News

• CSIRO eyes petascale supercomputer for Pawsey Centre

  The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is on the hunt for the petascale supercomputer that will underpin its Pawsey Centre, scheduled to be in place by 2014.

• Australian SKA bid bolstered by construction of hybrid power plant

  Australia’s bid for the $2.5 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project has been bolstered by news that a state-of-the-art power plant will be built to supply its renewable energy.

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  The Dish at Parkes celebrates 50 years

  Australia's iconic 'Dish' at Parkes today celebrates its 50th anniversary.

• iVEC acquires Fornax supercomputer

  Australian academic supercomputing consortium iVEC has acquired another major supercomputer, Fornax, to be based at the University of Western Australia (UWA), to further the country’s ability to conduct data-intensive research.

• Spare CPU cycles to be used to further radio astronomy

  PC users around the world will today be asked to contribute spare CPU cycles as part of theSkyNet project to further the science of radio astronomy.

• New telescope may link us to alien life

  If there are aliens on other planets, Australia could play a key role in making contact, the nation's leading astronomer Fred Watson says.

• WA government invests $10 million into SKA project

  The Western Australian Government has poured $10.8 million into roads, power and optic fibre infrastructure aimed at developing Australia and New Zealand's joint bid for the $2.1 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

• CSIRO sourcing hardware for Pawsey SKA supercomputing environment

  The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has announced that it will shortly move toward the procurement phase of its multi-stage petascale and real-time supercomputing Pawsey Centre project.

• Revamped SKAMP boosts Australia’s chances of hosting the SKA

  The revitalisation of the Square Kilometre Array Molonglo Prototype (SKAMP), a joint effort between the University of Sydney and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is expected to help further Australia’s bid to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope over rival South Africa.

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  Perth to Geraldton fibre roll out begins

  Work has commenced on the roll out of fibre optic backhaul between Perth and Geraldton in Western Australia that will help Australia’s bid for the global astronomy project, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

• CSIRO, Sapphicon Semiconductor developing miniature radio receiver

  A new miniature radio receiver being developed the CSIRO and Australian company, Sapphicon Semiconductor, could result in dramatic improvements in communications equipment as diverse as mobile phones and radio telescopes.

• NASA to build two $45m space antennae in Canberra

  NASA will build two $45 million Beam Wave Guide Antennae at the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex to help track space vehicles.

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  AARNet begins search for ASKAP fibre provider

  The Australian National Research and Education Network (AARNet) has begun the search for a supplier to undertake the construction and installation of the fibre optic cable in Western Australia from the Murchison Radio Observatory near Boolardy to the CSIRO-run support base in Geraldton.

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  SKA telescope to provide a billion PCs' worth of processing (updated)

  Two technologies currently under research by IBM may hold the key to being able to process and store the Exabyte (one thousand million Gb) of data expected to flow per day from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope project.

• NBN's future can be seen in AARNet present

  Those looking for a glimpse into the future of the National Broadband Network (NBN) should look to the Australian Academic and Research Network, according to AARNet’s CEO, Chris Hancock.