With what is the international partnership ALMA, based in Chile, concerned?

Question

For what reason did a 1975-6 discovery in Monte Verde in the low mountains in the south of Chile stir interest in the scientific community?

Answer 1

Astronomical observation
ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is an international partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan, together with the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, NSC and AS (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.