#ixzz1RU85nK7Z
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