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China to uproot 9,100 residents to make way for
giant space telescope
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China's ambitious search for alien life comes
with a human cost. Authorities plan to uproot
9,110 residents to make way for the world's
largest radio telescope, the Five-hundred-meter
Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST. The
massive engineering and scientific project will
allow researchers to detect radio signals from as
far as tens of billions of light years away,
potentially taking us one step closer in our
quest to discover if we are truly alone in the
universe. China will relocate residents within
five kilometers (3.1 miles) of the 185-million
project, which is expected to be completed in
September. Each resident will get 12,000 yuan
(1,838) in compensation. The telescope -- when
completed the dish itself will be the size of 30
football pitches -- has the potential to be a
game-changer for our understanding of the
universe, and our search for life on other
planets. When it is finished it will potentially
be able to detect radio signals -- and
potentially, signs of life -- from planets
orbiting a million stars and solar systems.
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In Other News

• Starbucks is changing its rewards program, and
  people are not happy about it. The company
  announced Monday that starting in April,
  customers will no longer receive one point or
  "star" per visit. Instead, patrons will receive
  two stars for each dollar spent. What's the
  problem with that? Well, Starbucks is also
  changing how "gold" status and perks are
  calculated. Right now, customers receive gold
  status once they've earned 30 stars in a year.
  That's loosely equivalent to visiting Starbucks
  30 times, if you don't get any bonus points along
  the way. Gold members get a free food or beverage
  product after 12 stars. But when the new points
  system launches, customers will have to earn 300
  stars -- or spend close to 150 -- to reach gold
  status.
• A 16-year-old boy injured in a Pearl Harbor
  helicopter crash witnessed by scores of
  bystanders has died. The teenager was one of five
  people aboard the chopper when it crashed in
  front of sightseers gathered at the USS Arizona
  memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Thursday
  morning. Four people surfaced soon after the
  helicopter hit the sea but the 16-year-old was
  found unresponsive and strapped to his seat. He
  was taken to a hospital in a critical condition
  and the Medical Center announced Monday that he
  died.