IBM In Search Of Universe's OriginIBM In Search Of Universe's Origin

Big Blue is on the lookout for the Big Bang. Under a deal disclosed Wednesday, IBM said it's teaming up with Dutch astronomers to design microchips for use in space telescopes that will peer into the farthest reaches of the universe.

IBM and Astron, a Netherlands-based astronomical research foundation, will work collaboratively to design, engineer, and manufacture analog and mixed signal chips that will be used in thousands of antennas as part of Astron's project to build a new type of distributed radio space telescope.

The telescope, SKADS/EMBRACE, will act as a prototype for a planned larger version called SKA that will use millions of antennas spread over an area more than 1,800 miles wide to collect radio signals from deep space. The goal is to look for evolving galaxies, dark matter, and possibly the origins of the universe, dating back more than 13 billion years.

Chips resulting from the collaboration between IBM an Astron will be deployed in pilot antennas for SKADS/EMBRACE and will be used to filter useful information from the radio signals. The antennas will be scattered across the northern part of the Netherlands around the site of the Westerbork Radio Synthesis Telescope and also in France, south of Paris.

A decision hasn't yet been made on the final location of the larger SKA telescope. Financial terms of IBM's collaboration deal with Astron weren't disclosed.