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Arecibo Observatory is shutting down — here are some of the most groundbreaking discoveries it inspired, including one that led to a Nobel Prize

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">Arecibo Observatory</a> is a radio telescope that hunts for hazardous <keyword id="81841" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asteroids">asteroids</keyword> and helps scientists search for <keyword id="582933" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alien-life">alien life</keyword>.</li><li>It just suffered its second catastrophic cable break in just three months.</li><li>In August, an auxiliary cable broke and tore a hole into the observatory's reflector dish.</li><li>On Friday, a cable associated with the first one snapped and crashed into the dish.</li></ul><p>An important astronomical observatory has suffered its second damaging disaster of the year.</p><p>In August, a 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable at the <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword> popped out of its socket and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">tore a 100-foot gash into the reflector dish below</a>. Then on Friday evening, a main cable broke from the same tower and crashed into the dish, further damaging the panels as well as other cables.</p><p>Officials are investigating the new failure, though they don't yet know why the latest cable snapped. A <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/a-second-cable-fails-at-nsfs-arecibo-observatory-in-puerto-rico/">press release</a> from the University of Central Florida, which co-operates the telescope, suggests the break may be related to the extra weight the cable has carried since August.</p><p>The extent of the new damage was not immediately clear. No people were injured in either incident. </p><p>"This is not good, but we remain committed to getting the facility back online," observatory director Francisco Cordova said in the release. "It's just too important of a tool for the advancement of <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>."</p><p>Many people may recognize the observatory from the James Bond film "GoldenEye," but scientists know it for its contributions to planetary safety and the search for alien life. Astronomers use the 20-acre radio telescope to study hazardous asteroids as they fly past Earth, in hopes of identifying <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> rocks on a collision course early enough to intervene before they strike.</p><p>Scientists have also used Arecibo to search for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. In 1974, the observatory beamed out <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">the most powerful broadcast</a> Earth has ever sent to communicate with potential aliens. In 2016, it detected the first repeating fast radio bursts — mysterious space signals that scientists now think come <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-fast-radio-bursts-come-from-dead-stars-2020-11">from dead stars</a>. </p><p>"Its sensitivity is so much greater than any other instrument and it's so much more flexible," Joanna Rankin, a radio astronomer at the University of Vermont, told <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/second-cable-breaks-puerto-rico-s-arecibo-telescope">Science</a>, adding that Arecibo can see "from the stratosphere to the far reaches of the universe."</p><p>"It would be a tremendous shame if that was lost," she said.</p><h2>Repairs could cost tens of millions of dollars</h2><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory puerto rico" height="1534" width="2045" msid="79140488" hostid="261"></div><p>Engineers had been set to begin repairs from August's accident this week. But after the new failure, they are instead working to secure and stabilize the observatory's structure.</p><p>"The team hopes to be able to reduce the tension in the existing cables at the tower and install steel reinforcements to temporarily alleviate some of the additional load that is being distributed among the remaining cables," the UCF statement said. </p><p>Observatory managers also plan to speed up the delivery of two new cables they had already ordered. Experts will reassess what else is needed as they evaluate the structure in the coming days.</p><p>The university said there is currently no cost estimate for the necessary repairs.</p><p>In October, UCF applied for $10.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the observatory, for emergency repairs, Science reported. When the observatory was struck by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the NSF granted $2 million to repair that damage.</p><p>The NSF allotted $12.3 million for four-year repairs and infrastructure improvements in 2019, UCF <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/national-science-foundation-awards-arecibo-observatory-12-3-million-grant/">reported</a>.</p><p>"We have been thoughtful in our evaluation and prioritized safety in planning for repairs that were supposed to begin Tuesday. Now this," Cordova said. "There is much uncertainty until we can stabilize the structure. It has our full attention. We are evaluating the situation with our experts and hope to have more to share soon."</p>

'This is not good': The Arecibo telescope just suffered even more damage that will set back searches for asteroids and aliens

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">Arecibo Observatory's iconic radio telescope</a> collapsed Tuesday morning.</li><li>The telescope's suspended platform, which weighed 900 tons, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-arecibo-telescope-before-after-collapse-2020-12">crashed into its bowl-shaped disk</a> below. The tops of three support towers snapped off as the platform fell.</li><li>Arecibo's destruction was not unexpected: The telescope was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-deconstruct-to-avoid-catastrophic-collapse-2020-11">damaged beyond repair</a> after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">two cables broke</a> in August and November.</li><li>Losing Arecibo deals a major blow to efforts to protect Earth from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-size-asteroid-2020qg-missed-earth-by-2000-miles-2020-8">hazardous asteroids</a> and search for signs of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aliens-on-nearby-stars-planets-could-see-earth-life-2020-10">intelligent alien life</a>.</li><li>However, pending major funding, a new state-of-the-art facility could be built in its place.</li></ul><p>The second-largest radio telescope in the world is no more.</p><p>The <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword>'s 1,000-foot-diameter telescope <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-arecibo-telescope-before-after-collapse-2020-12">collapsed</a> at about 7:55 a.m. Tuesday in <keyword id="124657" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Puerto-Rico">Puerto Rico</keyword>. The telescope's 900-ton platform, which was suspended 450 feet in the air to send and receive radio waves, crashed into its disk below, pulling down with it the tops of three support towers.</p><p>"Friends, it is with deep regret to inform you that the Arecibo Observatory platform has just collapsed," Deborah Martorell, a meteorologist in Puerto Rico, <a href="https://twitter.com/deborahtiempo/status/1333741751069192195">tweeted in Spanish on Tuesday morning</a>.</p><p>Before-and-after images show how the platform fell.</p><p>The <keyword id="45337" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="collapse">collapse</keyword> was not unexpected: Following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">two cable breaks</a> in August and November, experts determined that the radio telescope was so structurally unsound that it had to be decommissioned.</p><p>On November 19, the National <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Foundation, which owned the telescope, tasked engineers with deconstructing it. That was supposed to take about five or six weeks, but the iconic telescope couldn't last that long.</p><p>The foundation published <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-arecibo-telescope-puerto-rico-collapse-2020-12">video footage of the collapse</a> on Thursday, captured from a nearby control tower.</p><p>Nobody was injured in the collapse, the NSF said in a <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=301737&amp;org=NSF&amp;from=newsrom=news">statement</a>, since the area had been cleared after the second cable failure.</p><p>"I feel sick in my stomach," Ramon Lugo, the director of the Florida Space Institute at the University of Central Florida, who managed the telescope, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/arecibo-telescope-collapses-ending-57-year-run?utm_campaign=NewsfromScience&amp;utm_source=JHubbard&amp;utm_medium=Twitter=Twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Science</a> on Tuesday. "Truthfully, it was a lot of hard work by a lot of people trying to restore this facility. It's disappointing we weren't successful. It's really a hard morning."</p><h2>'It's like losing someone important in your life'</h2><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory damage platform receiver crash" height="3640" width="5464" msid="79520370" hostid="261"></div><p>In its 57 years of operation, the Arecibo telescope hunted for hazardous near-Earth <keyword id="81841" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asteroids">asteroids</keyword>, searched for signs of <keyword id="582933" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alien-life">alien life</keyword>, and discovered the first planet beyond our solar system.</p><p>In 1974, Arecibo <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">beamed the most powerful broadcast</a> Earth has ever sent to communicate with aliens if they're out there. In 2016, it detected the first repeating fast radio bursts - mysterious space signals that scientists now think <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-fast-radio-bursts-come-from-dead-stars-2020-11">come from dead stars</a>.</p><p>But Arecibo's woes began in August, shortly after Tropical Storm Isaias passed over Puerto Rico. A 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable popped out of its socket on one of the telescope's three towers and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">crashed into the 1,000-foot reflector dish below</a>. It tore a 100-foot gash in the panels.</p><div type="image" title="Arecibo observatory cable fall Dish Damage" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79515596" hostid="261"></div><p>Then in early November, just before repairs were set to begin in earnest, a 15,000-pound main cable from the same tower broke and crashed into the dish. Engineers had thought the structure was still strong enough to avoid a second disaster - and this cable was carrying just 60% of its estimated load capacity - but the new failure proved them wrong. They decided they could no longer trust any of the remaining cables and would decommission the facility.</p><p>Both failed cables were supporting the enormous metal platform hanging over the dish. Experts predicted in November that if another cable from the same tower were to fail, the platform would fall with it. That is indeed what happened on Tuesday morning.</p><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory puerto rico" height="1533" width="2300" msid="79515599" hostid="261"></div><p>"When I learned of the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>, I was totally devastated," Abel Mendez, the director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-deconstruct-to-avoid-catastrophic-collapse-2020-11">told Business Insider</a> in November.</p><p>Mendez had been around the observatory since he was 10 years old and worked with it professionally for the past decade.</p><p>"It's hard to take. It's like losing someone important in your life," he said. "Yeah, 2020 - it's not good."</p><h2>The US has lost its best asteroid hunter and alien seeker</h2><div type="image" title="Coast_Impact asteroid" height="629" width="500" msid="79515603" hostid="261"></div>The loss of Arecibo's telescope is a major blow to humanity's search for alien life, our ability to defend the planet from asteroids, and the entire field of radio <keyword id="6391802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronomy">astronomy</keyword>.<p>Though Arecibo didn't discover dangerous space rocks, it was instrumental in investigating them, Mendez said: The observatory could ping such objects with radar to decrypt their shape, rotation, surface features, and trajectory through space.</p><p>Without that data, it's much harder to know whether an asteroid is hurtling toward Earth.</p><p>Arecibo's massive dish antennae, built into a depression on the Puerto Rican jungle floor, pinged those objects by reflecting radio waves from space to its suspended platform.</p><p>The collapse of the platform, and the resulting damage to the dish below, makes that data collection impossible.</p><p>Other NSF facilities - the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia - could take on some of Arecibo's data collection. However, Mendez said Green Bank was only 10% to 20% as sensitive to weak radio signals as Arecibo. So he thinks the telescope's death effectively ends the US's chance to develop a comprehensive project to search for radio waves from alien technology.</p><p>"The only place that we have to do something like that, that'd be sensitive or more sensitive than Arecibo, is now FAST in China," Mendez said, referring to the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in the Guizhou province. "The United States lost all that capability because it doesn't have Arecibo."</p><p>Arecibo and FAST, Mendez said, were Earth's "two big eyes" in radio astronomy.</p><p>"If you are monitoring a source of interest which is in the weak radio spectrum, you need two big radio <keyword id="62018" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telescopes">telescopes</keyword>: one pointing toward something during the day, and the other through the nighttime," he said.</p><p>"If you lose Arecibo, then you lose the ability to monitor - 24 hours a day - a faint source of radio signals," he said, adding, "Now we just have one eye."</p><h2>'Rebuilding is a choice'</h2><p>With Arecibo's end could come a new beginning.</p><p>Already, astronomers are sharing ideas for building a state-of-the-art facility in Arecibo's place - though this would require the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-agenda-for-nasa-space-exploration-2020-11">incoming Biden administration</a> to push for such an effort and Congress to fund it.</p><p>"A rebuilt Arecibo would be an important scientific instrument in many realms, notably <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-collision-gravitational-waves-reveal-impossible-black-hole-2020-9">gravitational waves</a>," Saavik Ford, an astrophysicist at the City University of New York and the American Museum of Natural History, wrote to an astronomy email list before the observatory's downfall.</p><p>She added: "Structural collapse is imminent and leaves us with no options there - but rebuilding is a choice which would yield both economic benefits and (importantly) scientific advances."</p><p><em>This story has been updated with new information. It was originally published at 10:49 a.m. ET on December 1, 2020.</em></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">When the Arecibo telescope collapsed, the world lost a powerful asteroid tracker and alien seeker</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-arecibo-telescope-puerto-rico-collapse-2020-12">A video shows the 'violent' collapse of the iconic Arecibo telescope. It sounded like an avalanche, a staff scientist said.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-arecibo-telescope-before-after-collapse-2020-12">Photos show what the Arecibo telescope looked like before and after its disastrous collapse</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-successfully-collects-lunar-samples-while-us-telescope-falls-2020-12">On the same day China landed a probe on the moon, the US's massive telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed</a></li></ul>

The Arecibo telescope's 900-ton platform has crashed into its disk below and destroyed the iconic radio observatory

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword>'s iconic 1,000-foot radio telescope has been damaged beyond repair after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">two destructive cable breaks</a>.</li><li>If another cable fails, the telescope's 900-ton platform would crash into its disk and could pull down three towers with it.</li><li>Engineers are racing to deconstruct the telescope before it catastrophically collapses.</li><li>The death of Arecibo is a major blow to efforts to protect Earth from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-size-asteroid-2020qg-missed-earth-by-2000-miles-2020-8">hazardous asteroids</a> and search for signs of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aliens-on-nearby-stars-planets-could-see-earth-life-2020-10">alien life</a>.</li></ul><p>One of the most iconic astronomical observatories has fallen apart beyond repair. Now it threatens to collapse entirely.</p><p>Following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">two unexpected cable breaks</a>, engineers have determined that the Arecibo Observatory's 1,000-foot (305-meter) radio telescope is so structurally unsound that any workers who try to fix it would be risking their lives. So the <keyword id="133800" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="National-Science-Foundation">National Science Foundation</keyword>, which owns the <keyword id="124657" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Puerto-Rico">Puerto Rico</keyword> telescope, has decided to decommission it.</p><p>Now engineers are racing to figure out how to safely deconstruct one of the largest radio <keyword id="62018" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telescopes">telescopes</keyword> before it collapses on itself. The structure is so unstable that engineers can't even approach it to evaluate the risk and timing of such a collapse.</p><p>"Even attempts at stabilization or testing the cables could result in accelerating the catastrophic failure," Ralph Gaume, the director of the NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences, said in a press conference Thursday morning.</p><h2>'It's like losing someone important in your life'</h2><p>In its 57-year lifetime, the Arecibo telescope has hunted for hazardous near-Earth <keyword id="81841" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asteroids">asteroids</keyword>, searched for signs of <keyword id="582933" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alien-life">alien life</keyword>, and discovered the first planet beyond our solar system. In 1974, Arecibo beamed out <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">the most powerful broadcast</a> Earth has ever sent to communicate with aliens if they're out there. In 2016, it detected the first repeating fast radio bursts — mysterious space signals that scientists now think come <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-fast-radio-bursts-come-from-dead-stars-2020-11">from dead stars</a>.</p><p>But Arecibo's woes began in August, shortly after Tropical Storm Isaias passed over the island. A 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable popped out of its socket on one of the telescope's three towers and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">crashed into the reflector dish below</a>. It tore a 100-foot gash in the panels.</p><div type="image" title="Arecibo observatory cable fall Dish Damage" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79312851" hostid="261"></div><p>Then in early November, just before repairs were set to begin in earnest, a 15,000-pound main cable from the same tower broke and crashed into the dish. Engineers had thought the structure was still strong enough to avoid a second disaster — and this cable was carrying just 60% of its estimated load capacity — but the failure proved them wrong. They decided they could no longer trust any of the remaining cables.</p><p>Both failed cables had been supporting an enormous metal platform hanging over the dish. If another cable from the same tower were to fail, engineers found, the platform would fall with it. </p><p>"The entire 900-ton platform will come crashing down into the main disk, and it's possible that the three main towers themselves, which are over 300 feet tall, will topple," Gaume said.</p><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory puerto rico" height="1534" width="2045" msid="79312852" hostid="261"></div><p>Deconstructing the telescope means abandoning any chance of saving it, but it's the course of action three engineering firms recommended. </p><p>"This decision is not an easy one for NSF to make. But safety of people is our No. 1 priority," Sean Jones, the assistant director for the NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences directorate, said.</p><p>By moving quickly, the NSF hopes to salvage a set of buildings that lay directly below one of the telescope's towers. That way, the Arecibo Observatory can stay open — but without its defining feature.</p><p>"When I learned of the <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>, I was totally devastated," Abel Mendez, the director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, told Business Insider. He has been around the observatory since he was 10 years old and worked with it professionally for the past decade.</p><p>"It's hard to take. It's like losing someone important in your life. Yeah, 2020 — it's not good," he said.</p><h2>The US has lost its best asteroid hunter and alien seeker</h2><div type="image" title="Coast_Impact asteroid" height="629" width="500" msid="79312853" hostid="261"></div><p>The loss of Arecibo's telescope is a major blow to humanity's search for alien life, our ability to defend the planet from asteroids, and the entire field of radio <keyword id="6391802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronomy">astronomy</keyword>.</p><p>Though Arecibo doesn't discover dangerous space rocks, it's instrumental in investigating them, Mendez said: The observatory can ping such objects with radar to decrypt their shape, rotation, surface features, and trajectory through space.</p><p>Without that data, it's much harder to know if an asteroid is hurtling toward Earth.</p><p>The Arecibo Observatory plans to work with scientists who'd intended to use the telescope to find ways to transfer their research elsewhere, Gaume said. Other NSF facilities — the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia — could take on some Arecibo <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>.</p><p>However, Mendez said Green Bank was only 10 to 20% as sensitive to weak radio signals as Arecibo. So he thinks the telescope's death effectively ends the US's chance at a comprehensive project to search for radio waves from alien technology.</p><p>"The only place that we have to do something like that, that'd be sensitive or more sensitive than Arecibo, is now FAST in China," Mendez said, referring to the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in the Guizhou province. "The United States lost all that capability because it doesn't have Arecibo."</p><p>Arecibo and FAST, Mendez said, were Earth's "two big eyes" in radio astronomy.</p><p>"If you are monitoring a source of interest which is in the weak radio spectrum, you need two big radio telescopes: one pointing toward something during the day and the other through the nighttime," he said. "If you lose Arecibo, then you lose the ability to monitor — 24 hours a day — a faint source of radio signals."</p><p>He added: "Now we just have one eye."</p><h2>'We're working against the clock'</h2><p>It will likely take about five or six weeks to figure out how to safely deconstruct the Arecibo telescope. Engineers will assess their options from afar, with drones snapping aerial photos.</p><p>The engineers are also considering ways to buy extra time, such as tilting the towers a few inches to reduce weight on the remaining cables.</p><p>"We're working against the clock," Gaume said.</p><p>The technical reports that spell the death of Arecibo are embedded below.</p><p>If engineers can take apart the telescope before it destroys itself, the Arecibo Observatory will still be able to conduct some scientific research. Its lidar lasers can study Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere. It also has a facility on the island of Culebra that collects data on cloud cover and precipitation.</p><p>Future researchers could also still analyze archived data from the telescope.</p>

The iconic Arecibo telescope faces an imminent, catastrophic collapse. Engineers are now racing to deconstruct it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A cable broke and tore a hole in the <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword> in <keyword id="124657" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Puerto-Rico">Puerto Rico</keyword> on Monday.</li><li>The telescope had just reopened to study a potentially dangerous asteroid, shortly after <a href="https://www.insider.com/tropical-storm-isaias-hurricane-season-record-puerto-rico-2020-7">Tropical Storm Isaias</a> passed over the island.</li><li>It's unclear why the cable broke, but the facility is closed again as engineers assess the damage.</li></ul><p>One of the world's most prominent astronomical observatories has a hole.</p><p>On Monday, a 3-inch-thick cable at the Arecibo Observatory broke, tearing a gash 100 feet long in the reflector dish of the 20-acre radio telescope in Puerto Rico.</p><p>The observatory had just reopened after a temporary closure due to Tropical Storm Isaias when the cable, which helped support a metal platform, snapped at about 2:45 a.m. ET. Now the facility is closed again as engineers assess the damage, according to the <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/broken-cable-damages-arecibo-observatory/">University of Central Florida</a>, a co-operator of the telescope.<div type="image" title="arecibo observatory Cable damage" height="1333" width="1000" msid="77495568" hostid="261"></div></p><p>It was not immediately clear how the cable broke or whether the damage was related to Isaias.</p><p>Astronomers use the telescope to study hazardous asteroids as they fly past Earth, in hopes of identifying space rocks on a collusion course early enough to intervene before they strike.</p><p>Scientists have also used Arecibo to search for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. In 1974, Arecibo beamed out <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">the most powerful broadcast</a> Earth has ever sent to communicate with potential aliens.</p><p>Then in 2016, the telescope detected the first repeating fast radio bursts — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/repeating-fast-radio-burst-signal-traced-to-distant-spiral-galaxy-2020-1">mysterious space signals of unknown origin</a>. </p><p>The cable's fall also damaged six to eight panels in the telescope's Gregorian Dome: the part that focuses its radiation to the points in space that astronomers want to study. It twisted the platform used to access the dome as well.</p><p>"We have a team of experts assessing the situation," Francisco Cordova, the director of the observatory, said in a statement. "Our focus is assuring the safety of our staff, protecting the facilities and equipment, and restoring the facility to full operations as soon as possible, so it can continue to assist scientists around the world."</p><p><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory puerto rico" height="1534" width="2045" msid="77495569" hostid="261"></div></p><p>Tropical Storm Isaias passed over Puerto Rico on July 30, before it developed into a hurricane, leading observatory operators to shutter the facility for a few days.</p><p>They turned it back on earlier this month to study a potentially dangerous asteroid the size of five football fields, which was passing Earth at an optimal distance for the observatory to check it out.</p><p>NASA had previously calculated a 1 in 70,000 chance that the space rock could impact our planet between 2086 and 2101, so astronomers wanted to track it more closely to better calculate the odds of an impact. But when a team at Arecibo trained the telescope at the asteroid to determine its shape and orbit, they discovered that it likely won't pass close enough to Earth to pose a threat in the future.</p><p>During those observations, the telescope was functioning well.</p><p>"Fortunately, the storm passed quickly without damage to the telescope or the radar system, and the maintenance and electronics teams were able to activate the telescope from hurricane lockdown in time for the observations," Sean Marshall, an observatory scientist who led the team doing those radar observations, <a href="https://www.ucf.edu/news/arecibo-observatory-returns-from-tropical-storm-isaias-lockdown-to-track-asteroid-for-nasa/">said</a> at the time.</p>

A broken cable smashed a hole 100 feet wide in the Arecibo Observatory, which searches for aliens and tracks dangerous asteroids

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword>'s iconic radio telescope <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-radio-telescope-destruction-collapse-failure-puerto-rico-cable-breaks-2020-12">collapsed Tuesday morning</a>.</li><li>Newly released videos show how the telescope's 900-ton suspended platform crashed into the bowl-shaped dish below.</li><li>The tops of three support towers snapped off as the platform fell. A staff scientist said the collapse sounded like an earthquake, train, or avalanche.</li><li>The Arecibo telescope was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-deconstruct-to-avoid-catastrophic-collapse-2020-11">damaged beyond repair</a> after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">two cables broke</a> in August and November.</li></ul><p>The second-largest radio telescope in the world collapsed on Tuesday morning.</p><p>The Arecibo Observatory's 900-ton platform, which sent and received radio waves and was suspended 450 feet in the air, crashed into the 1,000-foot-wide disk below. When it fell, it pulled down with the tops of three surrounding support towers.</p><p>Videos of the crash show that it began when cables that connected the hanging platform to one of the towers snapped. Previously, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">an auxiliary cable on that same tower broke in August</a>, then one of its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">main cables broke in November</a>. Since then, the National <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Foundation, which owns Arecibo, had been rushing to disassemble the telescope, since it was clear a complete collapse was possible.</p><p>But the platform fell before engineers made much headway in the deconstruction process.</p><p>Jonathan Friedman, who has been part of the Arecibo Observatory's scientific staff since 1993, <a href="https://www.wapa.tv/noticias/locales/cientifico-del-observatorio-de-arecibo-narra-lo-vivido-en-el-colapso-de-la-plataforma_20131122493475.html">told local news outlet NotiCentro</a> the collapse sounded like the rumble of an earthquake, a train, or an avalanche.</p><p>The video below, captured from a nearby control tower, shows the platform falling at 7:54 a.m. local time. A cable takes out the catwalk that allowed engineers to access the platform. The top of the tower where the cables broke, visible in the background, then falls. Then the top of another broken tower comes rolling down the hillside on the left.</p><p>"As you can see, this was a very violent and kind of unpredictable failure," Ashley Zauderer, NSF program manager for the Arecibo Observatory, said in a briefing on Thursday.</p><p>In a separate video, drone footage shows the cables snapping and the resulting crash from above. The drone happened to be doing reconnaissance over the telescope's platform at that moment, since drone surveillance was a key source of information for engineers trying to figure out how to deconstruct the telescope. Due to the known risk of collapse, nobody had been allowed to approach the unstable structure since the fateful cable break in mid-November.</p><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory telescope collapse drone footage" height="450" width="800" msid="79555278" hostid="261"></div><p>The vicinity around the dish and the three towers had been cordoned off, so nobody was injured in the collapse, the NSF said.</p><h2>A inevitable collapse</h2><p>Arecibo's downward spiral began in August, when a 3-inch-thick auxiliary cable popped out of its socket on one of the telescope's three towers and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">crashed into the dish</a>. It tore a 100-foot gash in the panels.</p><div type="image" title="Arecibo observatory cable fall Dish Damage" height="1500" width="2000" msid="79555286" hostid="261"></div><p>Then the second failure, a snapped main cable, surprised the telescope's managers in November. An engineering assessment afterward found that the remaining cables were liable to break at any time and send the platform tumbling.</p><p>Since the structure was too unstable to save without risk of it collapsing on technicians while they worked on the repairs, the NSF decided to say goodbye to Arecibo, decommissioning the world's most iconic radio telescope.</p><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory telescope dish hole cable failure" height="3640" width="5464" msid="79555303" hostid="261"></div><h2>A blow to the search for alien life</h2><p>In its 57 years of operation, Arecibo hunted for hazardous near-Earth asteroids, searched for signs of alien life, and discovered the first planet beyond our solar system.</p><p>In 1974, Arecibo <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">beamed the most powerful broadcast</a> Earth has ever sent to communicate with potential aliens. In 2016, it detected the first repeating fast radio bursts: mysterious <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> signals that scientists now think <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mysterious-fast-radio-bursts-come-from-dead-stars-2020-11">come from dead stars</a>.</p><p>Arecibo's massive dish antennae, built into a depression on the Puerto Rican jungle floor, reflected radio waves from space to its suspended platform.</p><div type="image" title="arecibo telescope dish shoes walking" height="2354" width="3139" msid="79555307" hostid="261"></div><p>Abel Mendez, director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of <keyword id="124657" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Puerto-Rico">Puerto Rico</keyword> at Arecibo, said the loss of the telescope is a major blow to humanity's search for radio waves sent by other lifeforms. That's because Arecibo and China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) were Earth's "two big eyes" in radio <keyword id="6391802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronomy">astronomy</keyword>.</p><p>"If you lose Arecibo, then you lose the ability to monitor - 24 hours a day - a faint source of radio signals," Mendez <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-radio-telescope-destruction-collapse-failure-puerto-rico-cable-breaks-2020-12">told Business Insider</a> before the collapse, adding, "if you are monitoring a source of interest which is in the weak radio spectrum, you need two big radio telescopes: one pointing toward something during the day and the other through the nighttime."</p><p>Other National Science Foundation facilities - the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Virginia and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia - could take on some of Arecibo's data collection, but they're not as sensitive to weak radio signals as Arecibo was.</p><p><em>Dave Mosher contributed reporting.</em></p>

A video shows the 'violent' collapse of the iconic Arecibo telescope. It sounded like an avalanche, a staff scientist said.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Puerto Rico's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">Arecibo Observatory</a> violently collapsed on December 1.</li><li>Engineers had been planning to dismantle the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">radio telescope</a> since a support cable snapped in November. </li><li>But before that could happen, the telescope's 900-ton suspended platform <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-arecibo-telescope-before-after-collapse-2020-12">crashed into the bowl-shaped disk</a> below, destroying the facility.</li><li><keyword id="9706332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="maxar">Maxar</keyword> imaging <keyword id="41530" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="satellites">satellites</keyword> in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-moon-distance-edge-of-outer-space-2018-5">low-Earth orbit</a> photographed Arecibo at various stages of its destruction.</li></ul><p>The destruction of Puerto Rico's <keyword id="2838422" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arecibo-observatory">Arecibo Observatory</keyword> has been photographed from space.</p><p>The telescope <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-arecibo-telescope-before-after-collapse-2020-12">collapsed</a> earlier this month, following damaged inflicted by Tropical Storm Isaias in August.</p><p>High winds from the storm damaged a 3-inch-thick auxiliary suspension cable attached to a central, 900-ton radio platform. Before engineers could repair that cable, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arecibo-telescope-suffers-more-damage-2020-11">another snapped in November</a>. Soon afterward, the National <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> Foundation decided to decomission and dismantle the structure in a controlled manner.</p><p>But Arecibo had other plans. On the morning of December 1, the telescope catastrophically failed, dropping its 900-ton radio platform 450 feet to the ground. The platform crashed into a 1,000-foot-wide disk below and pulled down with it the tops of three support towers, destroying the facility.</p><p>"It's hard to take. It's like losing someone important in your life," Abel Mendez, the director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, previously told Business Insider.</p><p>Cameras on a control tower and a drone <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-arecibo-telescope-puerto-rico-collapse-2020-12">recorded videos of the moment</a>. Ashley Zauderer, the NSF program manager of the Arecibo Observatory, described the <keyword id="45337" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="collapse">collapse</keyword> as "a very violent and kind of unpredictable failure."</p><p>Now, the scope of that failure can be seen from orbit, thanks to imaging satellites operated by the company Maxar.</p><h2>A space-based view of an iconic observatory's downfall</h2><p>In the two images below, the aftermath of the early November cable failure can be seen alongside the telescope's later, catastrophic collapse. The first photo shows the roughly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/broken-cable-tears-100-foot-hole-in-arecibo-observatory-2020-8">100-foot-long hole</a> that a cable failure in August punched into the reflector dish, and which the November cable failure further expanded.</p><p>Maxar also released close-up images cropped from the original satellite photos.</p><p>The before-and-after comparison using the above pictures, below, shows more detail.</p><p>The two images below compare the Arecibo Observatory from when it was in working order to Maxar's newest image, which its WorldView-2 satellite took on Sunday.</p><p>Arecibo was one of only two radio telescopes of its kind in the world - China's FAST is the other. But its death could lead to a more powerful US replacement in the future.</p><p>Astronomers are already rallying to push the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-agenda-for-nasa-space-exploration-2020-11">incoming Biden administration</a> for such an effort and for Congress to fund it.</p><p>"A rebuilt Arecibo would be an important scientific instrument in many realms, notably <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-collision-gravitational-waves-reveal-impossible-black-hole-2020-9">gravitational waves</a>," Saavik Ford, an astrophysicist at the City University of New York and the American Museum of Natural History, wrote to an <keyword id="6391802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronomy">astronomy</keyword> email list just prior the observatory's collapse.</p><p>She added: "Rebuilding is a choice which would yield both economic benefits and (importantly) scientific advances."</p><p><em>Aylin Woodward, Morgan McFall-Johnsen, and Susie Neilson contributed reporting.</em></p>

New satellite images show the Arecibo Observatory before and after its violent collapse in Puerto Rico

<p><em>Hello, and welcome to this Wednesday's edition of the Insider Tech newsletter, where we break down the biggest news in tech.</em></p><h4><a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Get Insider Tech straight in your inbox by subscribing here.</a></h4><p><em><strong>Soundtrack:</strong> For maximum enjoyment of this newsletter, we recommend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbMT5-ezHI4&amp;list=PLJ8y7DDcrI_qIDA_4vFS_ocezl8i9ZaGe&amp;index=52index=52">listening to David Bowie's "Starman."</a></em></p><h2>This week: <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> CEO <keyword id="1550747" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dara-Khosrowshahi">Dara Khosrowshahi</keyword> pulls the plug on another one of <keyword id="1739133" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Travis-Kalanick">Travis Kalanick</keyword>'s moonshots</h2><p>It's been more than three years since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-have-the-d-memo-2018-6">Dara Khosrowshahi famously got "the D"</a> ("decision-making authority," to Khosrowshahi) at Uber, taking control of the ride-hailing company after a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-company-scandals-and-controversies-2017-11">chaotic ride with founder Travis Kalanick</a>. Uber's culture has completely changed since then. Now, Khosrowshahi is cutting loose some of Kalanick's most-high-profile business endeavors.</p><ol><li><strong>Uber's flying taxi group, Elevate,</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joby-aviation-to-acquire-uber-elevate-wins-75-million-investment-2020-12">is being sold to Joby Aviation</a>, the companies announced on Tuesday. Air taxis always seemed a bit far-off as a revenue driver for Uber, even as an Uber exec insisted last year that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-insists-will-have-fully-functional-flying-taxis-by-2023-2019-10">the service would be operational by 2023</a>. Uber is investing $75 million in Joby (along with a previously undisclosed investment of $50 million) as part of the deal.</li><li><strong>On Monday, Uber announced </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aurora-ceo-chris-urmson-explains-buying-uber-atg-self-driving-2020-12"><strong>plans to offload its self-driving car division</strong></a> -  known as the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sources-describe-questionable-decisions-and-dysfunction-inside-ubers-self-driving-unit-before-one-of-its-cars-killed-a-pedestrian-2018-10">Advanced Technologies Group (ATG)</a> - to <keyword id="337466" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Aurora">Aurora</keyword>, a startup founded by ex-Googlers. As with the Joby deal, this "acquisition" by Aurora is more of an asset transfer, with Uber investing $400 million in Aurora and getting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aurora-ceo-chris-urmson-explains-buying-uber-atg-self-driving-2020-12">a 26% stake in the company</a>. </li></ol><div type="image" title="Uber Elevate interior flying taxi" height="673" width="1024" msid="79648614" hostid="261"></div><p>Khosrowshahi's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-atg-dara-khosrowshahis-travis-kalanick-aurora-2020-11">jettisoning of the Kalanick moonshots</a> has a bit of a Trump-dismantling-everything-Obama feel to it. And there's no question that Khosrowshahi has a very different vision for Uber than his predecessor.</p><ul><li><strong>But the real motivation</strong> for the divestitures likely has more to do with how Uber has changed. Now that it's a public company with public investors to answer to, Uber has less of a runway to indulge in passion projects (especially since it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-earnings-q3-2020-revenue-eps-slow-pandemic-recovery-2020-11">still losing billions</a> of dollars every year).</li><li><strong>To <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/uber-lyft-stock-prices-california-votes-for-prop-22-2020-11-1029764137">satisfy investors</a>, Uber needs to use its gunpowder</strong> to fight for its core ride-hailing and food-delivery businesses. Uber recently spent more than $52 million successfully lobbying for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/proposition-22-faq-impact-uber-lyft-instacart-doordash-2020-11">California's Prop 22</a>, which allows drivers to be classified as independent contractors rather than employees, skirting costs for Uber. There's a lot more of these high-stakes regulatory threats on the horizon, and the outcomes will impact Uber's business much sooner than flying taxis.</li></ul><p>As for Kalanick, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cloudkitchens-travis-kalanick-ghost-kitchen-real-estate-new-asset-class-2020-11">he's busy working on a new project</a>: ghost kitchens, the delivery-only restaurants that have thrived during pandemic lockdowns. </p><h2>After this month's IPO bonanza, the biggest unicorn listings could be banned in the US<div type="image" title="snowflake ipo" height="2000" width="3000" msid="79648617" hostid="261"></div></h2><p>Three weeks, six unicorns, and billions of dollars. It sounds like the premise for a movie, and perhaps one day it will be - when 2020's strange rush of December <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-ipo">IPOs</a> is remembered.</p><ul><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-refiles-ipo-date-updates-customer-retention-revenue-gov-returning-2020-12">DoorDash</a> and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/airbnb-plans-higher-ipo-price-range-42-billion-valuation-2020-12-1029868444">Airbnb</a></strong> are on track to make their public market debuts this week. Each company has raised the price of its shares in the run up to the offerings (DoorDash <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/doordash-ipo-stock-offering-price-filing-dash-trading-debut-nyse-2020-12-1029875380">priced its IPO at a $34.2 billion valuation on Tuesday</a>), suggesting strong investor demand. Keep an eye on tickers "DASH" and "ABNB" this week as trading begins and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/day-traders-stock-market-euphoria-18-year-high-risks-citi-2020-6-1029296172">hordes of Robinhood users</a> place their orders. </li><li><strong>Also in the December IPO pipeline</strong> are Wish, Affirm, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-roblox-executives-cofounders-paid-ipo-filing-s-1-2020-11">Roblox</a>, and C3.ai. As Business Insider columnist Adam Lashinsky writes, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-shape-shifting-startup-tom-siebel-c3-ipo-2020-12">the C3.ai IPO is a fascinating tale of Silicon Valley "trend surfing,"</a> with tech industry veteran Tom Siebel riding a killer wave.</li><li><strong>One of the big winners here is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-investor-botha-shares-why-his-firm-stays-on-top-2020-10">Sequoia Capital</a></strong>, the venture capital firm that warned the world in March that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-coronavirus-memo-to-founders-2020-3">a "black swan" was about to cause a startup apocalypse</a>, but now says the deadly swan decided to spare its own portfolio. According to Bloomberg, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-recent-fund-returns-2020-12">some of Sequoia's funds have generated returns between 8x and 11x</a> - and that's before the Airbnb and DoorDash IPOs.</li></ul><p><strong>Amid the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sequoia-capital-vcs-billion-dollar-startups-file-ipos-2020-8">IPO celebration</a> there's a menacing cloud on the horizon for US exchanges like Nasdaq and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/record-ipo-month-october-outlook-nyse-president-cunningham-public-market-2020-9-1029637063">NYSE</a>.</strong> A proposed law aims to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-china-stocks/house-seen-backing-bill-that-could-block-chinese-firms-from-u-s-securities-markets-idUSL1N2IH2I5">prevent Chinese companies from listing on US stock exchanges</a> unless they agree to have their financial records audited by US regulators. </p><p>The legislation has sailed through Congress with rare bipartisan support and could be signed into law later this month. Public Chinese companies like Alibaba and Baidu could be forced to delist from US exchanges under the law.</p><ul><li><strong>More significant,</strong> US exchanges could lose out on the next batch of unicorn <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-ipo">IPOs</a>, in which Chinese tech startups are heavily represented.</li><li>According to <a href="https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies">CB Insights</a>, the two most valuable private tech companies in the world today today are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-bytedance-employees-bonuses-working-during-ban-threat-2020-9">ByteDance</a> ($140 billion) and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/didi-unveiled-the-d1-electric-vehicle-made-for-ridesharing-2020-12">Didi Chuxing</a> ($62 billion), both based in China. And eight of the world's 20 most valuable private tech companies are Chinese. Those companies would all have to list outside the US under the new rule, and it's unclear what that might mean for the exits of US-based VCs (including, in ByteDance's case, Sequoia) who backed the companies.</li></ul><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-interview-axel-springer-tesla-accelerate-advent-of-sustainable-energy">Quote of the week: </a></h2><p><em><strong>"If you're going to be buried somewhere, it would be cool to be born on Earth and die on Mars - just not on impact."</strong></em></p><p><em>- <keyword id="6355315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword>, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, discussing his wish to be buried on Mars <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-interview-axel-springer-tesla-accelerate-advent-of-sustainable-energy">during an exclusive interview with Mathias Döpfner,</a> the CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-interview-axel-springer-tesla-accelerate-advent-of-sustainable-energy"><div type="image" title="FILE PHOTO: SpaceX founder and chief engineer Elon Musk attends a post-launch news conference to discuss the  SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut capsule in-flight abort test at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Nesius" height="2716" width="4081" msid="79648619" hostid="261"></div></a></p><h2>Snapshot: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">Broken intergalactic radio</a></h2><p>Let's hope the aliens can adjust their transmissions. On December 1, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico - one of the world's most powerful instruments listening for extra-terrestrial communications - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12">suffered a catastrophic and fatal failure. </a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-lost-when-the-arecibo-telescope-collapsed-2020-12"><em><div type="image" title="arecibo observatory damage radio telescope receiver platform" height="3640" width="5464" msid="79648624" hostid="261"></div></em></a></p><p>The 1,000- foot-diameter telescope was damaged earlier in the year during a tropical storm and it was already scheduled to be disassembled. But before that could happen, a cable snapped and the 900-ton platform suspended in the air to receive radio waves came crashing down into the disk below. (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-arecibo-telescope-puerto-rico-collapse-2020-12">You can watch footage of the collapse here</a>.)</p><p>During its 57-year lifetime, Arecibo mapped planets like Venus, discovered the first-known exoplanet, and tracked potential hazardous asteroids. But most importantly, it was our walkie-talkie with potential alien life.</p><p>In 1974, Arecibo <a href="https://www.seti.org/arecibo-message">beamed a powerful interstellar message</a> into space. And since then, it has kept a constant ear open for radio signals that could emanate from alien technology in other galaxies. It will take some time to rebuild a telescope as powerful as Arecibo - but there's time. The message it sent in 1974 is still en route to <a href="https://news.cornell.edu/stories/1999/11/25th-anniversary-first-attempt-phone-et-0">a star cluster that's about 25,000 light years</a> away. </p><h2>Recommended Readings:</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-attempted-quell-unrest-in-meeting-over-ousted-ai-ethicist-2020-12">Google held a meeting to calm rising employee tensions over the ousting of AI ethicist Timnit Gebru. Insiders say it only raised more concerns.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sources-poshmarks-ipo-is-back-on-2020-12">Sources: Poshmark's IPO is back on and its S-1 paperwork is expected to become public 'in the next week or so'</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/online-sextortion-attacks-snapchat-social-media-hackers-2020-12">Hackers are breaking into Snapchat accounts and holding nude photos for ransom. One college woman says Snap did nothing to help her for days after her nudes were stolen.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsieh-tragic-final-months-in-park-city-2020-12">Tony Hsieh sold Zappos for $1.2 billion in his 30s. He was dead by 46. Inside his final Park City months, where he hoped to deliver more happiness as he spiraled.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-airpods-max-release-date-price-specs-2020-12">Here's everything we know about Apple's stylish new headphones, the $549 AirPods Max</a></p><h2>Not necessarily in tech:</h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jared-kushner-real-estate-asher-abehsera-cadre-brookfield-kushner-companies-2020-12">Jared Kushner's name is radioactive in real estate right now. Some developers and investors say they're avoiding deals with his family's company, while others report they're getting penalized for past partnerships.</a></p><p>Thanks for reading, and if you like this newsletter, <a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-tech">tell your friends and colleagues they can sign up here to receive it</a>.</p><p>And as always, please reach out with rants, raves, and tips at aoreskovic@businessinsider.com</p><p>- Alexei</p>

Dara Khosrowshahi hits the kill switch on Uber's moonshots

<p></p>
<p>The giant space rock, dubbed 2004 BL86, measures five football fields across and will be making its closest approach to Earth on <a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/01/16/asteroid-2004-bl86-to-safely-flyby-earth-on-january-26/">Monday, Jan. 26 at 11:20 am EST</a> when it will be 745,000 miles from Earth.</p>
<p>Even though asteroids are <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140728-asteroid-dinosaurs-diversity-extinct-science/">notorious home wreckers</a>, NASA says don't panic.</p>
<p>"While it poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it's a relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us a unique opportunity to observe and learn more," Don Yeomans, the current manager of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4441">statement</a>.</p>
<p>Humans won't see another asteroid this large shave by Earth for another 12 years. The next one will be asteroid 1999 AN10 in 2027.</p>
<p>So don't miss out, because the best time to see the asteroid will be early next week.</p>
<h2>When and How to Watch</h2>
<p>The asteroid will be brightest between 11:07 pm and 11:52 pm EST on Monday, Jan. 26, according to <a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/01/16/asteroid-2004-bl86-to-safely-flyby-earth-on-january-26/">TheWatchers</a>.</p>
<p>Although the asteroid will be too faint to see with the naked eye, observers can spot it with a small telescope or a pair of strong binoculars.</p>
<p>"I may grab my favorite binoculars and give it a shot myself," Yeomans said in the statement. "Asteroids are something special. Not only did asteroids provide Earth with the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural resources.</p>
<p>If you can't gain access to a telescope or binoculars, or your skies are too cloudy, you can watch the asteroid approach live online. <a href="http://www.slooh.com/">Slooh</a>, the <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-05h.html">live online observatory</a>, will broadcast the event starting at 11:00 am EST on Monday, Jan. 26.</p>
<p>The broadcast, provided below, will include commentary from experts including Paul Chodas, manager of JPL's Near-Earth Object Program Office, and Lance Benner, NASA Research Scientist.</p>
<p></p>
<h2>Learning More</h2>
<p>Asteroid 2004 BL86 was first spotted in 2004. Because of its orbital path and size, the asteroid is on Earth's most wanted listed of <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html">Potentially Hazardous Asteroids</a> (PHAs). This doesn't mean the asteroid will hit Earth, it only means it has the potential to do so. NASA has found <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/">1,537 PHAs</a> so far, none of which have posed a significant danger to Earth or Humanity, yet.</p>
<p></p>
<p>In 1908, an asteroid only 120 feet across hit Earth and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/armageddon-plan-for-asteroid-impacts-2012-12">wiped out</a> a part of a Russian forest the size of the city of London. The damage an asteroid the size of 2004 BL86 would be much worse, which is why scientists are on the look out.</p>
<p>As the comet approaches Earth, NASA scientists will be watching and collecting data.</p>
<p>"At present, we know almost nothing about the asteroid, so there are bound to be surprises," said radar astronomer Lance Benner of JPL in the statement.</p>
<p>Since asteroid 2004 BL86 won't be returning to Earth for another 200 years, scientists are making the most of this opportunity.</p>
<p>They plan to observe the asteroid in multiple wavelengths, including with <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-00a">large radio dishes</a> at NASA's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, California, and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-00a">dishes emit radio waves</a> that hit the asteroid and bounce back to Earth. Astronomers analyze the returning signal, which can reveal information about the asteroid's shape, rotation, and internal density.</p>

There's A Huge Asteroid Approaching Earth - Here's How To Watch

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout" title_caption="Artistic rendering of an asteroid breaking up in space." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/525fe468eab8ea3e70aaec3f-960/rtr2rkfx.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Reuters/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout</span></p><p class="caption">Artistic rendering of an asteroid breaking up in space.</p></div><p></p></div></div>NASA scientists are excited for a large asteroid that is hurling itself toward Earth at over 35,000 miles-per-hour.</p>
<p>The giant space rock, dubbed 2004 BL86, measures five football fields across and will be making its closest approach to Earth on <a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/01/16/asteroid-2004-bl86-to-safely-flyby-earth-on-january-26/">Monday, Jan. 26 at 11:20 am EST</a>.</p>
<p>Even though asteroids are <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140728-asteroid-dinosaurs-diversity-extinct-science/">notorious home wreckers</a>, NASA says don't panic.</p>
<p>"While it poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it's a relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us a unique opportunity to observe and learn more," Don Yeomans, the current manager of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4441">statement</a>.</p>
<p>Humans won't see another asteroid this large shave by Earth for another 12 years. The next one will be asteroid 1999 AN10 in 2027.</p>
<p>So don't miss out, because the best time to see the asteroid will be early next week.</p>
<h2>When and How to Watch</h2>
<p>The asteroid will be brightest between 11:07 pm and 11:52 pm EST on Monday, Jan. 26, according to <a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/01/16/asteroid-2004-bl86-to-safely-flyby-earth-on-january-26/">TheWatchers</a>.</p>
<p>Although the asteroid will be too faint to see with the naked eye, observers can spot it with a small telescope or a pair of strong binoculars.</p>
<p>"I may grab my favorite binoculars and give it a shot myself," Yeomans said in the statement. "Asteroids are something special. Not only did asteroids provide Earth with the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural resources.</p>
<p>If you can't gain access to a telescope or binoculars, or your skies are too cloudy, you can watch the asteroid approach live online. <a href="http://www.slooh.com/">Slooh</a>, the <a href="http://www.spacedaily.com/news/telescopes-05h.html">live online observatory</a>, will broadcast the event starting at 11:00 am EST on Monday, Jan. 26.</p>
<p>The broadcast, provided below, will include commentary from experts including Paul Chodas, manager of JPL's Near-Earth Object Program Office, and Lance Benner, NASA Research Scientist.</p>
<p></p>
<h2>Learning More</h2>
<p>Asteroid 2004 BL86 was first spotted in 2004. Because of its orbital path and size, the asteroid is on Earth's most wanted listed of <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html">Potentially Hazardous Asteroids</a> (PHAs). This doesn't mean the asteroid will hit Earth, it only means it has the potential to do so. NASA has found <a href="http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/">1,537 PHAs</a> so far, none of which have posed a significant danger to Earth or Humanity, yet.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>In 1908, an asteroid only 120 feet across hit Earth and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/armageddon-plan-for-asteroid-impacts-2012-12">wiped out</a> a part of a Russian forest the size of the city of London. The damage an asteroid the size of 2004 BL86 would be much worse, which is why scientists are on the look out.</p>
<p>As the comet approaches Earth, NASA scientists will be watching and collecting data.</p>
<p>"At present, we know almost nothing about the asteroid, so there are bound to be surprises," said radar astronomer Lance Benner of JPL in the statement.</p>
<p>Since asteroid 2004 BL86 won't be returning to Earth for another 200 years, scientists are making the most of this opportunity.</p>
<p>They plan to observe the asteroid in multiple wavelengths, including with <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-00a">large radio dishes</a> at NASA's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, California, and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2006-00a">dishes emit radio waves</a> that hit the asteroid and bounce back to Earth. Astronomers analyze the returning signal, which can reveal information about the asteroid's shape, rotation, and internal density.</p>

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