PERTH, Australia -- In the arid inland of Western Australia, 700 kilometers north of Perth, the state capital, a road sign tells visitors to turn off mobile phones, satellite phones and CB radio transmitters as they enter a radio quiet zone at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory.
Here, in the red desert plains and rocky outcrops that make up the land of the Indigenous custodians, the Wajarri Yamaji people, the days are dry, the nights are silent and the heavens are emblazoned with stars. These are perfect conditions for the observatory's scientists as they ponder one of humankind's most intriguing questions -- is there intelligent life in space?
