Which will it be, South Africa or Australia?

[ecoli]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5388690.stm

 

1 billion euro project to build the most sophisticated radiotelescope system in the world (Square Kilometre Array (SKA))will be built in either South Africa or Australia. Which do you think it will be?

 

Some of the factors to consider include astronoical, geographic, socioeconomic and political.

[Martin]

my favorite cosmologist is Charles Lineweaver (well, either him or Ned Wright)

 

he's in new south wales, more precisely at

Australian National University at Canberra (Oz capital district)

 

Aussies have been very creative in maths, physics, cosmology---and have gained a world lead in some fields. the biggest best-attended conferences in some branches of maths happen in Oz instead of in the US or UK or France---it is sometimes surprising

 

anyway they dont just have good worldclass people, they have some top people. and some who are stubborn and independent and go out on their own, against their field's conventional prejudice so they break new ground-----it looks like a healthy vital science scene

 

IMHO they should put the array in Oz

[antimatter]

So what happened?

[ecoli]

Won't be decided until 2009 or 2010: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_Kilometre_Array#Location