Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/01/arecebo-observatory-destroyed-in-final-collapse.html
…
6 Likes
All good things must come to an end, I know, and the damage due to climate change was a lot. Still, sad to see another one of the hallmarks of Our Bright Future die like this.
At least scientific progress still continues, even if the successors aren’t as photogenic.
16 Likes
I was lucky enough to see it in 2007 on vacation in PR. I was disappointed to find out that unless you are the host of Reading Rainbow, they don’t give tours with the special mesh shoes and let you walk on it haha. But seeing the immense scale was amazing.
9 Likes
Are there any successors? I wasn’t aware of the difference between Radio Astronomy and Radar Astronomy, until Scott Manley pointed it out.
2 Likes
We got to see it this past March, with a big group of people on the Star Trek cruise. It was the nerdiest thing we did on a very nerdy vacation. Totally worth the trip.
11 Likes
How sad, and yet, how Simon Stålenhag.
2 Likes
“Is there anybody… out… there?”
5 Likes
I has a sad…
3 Likes
Surely, we can rebuild?
1 Like
Well, there is still one radar astronomy system, the Goldstone telescope. And the Chinese have built the 500 Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (which actually looks more impressive, despite not being able to perform radar astronomy).
3 Likes
3 Likes
To be honest, I am not sure it would be a good idea to rebuild, since the site is now smack dab in Hurricane Alley. It’s going to see more severe storms even if we do get carbon emissions in check.
2 Likes
I can’t help but pile this news into the heap of “shit America fails at because we don’t understand that infrastructure investments require maintenance”. That plus a dose of contemporary colonialism and it’s a tale with a predictable ending. Nevertheless, I am saddened.
10 Likes
Or is it?
Message sent…
Waiting for a response…
9 Likes
Que lastima.
(seriamente.)
1 Like
I dare you to find a better analogy for America’s withdrawal from the leadership of the Enlightenment.
18 Likes
Things that break because of changing climate are essential to stir climate awareness in cultures who value objects over lives.
The object itself performs a function beyond that which it was engineered for. Clearly, more objects like it are needed in places where local populations are vulnerable.
2 Likes
Came here to say something similar. Its collapse is a symbol of the collapse of the American Century (so-called).
3 Likes
It’s a 50+ year old structure built in an earthquake and hurricane zone.
Things break.
5 Likes
We should scrap it - and rebuild it. Make America/Puerto Rico science again.
6 Likes
