==Massive California fire comes within miles of alien-hunting radio telescope array=

Climate change on Earth — and the brutal repercussions it causes — might interfere with the search for life far beyond our own planet.

The SETI Institute's The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in northern California is a vital tool for scientists monitoring for so-called "technosignatures," or the hoped-for signals of a technologically advanced civilization beyond Earth. Last week, on Sept. 9, the massive Dixie Fire came within 8 miles (13 kilometers) of the observatory, threatening its 42 antennas. Now, the fire seems to have stabilized and personnel hope that the radio array will be back to work within a month or so.

"We are hopeful now with the weather that the conditions don't change and it looks very promising," Alex Pollak, science and engineering operations manager for Hat Creek Radio Observatory, which includes the ATA, told Space.com. "We are, I would say, mildly optimistic that we are over the worst."

Related: The devastating wildfires of 2021 are breaking records and satellites are tracking it all

https://www.space.com/dixie-fire-threatens-alien-telescope-array