https://briankoberlein.com/2015/02/06/marking-time/ Brian Koberlein Fri, 22 Feb 2019 18:22:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1 https://briankoberlein.com/2015/02/06/marking-time/#comment-6390 Tue, 22 Jan 2019 22:17:46 +0000 https://briankoberlein.com/?p=4465#comment-6390 Fascinating! A relative happened to note this in a family xmas letter 45 yrs ago: “One of the strangest and newest ways to measure distances on earth uses a pair of antennas recording signals from quasars. With a few hours of recording some of the smart scientists at JPL and MIT are getting surveys to within two or three inches. Differences in elevation are measured just as accurately as distances. For this research I am making small changes in some of our antennas, and also putting together a portable station, using an old 30-foot diameter antenna that the US Army gave us. With a portable station we can run up and down California taking a lot of measurements; then a few months later go back to the same spots and see how much they have moved. If strains are developing we may be able to predict where earthquakes are likely. Later we will be into all kinds of geological measurements: continental drifts, islands rising, mountains tipping, for example…”

]]> https://briankoberlein.com/2015/02/06/marking-time/#comment-1899 Sat, 07 Feb 2015 06:34:42 +0000 https://briankoberlein.com/?p=4465#comment-1899 Well, that’s pretty nifty. Awfully considerate of the distant black holes to be nice and active for us humans to calibrate our fancy radio dishes with. If I was a giant space moth, I’d have radio dish eyes.

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