This quietest town in America has no cell phones or Wi-Fi. Radio stations are almost impossible to catch, and there is no television at all. Meet Green Bank, population 143, a West Virginia town that looks like time stood still here in the 1950s. Here they dance square dance and sell knitted blankets in the store. Nevertheless, this place is home to one of the most advanced telescopes in the world. He should not be disturbed by radio waves - this is the only way he can hear evidence of extraterrestrial life.
The Green Bank Telescope by Robert Byrd, as it is officially called, is the largest full-circle radio telescope in the world. It weighs 17 million pounds, spans two hectares and is 485 feet high. It can listen for sounds hundreds of millions of miles away, picking up signals of one billionth of a billionth of a watt. Even the weakest signal can disrupt the operation of a telescope: from an electronic doorbell, heater or microwave. Using a cell phone or Wi-Fi at Green Bank would be in conflict with the law. Internet access here is only via dial-up or Ethernet cable. Broadcasting is strictly regulated here within an area that covers 13,000 square meters. miles.
However, deprived of many of the joys of civilization, the inhabitants of the shtetl are delighted with one thing: they may be the first to know that aliens exist. In January, Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner teamed up to launch a breakthrough project called Listen, spending $ 100 million on a 10-year quest for life in space. They will carry it out with the Green Bank Telescope. Any discovery could make the quietest city in America one of the most famous.
Nikanorov Ivan