Nevada

Caltech readies to build world’s most sensitive radio telescope in Nevada

Published

4 weeks ago

June 19, 2026

Caltech readies to build world’s most sensitive radio telescope in Nevada

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Caltech researchers are preparing to build a radio telescope that will be the most sensitive ever constructed and survey the sky 100 times faster than any other radio telescope worldwide.

Schmidt Sciences has greenlit construction of the Deep Synoptic Array after the project completed its final design review. The milestone paves the way for construction to begin on the telescope, which is planned for a remote valley in Nevada.

MORE ON FOX5: Conservation groups oppose potential sale of federal lands highlighted in land mapping tool

The array will consist of 1,650 radio dishes, each slightly more than 6 meters in diameter. The array will span an area of about 20 by 16 kilometers. The team plans to build the telescope by 2029, with science operations commencing soon after.

Survey capabilities

“The DSA will survey the entire visible sky several times in its first five years at unprecedented speeds,” said Gregg Hallinan, principal investigator of DSA, professor of astronomy at Caltech, and director of Caltech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory. “While all other radio telescopes combined have so far found about 20 million radio sources, the DSA will match that in the first day of operations. By the end of its initial survey, it will have discovered about 1 billion new radio sources.”

The telescope will discover radio emission from millions of stars, galaxies, and other cosmic objects. It will address the mysteries of black holes, pulsars and fast radio bursts. It will also probe the physics of dark matter and gravity, and it will measure the structure and expansion of the universe.

“Radio astronomy is about to go from sketch to photograph,” said Vikram Ravi, the co-principal investigator of the DSA and a professor of astronomy at Caltech. “The DSA is looking at a far larger volume of the universe far more often than any other telescope.”

Real-time imaging

The DSA will be capable of making images in real time. The numerous radio dishes will feed into a supercomputer that creates images instantly. The images will be immediately accessible to the worldwide astronomical community.

“Without the radio camera, we would have to store 100 exabytes of data to complete our survey,” Hallinan said. “This would require 5 million hard drives in a multi-billion-dollar facility the size of multiple football fields. The radio camera solves this problem.”

The DSA’s radio camera will convert the raw data to images in real time with the help of an off-site supercomputer built from Graphics Processing Units built by Nvidia. The radio camera images will be given freely to the public with no proprietary period.

“We want the whole world to also have access to the data just as quickly as we do,” said Katie Jameson, the DSA lead project manager.

The DSA will have the ability to detect more than 100,000 intensely powerful flashes of radio light from fast radio bursts and to localize them to their home galaxies. The DSA will also reveal more than 20,000 new pulsars.

“The science that can be done is endless,” Hallinan said. “There will be enough discoveries to occupy every radio astronomer on the planet.”

The DSA is led by Caltech and funded by Schmidt Sciences. It is part of the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System. Two pathfinder projects that led to the DSA, the DSA-110 and the OVRO Long Wavelength Array, were funded by the National Science Foundation.

Source link

Click to comment

Nevada

Sparks weekend road closures are slated

Published

7 hours ago

July 16, 2026

Press Room

SPARKS, Nev. (KOLO) – From Friday, July 17, at 10 a.m. through 6 a.m. Monday, July 20, Southbound Pyramid Way will be closed from Oddie Boulevard to C Street in Sparks for repaving and reconstruction work, according to a Wednesday, July 15, Nevada Department of Transportation news release.

• Southbound vehicles will be detoured via McCarran Boulevard

• Business access will remain available via side streets and marked with signs

• Westbound and eastbound Prater Way will remain open during the closures

• Drivers are asked to leave extra time to detour around the closures

The $14 million improvement project will improve Pyramid Way for bout 28,000 drivers who use it daily, the release said.

In 2010, the road was fully repaved, with minor resurfacing in some areas more recently.

Source link

Nevada

Nevada’s modern boomtowns are these fast-growing cities, study said

Published

19 hours ago

July 15, 2026

Press Room

Nevada’s modern boomtowns are these fast-growing cities, study said

Nevada’s history as a mining and entertainment state has made it synonymous with boomtowns. Perhaps more than any other state, cities in Nevada can feel like they practically explode overnight (like Las Vegas) and at times are abandoned as quickly as they were inhabited (like the state’s many ghost towns)

SmartAsset, a financial technology company, said in a recent report that Nevada is still home to several boomtowns. SmartAsset defines as cities that “stand out for attracting people, investment and development at a pace that sets them apart.”

“Boomtown status does not mean growth benefits everyone equally, but it does reflect a city’s expanding economic capacity and the new opportunities that come with it,” wrote SmartAsset.

The list was compiled by analyzing more than 400 U.S. cities with populations of 65,000 or more. Each city received a score based on five-year changes in three factors: economic output, housing units and labor force size. Four Nevada cities landed in the 75 highest-scoring cities, which SmartAsset said represent America’s new boomtowns.

Here’s what else to know.

Nevada is home to these four ‘boomtowns,’ according to Smart Asset

North Las Vegas was the highest-ranked Nevada city on the list, at No. 39. It had a 21% increase in housing units, a 24% increase in the labor force, and a compound annual real GDP growth rate of 3.5%.

Nevada’s runner-up was Sparks at No. 53, which saw housing units grow by 16%, labor force increase by 14%, and a 3.8% compound annual GDP growth rate.

Henderson followed at No. 63, posting a 13% increase in housing units, an 18% rise in labor force, and a 3.5% annual GDP growth rate.

Reno came in last among Nevada cities on the list at No. 66, with housing units up 14%, a labor force increase of 11%, and a 3.8% compound annual GDP growth rate.

Methodology

In order to determine the country’s boomtowns, Smart Asset looked at U.S. cities with populations of more than 65,000.

Each city was scored across three metrics: five-year labor force change, five-year housing unit change, and county-level compound annual real GDP growth.

Changes in the labor force (which includes residents ages 16 and older who are employed or actively seeking work) and in housing units were calculated using 2019 and 2024 ACS data.

Real GDP growth was calculated using Bureau of Economic Analysis data for 2019 and 2024; county-level real GDP was used as a proxy for city-level economic output.

Cities were assigned composite scores based on the three metrics and ranked accordingly.

America’s top 10 boomtowns

According to SmartAsset, these are the top 10 boomtowns in the U.S. in 2026:

Georgetown, Texas
New Braunfels, Texas
Lehi, Utah
Leander, Texas
Lewisville, Texas
Palm Coast, Florida
Nampa, Idaho
McKinney, Texas
Conroe, Texas
Frisco, Texas

Diana Leyva with The Tennessean contributed to this report.

Source link

Nevada

Federal lawsuit alleges years of sexual abuse inside Nevada juvenile detention facilities

Published

1 day ago

July 15, 2026

Press Room

Federal lawsuit alleges years of sexual abuse inside Nevada juvenile detention facilities

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Content Warning: This article discusses allegations of sexual abuse involving children and may be difficult for some readers.

A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of 96 former juvenile detainees alleges children were sexually abused inside Nevada’s juvenile justice system over nearly two decades, including at facilities in Clark County.

The 209-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court and obtained by News 3, names Clark County, the State of Nevada and numerous current officials as defendants. It alleges staff members sexually abused children in their custody while systemic failures allowed the abuse to continue.

According to the complaint, the allegations span from 2004 through 2022 and involve multiple juvenile facilities across the state, including the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, Summit View Youth Center, Nevada Youth Training Center, Caliente Youth Center and China Spring Youth Camp.

In a statement to News 3, plaintiffs’ attorney Tim O’Reilly said the lawsuit is ultimately about children who were failed by the very institutions responsible for protecting them.

“This case is about children who were placed in custody and left vulnerable to the very people and institutions responsible for protecting them,” O’Reilly said. “As detailed in the complaint, they were sexually abused, exploited and silenced while confined in Nevada Juvenile Detention Facilities. No child should ever be harmed by adults entrusted with their safety. Our clients are bravely coming forward to seek accountability and justice for abuse that never should have happened. Their courage sends a powerful message to others who have not yet been able to come forward: they are not alone.”

The lawsuit alleges some children were threatened with longer stays in custody, solitary confinement or the loss of privileges if they reported the abuse.

Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest, said those allegations reflect the unique power imbalance that can exist when adults have authority over children in custody.

“Whether or not you have the power, that youth absolutely believes you have that power to make that happen,” Ortenburger said. “When we create systems of power and control in which vulnerable youth are in a space where they can be assaulted, we have got to make sure we’ve got incredible checks and balances so that those youth are safe.”

One of those safeguards is the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, commonly known as PREA, which establishes standards intended to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse inside correctional facilities.

Signs of Hope is the only organization in Nevada with a full-time PREA advocate who works directly with people reporting sexual abuse while in custody.

“They are able to reach out to their PREA advocate and report what has happened to them and receive resources and support,” Signs of Hope CEO Kim Small said. “She’s able to advocate on their behalf and help with the investigation.”

Small said it’s important for the public to understand that being in custody does not strip someone of their rights.

“There are rights. Inmates have rights, and sexual assault is not part of their healing journey,” Small said.

Ortenburger added that reports involving incarcerated youth deserve to be taken seriously.

“I think there’s a real sort of desire to not want to believe youth, particularly incarcerated youth,” Ortenburger said. “It’s important to believe youth. That does not mean we don’t verify — trust but verify.”

The lawsuit seeks damages, along with future medical and mental health treatment for the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are also requesting a jury trial, though it could take years before the case reaches trial.

News 3 reached out to Clark County and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services for comment but had not received a response before deadline.