China officially opened operations of the world's largest radio telescope, which it will use for space research and help in the hunt for life beyond earth.

The Five- - hundred- - meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, is the size of 30 football fields and has been hewed out of a mountain in the southwestern province of Guizhou. It is also known by the name “Sky Eye” in China.

The project is expected to help lead to some breakthroughs in areas such as low- - frequency gravitational wave detection and interstellar molecules.