io9: chile

When Volcanoes Spew Lightning

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:00:00 PDT

Several days ago, a volcano that had been dormant for 9,000 years near the coast of Chile erupted spectacularly, hurling liquified metals and lightning many miles into the sky. The results, which you see here, are called a "dirty thunderstorm," and are quite rare. Nobody is certain what causes them, but according to National Geographic it's believed to be "the result of rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in the plume collid[ing] to produce static charges—just as ice particles collide to create charge in regular thunderstorms." Want to see a photo of the volcano plume from space?

The volcano spewed debris twenty miles up into the atmosphere. It erupted on Friday, May 2, and erupted again yesterday. Over 4,000 locals have fled, but luckily everyone was able to get away safely. The lava isn't the fast-moving kind, but rather a slow-moving creep of material. So nobody is being menaced by a rapidly-moving wall of liquid rock. Photographs via National Geographic.

Second Eruption in Chile [London Guardian]

Supermassive Telescope Hears What the Early Universe Looks Like

Annalee Newitz — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:00:49 PST

Yeah, you read that headline right. This supermassive radio telescope, set to be completed in Chile in 2012 (you're seeing an artist's rendering), listens to frequencies between the infrared and radio spectrum. It tunes in particles that will give astronomers an unprecedented portrait of the early universe, as well as planetary and star formations in our current volume of space. It's called the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA for short). One of the best parts of the array is that it comes with giant antenna transporters that allow researchers to reconfigure it on the fly. Just last week, the transporters arrived in Chile. Want to see one?

According to Anneila Sargent, a Caltech professor and ALMA Board member:

Most of the photons in the Universe are in the wavelength range that ALMA will receive, and ALMA will give us our first high-resolution views at these wavelengths. This will be a tremendous advancement for astronomy and open one of our science's last frontiers.

Here you can see one of the giant antenna transporters being lifted off a boat in Chile. Antenna mounted on it will move the dishes into different configurations, making the observatory more flexible and allowing researchers to conduct a wide range of studies, ranging from planets being formed to galaxies formed at the beginning of the universe. Here's one of the antennae.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory explained ALMA's capabilities in greater detail:

The millimeter and submillimeter wavelength range lies between what is traditionally considered radio waves and infrared waves. ALMA, a system using up to 66 high-precision dish antennas working together, will provide astronomers with dramatically greater sensitivity, the ability to detect faint objects, and resolving power, the ability to see fine detail, than has ever before been available in this range . . .
Astronomers expect ALMA to make extremely important contributions in a a variety of scientific specialties. The new telescope system will be a premier tool for studying the first stars and galaxies that emerged from the cosmic "dark ages" billions of years ago. These objects now are seen at great cosmic distances, with most of their light stretched out to millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths by the expansion of the Universe.

In the more nearby Universe, ALMA will provide an unprecedented ability to study the processes of star and planet formation. Unimpeded by the dust that obscures visible-light observations, ALMA will be able to reveal the details of young, still-forming stars, and is expected to show young planets still in the process of developing. In addition, ALMA will allow scientists to learn in detail about the complex chemistry of the giant clouds of gas and dust that spawn stars and planetary systems.

Images courtesy of ALMA/ESO/NRAO/NAOJ.

Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array [Official Site]

Chilean Zombies Stalk Death Squad Survivor

charliejane — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:00:17 PST

A young girl gets caught in the middle of a post-apocalyptic war in Descendants, a new movie from Chile. The only people who survive the military death squads are the ones infected with a weird disease that leaves sores all over their bodies. Descendants, also known as Solos, is sort of a zombie movie but it looks way more like a post-apocalyptic survival film. Click through for a gallery of stills, and info about another future dystopia movie that's fighting off the zombie label.

Doomsday, coming in May, is post-apocalyptic but not a zombie movie. People assume Doomsday features zombies because it's about a plague that wipes out most of the population, complains director Neil Marshall. But no. The plague liquefies your insides, but you don't ever come back to (un)life after that. People probably also jump to the zombie conclusion because Doomsday involves the infected Scotland being walled off, and everybody knows Scotland is full of zombies already. [Rabid Doll]