Astronomy: Black-sky thinking Aug 14, 2009
The Giant Magellan Telescope, a joint effort by America, Australia and South Korea that is to be built in the Atacama Desert in Chile, would have seven mirrors, each 8. 4 metres across, giving an effective diameter of 25 metres. (The Economist)
BHP Billiton Workers Threaten Strike at Chile's Escondida As Prices Gain Aug 13, 2009
Today BHP Billiton is making an enormous profit, said Andres Ramirez, a union official at BHPs wholly owned Spence mine in Chiles northern Atacama Desert. If they dont want to share that with us we will have to fight or go on strike. (Bloomberg -- Latin America)
Russia Revives Gold Mining in the Gulags Aug 12, 2009
"It's one of the harshest climates I've worked in, and I've worked in the Atacama desert in Chile and at 15,000 feet in Indonesia," said Patrick Dougherty, general manager at Kupol. "But I don't get to pick where the gold is.". (ABC News -- Wire)
Luxury tour of Chile from $3,495 Aug 7, 2009
The dealThis 11-day Lakes District and Atacama Desert tour by iExplore provides a solid overview of Chiles amazingly diverse geography, from the magnificent sight of snowcapped Villarrica Volcano to the wild, wind-sculpted scenery known as The Valley of the Moon. The tour begins in the Southern capital of Santiago and concludes in the historic, pre-Colombian village of San Pedro de Atacama. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Is That Rocket Fuel Contaminating Your Water? Aug 7, 2009
It is in a lot of water supplies, in fruits and vegetables, in Chile's Atacama Desert, and even on. That is good and bad news for the and military contractors battling accusations that they have polluted groundwater with perchlorate, a primary component of rocket fuel. (Scientific American)
Drizzle causes chaos in Chilean desert city Jul 23, 2009
The city of 170,000 people in northern Chile is in the heart of the barren Atacama Desert, squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. It averages about 0. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Weird News)
Australia keeps space dream alive with huge telescope investment Jul 20, 2009
The $1 billion project - which will combine seven huge mirrors to make a telescope measuring 25 metres across - is being built on the edge of the Andes in Chile's Atacama Desert by an international consortium of research institutions. When completed in 2018 it is expected to have 30 times the power of current land-based optical telescopes, 10 times the resolution of the Hubble space telescope and five times the resolution of the James Webb space telescope expected to replace the Hubble in 2014. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Minerals on Mars influence the measuring of its temperature Jul 15, 2009
These compounds were obtained from reference materials from the United States Geological Survey, as well as from different areas of the Earth similar to those of the red planet, like El Jaroso (Almera), the Tinto River (Huelva) and Atacama Desert (Chile). The researchers pulverized the material until they achieved fewer than 45 microns, the average size of the dust of the Martian soil. (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
San Andreas Fault: Increased Earthquake Risk? Jul 10, 2009
14, 2006) Research at the University of Liverpool into a large fault zone in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile has produced new insight into how fluid pressure can cause. (Oct. (Science Daily)
Malcolm Maiden Jul 5, 2009
The copper deposit in Chile's Atacama Desert was barely on the radar screen when BHP did the deal, but it proved up to be one of the world's great copper mines. Tuesday May 13, 2008. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Dense Knots Of Cold Cosmic Dust -- Potential Birthplaces Of New Stars -- Discovered In Inner Regions Of The Milky Way Jul 2, 2009
26, 2005) The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) project celebrates the inauguration of its outstanding 12-m telescope, located on the 5100 m high Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The APEX. (Science Daily)
Gravity's imprint sought in big bangs glow Jul 2, 2009
A QUIET prototype has been operating since October in Chile's Atacama Desert. The upgraded equipment, which is due to be turned on this week, includes 91 highly sensitive detectors. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Water on Mars Jun 26, 2009
In addition, highly saline environments in the super dry Atacama Desert in Chile also form habitable environments. New Instrument to Potentially Detect Underground Water on Mars. (Suite101.com)
Highest Microbial Life Found Around Volcanic Vents Jun 20, 2009
Like other living on volcanoes deep underwater, the new microbes were found around vents near the rim of the Socompa volcano, which sits on the border between Argentina and Chile in the Atacama Desert. Most of the landscape that high up is barren, said Schmidt, whose most recent expedition to Socompa was funding in part by the National Geographic Society. (National Geographic)
What Is Killing Chile's Coastal Wildlife? Jun 5, 2009
Over the course of approximately three months, thousands of them abandoned their nests on a salt lake in the Atacama Desert in the far north of Chile ... There are just 40,000 of them, and about half live in Chile, where they nest on the barren salt flats of the Atacama Desert. (Time.com)
* Scientists describe new telescope Jun 3, 2009
This is a milestone for the extremely complex project X being in Chiles Atacama desert 5,000m above sea level and involving so many mechanical components, Lu said. Since 1995] we worked on producing, transporting and assembling the antennas, but we didnt know if we would really see astronomical bodies through [the telescope. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
EIS says good outweighs bad if giant telescope built on Mauna Kea May 23, 2009
They favor locating the observatory at TMT's other candidate site, the mountain Cerro Armazones in Chile's Atacama Desert. The final decision on where to build the telescope will be made following the acceptance of the final environmental impact statement in 2010. (Honolulu Advertiser)
120 degrees 150 miles - toilet = fun May 18, 2009
The first three courses -- each about 150 miles -- run across Chile's Atacama Desert, where it hasn't rained in 200 years; China's Gobi Desert, where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered; and North Africa's , where camels have been known to eat Racing the Planet's pink flag race markers. Sahara racers were asked: What happens if you're racing and stop seeing pink flags along the way. (CNN -- Law)
QUIET team to deploy new gravity-wave probe in June May 16, 2009
The QUIET experiment in operation in the Atacama Desert ... The QUIET experiment operates in Chile's Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 17,000 feet. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Winning the world's most gruelling race Apr 10, 2009
Canadian Mehmet Danis won the Atacama Crossing, a 250 km footrace through the Atacama desert in Chile. (Zandy Mangold). (Globe and Mail)
Curious Pair Of Galaxies: Best Image Ever Of Strange And Chaotic Duo Mar 23, 2009
Located 2600 m above sea level, in the mountains of the Atacama Desert, the Paranal Observatory enjoys some of the clearest and darkest skies on the whole planet. (Credit: Image courtesy of ESO). (Science Daily)
Chilean water rights system leaves town parched Mar 16, 2009
A water pipe for mining in Atacama Desert, northern Chile, January 2009 ... What the town did have was a river, feeding an oasis in the Atacama Desert ... In the Atacama Desert city of Copiap. (International Herald Tribune)
Chilean town withers in free market for water Mar 15, 2009
What the town did have was a river, feeding an oasis in the Atacama desert ... In the Atacama desert city of Copiap. (International Herald Tribune)
Dome Big Dome: Giant Observatories Augur New Era of Cosmology Mar 7, 2009
There are two candidate sites: Mauna Kea in Hawaii and Cerro Armazones in Chile's Atacama Desert. The GMT, estimated at $650 million, is supported by the Carnegie Institution of Washington and eight other astronomical research organizations in the U.S., Australia and South Korea. (Scientific American)
* Mobile phone use passes a milestone Mar 6, 2009
Only unpopulated areas like Antarctica or Chiles Atacama desert will remain off the hook. Closer to home, a few areas remain silent, but Solomon says that after the 2012 digital switchover UK coverage will be ubiquitous. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Highest Microbial Systems Fueled By Volcanoes Mar 4, 2009
The microbial communities atop Socompa -- which straddles Argentina and Chile high in the Atacama Desert -- are in a more extreme environment and not as well understood as microbes living in hydrothermal vents in deep oceans, he said ... "These sites are unique little oases in the vast, barren landscape of the Atacama Desert and are supported by gases from deep within the Earth," said Schmidt, a professor in the ecology and evolutionary biology department. (Science Daily)
'Cosmic Eye' Photographed Staring Across Space Feb 27, 2009
The image of the Helix nebula, which lies 700 light years away in the constellation Aquarius, was captured with the Wide Field Imager instrument at the La Silla Observatory high above the Atacama Desert. The Helix is a planetary nebula a kind of stellar old people's home, in which stars at the end of their lives shed clouds of gas, often creating intricate patterns that shine with great beauty. (Fox News)
Grand designs Feb 26, 2009
" His sculptures near the Bolivian silver mining town of Potosi, for example, have achieved the popular plaudit of a mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook. The Chileans of San Pedro in the Atacama Desert are investigating the idea of building viewing platforms and charging tourists. Rogers says he recruits ethnic minorities, skilled and unskilled labourers, women and men, paying them fairly and treating them well. Some are sceptical at first. "When you start, it's a relatively abstract concept... (The Age, Australia -- National)
BHP eyes Rio Tinto's stake in Escondida Feb 14, 2009
5 per cent partner in the mine that sits at high altitude in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. The other partners are Rio (30 per cent), JECO Corp (a Japanese consortium with 10 per cent) and the International Finance Corp (2. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Retrace explorers routes Feb 14, 2009
Motodiscoverys Original High Andes Expedition crisscrosses Ches 1952 route on the type of motorcycle he used, riding through the Atacama Desert and stopping at the copper mining complex of Chuquicamata, the port city of Valparaiso and on through the High Andes passes. Skip Mascorro, the founder of MotoDiscovery, says These motorcycling expeditions have been life changing events for many. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Travel: A Gift that Spans Generations Feb 13, 2009
Star gaze through a private observatory in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Experience 'March of the Penguins' in real life in Antarctica. (Pekin Times, IL)
Nanotechnology Makes Supertelescopes Much More Sensitive Feb 11, 2009
In Chile's Atacama desert, technicians and astronomers from around the world are currently working on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). This consists of 66 advanced telescopes which will be placed at an altitude of 5,000 metres and together will provide a more precise image of the universe. (Science Daily)
Laser-sculpted Optical Devices For Future Giant Telescopes Feb 10, 2009
8, 2007) On the night of July 21, ESO astronomer Yuri Beletsky took images of the night sky above Paranal, the 2600-meter high mountain in the Chilean Atacama Desert home to ESO's Very Large Telescope. The. (Science Daily)
Why Leng walked Feb 8, 2009
Money-raising options include piecemeal asset sales (BHP is one possible buyer of Rio's minority stake in the rich Escondida copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert); a sweeping deal to sell stakes in projects thought to include the fabulous Pilbara iron ore operation as well as more shares in Rio itself to Chinalco, the Chinese metal group that raided the sharemarket to buy an expensive 9% stake in the dual-listed Rio a year ago, when BHP was pushing ahead with with its takeover bid; and a... (The Age)
American Chemical Society Weekly PressPac -- Feb. 4, 2009 Feb 8, 2009
The researchers tested samples from Lake Erie and a hydrothermal vent from the Gulf of California, as well as a Martian analogue sample from the Mars-like Atacama Desert, one of the driest spots on earth. They found that the detection sensitivity of the device was on par with current laboratory methods. (EurekAlert!)
S. Americas sexiest beaches Feb 7, 2009
Less known is the fact that the Amazon rainforest is in the same continent as the Atacama Desert, the driest desert outside of Antarctica; the low-lying Amazon River is not so far from Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, and the formidable Andes range runs near the continents seemingly endless coastline. The coastline, most of which falls between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, is brimming with excellent beaches. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Mars Rover Device Gets New Mission On Earth Feb 7, 2009
The researchers tested samples from Lake Erie and a hydrothermal vent from the Gulf of California, as well as a Martian analogue sample from the Mars-like Atacama Desert, one of the driest spots on earth ... Located at an isolated crossroads in Chile's Atacama Desert, the Yunguy field station is an ideal spot to test instruments destined for Mars. (Science Daily)
9 institutions officially sign agreement for 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope Feb 7, 2009
The GMT Project has also recently reached another milestone in choosing to build the GMT at Las Campanas Observatory, overlooking the Atacama Desert in the Chilean Andes. Las Campanas is owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution. (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
