ALMA in the headlines
10 April, 2012 / Read time: 2 minutes
"At the End of the Earth, Seeking Clues to the Universe" was the headline that greeted readers of the New York Times last Saturday, April 7. Written by U.S. journalist Simon Romero and accompanied by the sharp eye of Chilean photographer Tomás Munita, the article describes the challenges and expectations for ALMA in a fascinating report you can read (article) and see (photo gallery).
Chile's press was also focused on ALMA. "Science: The opportunity that fell from the sky" is the title of a column written by Alfonso Gómez (dean of the UAI Business School) in Qué Pasa magazine on Friday, April 6. In his column, Gómez underscores the importance for Chile of not only hosting observatories (by 2020, 70% of the world's astronomical power will be in Chile, the author says) but also of strengthening the fields of structural engineering, data processing and logistics, just to mention some of the services that will enable Chile to generate partnerships with the centers of astronomical observation.
That same day, El Mercurio newspaper published an article entitled "Chile makes history with data from ALMA radiotelescope" in reference to the publication of a paper by a local scientist in Astronomy and Astrophysics with verification data from the ALMA radio telescope. This article was based on yet another BBC.
Finally, it was the altiplano's extremely inclement winter weather that was the focus of the BBC in an article entitled "Alma telescope in Chile battles extreme weather", that describes the storms that have affected northern Chile, including ALMA. Reporter Katia Moskvitch visited the observatory this season and along with writing about her experience, she also taped an interesting video with interviews.