National Radio Astronomy Observatory Staff Given Fitbits That Interfere With Telescope
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia, handed out wrist-worn activity trackers to its staff, even though the devices could interfere with the massive radio telescope operated by the observatory, wireless lawyer Mitchell Lazarus of Fletcher…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Heald said in a Monday blog post. “Fitbits are good for radio astronomers,” he wrote. “But not so good for radio astronomy.” NRAO maintains an interference-free zone around the telescope. NRAO tested the devices, Lazarus wrote, finding their transmissions create a signal 10 billion times stronger than international recommendations permit. “The scientists who ran the tests note that a Fitbit can be carried safely if stuffed into a modified metal pill fob," he said. "But we’re guessing that most NRAO personnel, accustomed to measuring the Universe and its expansion with the most sophisticated equipment known to science, will go back to measuring their own expansion with a tape measure and bathroom scale.” NRAO didn't comment.