6 ms·

I hadn't read about the CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) telescope before. From the wikipedia article: > The telescope's low-noise ampli

I hadn't read about the CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) telescope before. From the wikipedia article: > The telescope's low-noise amplifiers are built with components adapted from the cellphone industry and its data are processed using a custom-built FPGA electronic system and 1000-processor high-performance GPGPU cluster. that's super interesting. My limited exposure to radio astronomy relies on a lot more custom collection hardware (super cooled LNAs, with hydrogen maser clocks, ...) and mostly pure software processing. Seeing this very COTS hardware with careful processing systems is neat. > The telescope consumes 250 kilowatts of power. woah.

pstuart 5y ago
> The telescope consumes 250 kilowatts of power A better investment than bitcoin, IMHO.
- timeinput 5y ago
  I completely agree. I think it makes sense when they have 256 processing nodes with GPUs plus everything else, just the number caught me off guard at first.
  - willis936 5y ago
    I work on a plasma confinement device that has a linear regulator in its 100 kV gyrotron power supply that uses 6 kW just to keep the filament warm. The coils use 10 MW during a shot. And this is considered a small machine. Science takes power.
    - pstuart 5y ago
      > Science takes power And brains. Thank you for contributing yours.
      - amiga 5y ago
        And, just like that, donating your body to science has new meaning.
        pstuart 5y ago
        Either that or a zombie apocalypse.
      - willis936 5y ago
        Well the pay is about half the market rate and I'm leaving soon because my SO's research group is moving across the country. I suppose I'll just go work for industry and be able to pay off student loans/own a house in my life. Science could hold on to talent if only there was a budget for it.
    - idiotsecant 5y ago
      Neat! How long does it take to charge capacitors before a shot? Or do you have a transmission feeder directly into your lab?
      - willis936 5y ago
        We use 18 DC train motors with 1-ton flywheels on them. Currently they spin up to 1650 RPM then get turned into generators. It takes about a second to spin up the very inductive copper coils to the desired current then the shot lasts 100 ms. After the shot the motors are spinning at 1200 RPM and it takes 5 minutes to get back up to 1650 RPM.
- lwansbrough 5y ago
  You can’t even make the Bitcoin transaction that investment would require for that pathetic energy usage.
  - uncletammy 5y ago
    As if "bitcoin investors" actually make transactions! If they did, it would matter that the network isn't functional
- dmos62 5y ago
  Bitcoin's efficiency is not relevant to the discussion. Every other comment about energy consumption pulls replies with complaints about Bitcoin mining. It brings nothing new, it distracts from the topic, generally lowers the quality of the discussion. Don't do it. If you must vent, do it where it's on topic.
- idiotsecant 5y ago
  Why start this discussion. It's slightly expediting the heat death of the universe for no reason. Are you trying to eliminate all order in the universe???
- bequanna 5y ago
  A silly argument. Electricity isn’t finite and we can essentially generate as much as is demanded.
potatoman22 5y ago
> The telescope consumes 250 kilowatts of power. 250 toasters.
- pithon 5y ago
  Which is not a small amount- around 140 of your standard 15A home circuits in the US with 120V service. And this is listening, not a transmitter.
  - TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
    It's a small amount compared to the 100MW of a larger data centre.
    - JohnJamesRambo 5y ago
      Yes but this is something useful, instead of something we consider important as a society right now like making people click ads.
      - meepmorp 5y ago
        > this is something useful, instead of something we consider important as a society right now Could you explain how radio astronomy is more useful than click ads?
        gameswithgo 5y ago
        Early warning of various potential extinction events
        lallysingh 5y ago
        It encourages people into the sciences, instead of making people hate their lives...
    - idiotsecant 5y ago
      And a duck is small compared to a schooner! Is this the thread where we just list relative characteristics of unrelated things?

pstuart 5y ago

> The telescope consumes 250 kilowatts of power A better investment than bitcoin, IMHO.

timeinput 5y ago
I completely agree. I think it makes sense when they have 256 processing nodes with GPUs plus everything else, just the number caught me off guard at first.
- willis936 5y ago
  I work on a plasma confinement device that has a linear regulator in its 100 kV gyrotron power supply that uses 6 kW just to keep the filament warm. The coils use 10 MW during a shot. And this is considered a small machine. Science takes power.
  - pstuart 5y ago
    > Science takes power And brains. Thank you for contributing yours.
    - amiga 5y ago
      And, just like that, donating your body to science has new meaning.
      - pstuart 5y ago
        Either that or a zombie apocalypse.
    - willis936 5y ago
      Well the pay is about half the market rate and I'm leaving soon because my SO's research group is moving across the country. I suppose I'll just go work for industry and be able to pay off student loans/own a house in my life. Science could hold on to talent if only there was a budget for it.
  - idiotsecant 5y ago
    Neat! How long does it take to charge capacitors before a shot? Or do you have a transmission feeder directly into your lab?
    - willis936 5y ago
      We use 18 DC train motors with 1-ton flywheels on them. Currently they spin up to 1650 RPM then get turned into generators. It takes about a second to spin up the very inductive copper coils to the desired current then the shot lasts 100 ms. After the shot the motors are spinning at 1200 RPM and it takes 5 minutes to get back up to 1650 RPM.
lwansbrough 5y ago
You can’t even make the Bitcoin transaction that investment would require for that pathetic energy usage.
- uncletammy 5y ago
  As if "bitcoin investors" actually make transactions! If they did, it would matter that the network isn't functional
dmos62 5y ago
Bitcoin's efficiency is not relevant to the discussion. Every other comment about energy consumption pulls replies with complaints about Bitcoin mining. It brings nothing new, it distracts from the topic, generally lowers the quality of the discussion. Don't do it. If you must vent, do it where it's on topic.
idiotsecant 5y ago
Why start this discussion. It's slightly expediting the heat death of the universe for no reason. Are you trying to eliminate all order in the universe???
bequanna 5y ago
A silly argument. Electricity isn’t finite and we can essentially generate as much as is demanded.

potatoman22 5y ago

> The telescope consumes 250 kilowatts of power. 250 toasters.

pithon 5y ago
Which is not a small amount- around 140 of your standard 15A home circuits in the US with 120V service. And this is listening, not a transmitter.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  It's a small amount compared to the 100MW of a larger data centre.
  - JohnJamesRambo 5y ago
    Yes but this is something useful, instead of something we consider important as a society right now like making people click ads.
    - meepmorp 5y ago
      > this is something useful, instead of something we consider important as a society right now Could you explain how radio astronomy is more useful than click ads?
      - gameswithgo 5y ago
        Early warning of various potential extinction events
      - lallysingh 5y ago
        It encourages people into the sciences, instead of making people hate their lives...
  - idiotsecant 5y ago
    And a duck is small compared to a schooner! Is this the thread where we just list relative characteristics of unrelated things?