“The U.S. National Science Foundation released dramatic footage Thursday of the Arecibo Observatory’s collapse in Puerto Rico earlier this week. The footage, captured both from the ground and via drone, shows support cables failing at the top of one of three towers, sending the 900-ton receiver platform plummeting more than 400 feet onto the reflector dish below. No injuries resulted from the collapse, which, while unplanned, was a known possibility after two cables snapped in August and November. The NSF evacuated staff after the second cable snapped on Nov. 6. According to the journal Nature, the cable that failed in November, setting up Arecibo’s ultimate demise, dates all the way back to the telescope’s construction in 1963. In its 57 years of operation, the observatory survived hurricanes, tropical humidity and several earthquakes, and proved invaluable as a tool for scientific discovery and research. The University of Central Florida, which manages the observatory, is working with the NSF to salvage the facility’s remaining scientific and educational infrastructure. But a full rebuild will be a yearslong process that depends first on Congress making the funds available. “With regards to replacement, NSF has a very well defined process for funding and constructing large scale infrastructure — including telescopes,” Ralph Gaume, director of NSF’s division of astronomical sciences, said in a press conference Thursday. “It’s a multi-year process that involves congressional appropriations, and the assessment and needs of the scientific community. So it’s very early for us to comment on the replacement.”
Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera: Trump’s Not Speaking To Me Right Now
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["Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera said Tuesday that President Donald Trump isn’t speaking to him because he acknowledges the fact that President-elect Joe Biden won the election. The conservative commentator, who has describ...
Trump Administration Lowballs Unemployment Benefits In New COVID-19 Offer
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["The latest stimulus offer from the White House comes with one-time $600 payments for most Americans and a lump of coal for the unemployed. The new proposal offered by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin swapped the $3...
Biden Selects Marcia Fudge As Housing Secretary, Tom Vilsack For Agriculture
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["WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration,...
Trump: Millions Of Americans Getting COVID-19 Is ‘Terrific’ And A ‘Powerful Vaccine’
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["President Donald Trump on Tuesday spun the high number of Americans who have been infected with COVID-19 as “terrific,” claiming falsely that all those cases serve as a “powerful vaccine.” “I think that the vaccine ...
How To Deal With The Co-worker Who Is Constantly Complaining
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[]["fizkes via Getty ImagesComplainers may go to you because they feel like they are not being heard anywhere else. Here's how to treat their grievances with compassion.Everyone encounters a constant complainer at som...
MSNBC Names Rashida Jones President, Making History For Major Cable News Networks
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["MSNBC has named Rashida Jones its next president, making her the first Black executive to run a major general news cable network, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jones, who currently serves as the senior vice pres...
Bill Nye Explains Why Masks Keep Viruses In Those Pesky ‘Droplets Of Spit And Snot’ At Bay
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["Bill Nye explained the science behind face masks in a TikTok video posted on Friday, stressing that their effectiveness in stopping the spread of the coronavirus “is not that hard to understand.” Nye shared two map...