New fast radio burst detector could sift through 'a whole beach of sand' to solve big cosmic mystery

CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope is made up of 36 dishes spread out across 6km on Wajarri Country - four satellite dishes, three on the left, and one on the right, point upward toward a starry night sky.

Researchers have successfully tested a new technology that detects fast radio bursts in the night sky faster than ever before, uncovering a treasure trove of data to help astronomers investigate the source of these mysterious space phenomena.

Developed by astronomers and engineers at Australia's national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the new system — known as the Commensal Realtime ASKAP Fast Transient Coherent, or CRACO — was designed to rapidly detect fast radio bursts (FRBs) and other transient phenomena using CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope in Western Australia.