Arecibo Observatory Featured in James Bond Film 'Goldeneye' Shut Down (cnn.com) 112
A number of Slashdot readers, including mknewman and MountainLogic have shared this report: The famous observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, featured in the James Bond movie "GoldenEye," has been forced to temporarily close after a broken cable smashed through the side of its massive dish. Around 2:45 a.m. Monday, a three-inch auxiliary cable that helped support a metal platform broke, according to a news release from the University of Central Florida. UCF manages the facility alongside Universidad Ana G. Mendez and Yang Enterprises. When the cable broke, it created a 100-foot gash in the telescope's 1,000-foot-long reflector dish, according to UCF. It also damaged about six to eight panels along the observatory's Gregorian Dome, which is suspended over the reflector dish.
The broken cable also twisted a platform used to access the Gregorian Dome, making damage assessment even more difficult. "The folks at the facility are working with engineers and other experts to asses and secure equipment at the facility," Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Office of Research and College of Graduate Studies' assistant vice president for strategic communications told CNN. "That started (Tuesday) and is continuing through this week." The telescope has been an integral part of a number of scientific discoveries since it opened in 1963. It was made even more famous in popular culture when it was featured in the 007 movie, "Goldeneye" in 1995. Arecibo Observatory has survived a number of hurricanes, even earthquakes.
The broken cable also twisted a platform used to access the Gregorian Dome, making damage assessment even more difficult. "The folks at the facility are working with engineers and other experts to asses and secure equipment at the facility," Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Office of Research and College of Graduate Studies' assistant vice president for strategic communications told CNN. "That started (Tuesday) and is continuing through this week." The telescope has been an integral part of a number of scientific discoveries since it opened in 1963. It was made even more famous in popular culture when it was featured in the 007 movie, "Goldeneye" in 1995. Arecibo Observatory has survived a number of hurricanes, even earthquakes.
I would Hope (Score:5, Insightful)
I would hope that the Arecibo Observatory is better known around here on its own merits than as a background in a 90s Bond movie.
Re:I would Hope (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not the Slashdot of old
Re:I would Hope (Score:5, Insightful)
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You only think once...when you have to....if it's a Friday....and you're bored...Mr. Bond.
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( Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence )
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SETI@Home. 'nuff said, really. Arecibo is the main SETI telescope after all (it just taps off and records passively the incoming data
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Re:I would Hope (Score:4, Funny)
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Did you just wake up from a coma?
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It is. The summary was confusing as I don't recall any details of Goldeneye. I do recall that it was a popular N64 game. Goldeneye that is, not Arecibo. Not that anyone reading this will be as confused as the /. editors.
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I'll bet you're great fun at parties.
Re:I would Hope (Score:4, Interesting)
why not go with "Contact" .. this is /.
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Or the X-Files [wikipedia.org]? Although it's abandoned in that episode...
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why not go with "Contact" .. this is /.
Because this is /. you should go with "primary source of the SETI@Home data"
Re:I would Hope (Score:5, Insightful)
Sadly, you did not mention even one such merit (nor did anyone in the whole discussion), which strongly suggest you're in the same boat as everyone else.
So let me give y'all a small lecture.
The Arecibo's biggest discovery was to measure the periods of pulsars, which proved they are definitely neutron stars, a major discovery which helped someone win a Nobel in the process.
A bunch of complex molecules were found in spaaaaace from their radio emissions, detected by the telescope.
It was used as a radar dish to measure things like planet and asteroid rotation periods and even to make rudimentary imaging of asteroids.
And, of course it sent out that message to the aliens, the one that's going to get us all killed.
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They used timing of pulsars to measure gravitational radiation. It was at the time the best confirmation of general relativity (maybe still is).
The paper is https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]
My PhD supervisor was author #3, but missed out on joining the noble prize (Authors #1 and #2 got it). He took it with remarkable grace.
More recently, Arecibo discovered the first repeating radio burst.
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In a lot of ways I suppose it is a "noble prize," but most know it as the "Nobel Prize".
My compliments to your Ph.D. supervisor for doing such important work, and for realizing (and accepting) that the work, not the prize, is the goal. As someone once said to me, "If you're in science to win a prize, you're in the wrong business. The State Fair [wikipedia.org] is just down the road."
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Yeah, I cannot spell for shit
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Re:I would Hope (Score:4, Informative)
Ah you missed some crucial science there...
- Measured the rotation period of Mercury,
- First radar maps of Venus.
- First megamaser galaxy discovery.
- First extrasolar planet.
- First repeating fast radio burst.
- Near Earth asteroid observations.
https://www.sofia.usra.edu/sci... [usra.edu].
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What about Alaska? Will Trump give it back to Putin, or will he give him California, Oregon and Washington instead?
Are you mad? Those are national treasures. But Texas (except for Austin, San Antonio and Galveston) and Florida are a mess. Hint: it's the damn ignorant savages dug in there that make them bad.
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The Florida problem will be soled next century if the world does not get its asses together and stop global warming.
Re: I would Hope (Score:2)
I wonder how the Author missed the fact that it also was a shooting location for the movie Contact, doing the SETI stuff it was designed to.
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I would hope that the Arecibo Observatory is better known around here on its own merits than as a background in a 90s Bond movie.
It seems for your average US citizen, this is enough "science" for one day thanks. Moving on...
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I would hope that the Arecibo Observatory is better known around here on its own merits than as a background in a 90s Bond movie.
Agreed. Plus I would think that the 1997 movie Contact would have been a better reference than a Bond movie.
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Strangely enough I recall the VLA in memories of Contact, but not Arecibo.
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I actually did not know/remember it was featured in a James Bond movie.
But I know the radio telescope very well.
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That title, Really?? (Score:5, Informative)
Why reuse that same idiot-friendly headline as the title for TFA?? On Slashdot, you shouldn't need to associate Arecibo with anything. And otherwise maybe you could have used "Contact" as the movie, instead of a spy flick that some millenial news writer happened to remember seeing on TV with her father?
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Yes, I meant TFS. No pedantic pile-on necessary.
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What is "Contact"?
something the querier should request of a professional
:P
sarcasm
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What is "Contact"?
Pray they find intelligent life somewhere out in space, 'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!
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Because now we identify major items of scientific infrastructure by what movie they were in, rather than what research was performed there.
but of course, the really woke stars protest against scientific infrastructure being built at all:
https://www.staradvertiser.com... [staradvertiser.com]
Research and engineering would be better served if we just donated our science budget to China. When they need scientific infrastructure, they Just Fucking Build It. And from that flows the discoveries that will improve life for all humans, j
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We're not all astronomy geeks here, and the movie reference meant a lot of us didn't need to hit Wikipedia in the event our names of radio observatories trivia knowledge isn't up to snuff.
Re:That title, Really?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why reuse that same idiot-friendly headline as the title for TFA?? On Slashdot, you shouldn't need to associate Arecibo with anything.
Or maybe "Remember all those SETI@Home units you crunched back in the day?"
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The difference was that Contact was a shit movie and Goldeneye was great. Not just as a spy movie, but as a Nintendo 64 game likely lived by many on here.
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yeah, that Jodi Foster is a boring hack. /s
There really is no accounting for taste. Except for Thunderball and until Daniel Craig, the Bond movies ran on hype. For instance, I enjoyed Moonraker, but it is ridiculous and I think for children, which I think is what most of the adult population was during that era. Bond movies are made for the immature. For actual mature and intelligent adults, Contact the novel is really incredible, and the movie is a worthy adaptation. Sagan was a genius and wove legitimat
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Moonraker was hilarious. I think it has to be the densest dumb one liners in any script I've ever seen.
Bond movies are made for the immature.
No, Bond movies are made for the disenfranchised. The people who no longer have dreams and are stuck in the rat race. The people who would love to believe spy stuff is boobs and horsepower with a bit of pew pew on the side while wearing a nice suit. The target market is very much middle age males stuck in a cubicle.
But each to their own. Personally I'm not a fan of Pierce Brosnan's bond. I much prefer the
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Bond movies are made for the disenfranchised. The people who no longer have dreams and are stuck in the rat race. The people who would love to believe spy stuff is boobs and horsepower with a bit of pew pew on the side while wearing a nice suit. The target market is very much middle age males stuck in a cubicle.
I have some unfortunate news [theguardian.com]... Though they at least had the sense to keep Daniel Craig as James Bond and are just reassigning the 007 code name, it's an obvious harbinger of things to come. The middle aged males stuck in a cubicle are once again being told to move on.
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Did you ever watch a James Bond movie in a cinema?
I guess not.
The target market are most certainly women of all ages: and not males, and specifically not the males you mention.
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I liked Contact. And not only because of the actress.
A 3 inch steel cable? (Score:5, Funny)
I may have said too much here, but I've been drinking so I'll deal with it in the morning.
Re:A 3 inch steel cable? (Score:5, Funny)
That's the diameter, buddy, not the length.
WHAT. A. PATHETIC. TITLE (Score:5, Insightful)
Shame on you.
Wow, I remember (Score:2)
I vaguely remember when it was completed and went live. It was quite the big deal at the time...something something onion on my belt.
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Abe Simpson? I babysat his parents. Now the style in those days...
This News Stinks (Score:1)
Was that necessary? (Score:5, Informative)
C'mon, guys. This is news for nerds. Certainly nerds know Arecibo Observatory. That headline is more appropriate for one of those checkout-counter rags.
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Nerds come in many forms. Space nerds are one, language nerds are another. Recently here it seems to be the site is overrun with political science nerds so it's probably best that we keep language simple so those intellectual rejects can keep up.
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That's so generous! You must be quite nice in person as well. I would have used the term "blithering idiots" to refer to them.
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There is really only one kind of nerd. Just like there is really only one kind of intelligence and it isn't "emotional intelligence". The other categories of people you mention are not nerds. Although I can never tell if your posts are sarcasm.
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There is really only one kind of nerd.
No there are plenty kinds of nerds, such as intelligent ones, and then the other kind where your comment fits.
GoldenEye 25th anniversary game (Score:5, Funny)
Is it a coincidence that the people working on a free modernized and updated version of the 1997 Nintendo game Goldeneye 007 got a cease and desist letter from MGM? Seems too coincidental to be a conincidence. I would take a long hard look at MGM in this. Where was the CEO of MGM at the time?
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Is that GoldenEye: Source or is there another unofficial remake?
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Is this how far Slashdot has descended? (Score:3)
Goldeneye, not Contact, as the example for the Slashdot audience? Really?
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that was 23 years ago, geezer.
yeah I'm old too but that was before my college age kid born...
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Goldeneye is two years older than Contact, the telescope makes up much less of the plot, and it's certainly much less related to "News for nerds".
And Slashdot is also that old...
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An awesome Nintendo 64 game loved by nerds everywhere, or a really shit movie with Jodie Foster?
Not a job for a solo ass (Score:2)
Good to see that multiple asses are working diligently on this problem
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Long (Score:3)
a dish.....1000 foot "long"
I'm more offended by that than movie references.
Trump will try and turn it into a golf course (Score:2)
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You mean into his personal KFC bucket
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I blame ... (Score:2)
Saw this coming (Score:1)
That's what happens when you search for black holes.
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That's what happens when you search for black holes.
The politically correct word washing will replace the term black hole in the name of not offending people with darker skin.
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I like "photon depleting holes".
Not to worry (Score:1)
It's okay, China has a spare. [wikipedia.org]
Great place. (Score:2)
Seriously? (Score:3)
Yay !! Another utterly moronic fucking headline from Slashdot.
I'm surprised at what upsets people (Score:4, Insightful)
People are mad about the movie references, but think it's appropriate that we're seeing stories about a temporary closure at the place? Did a miss a bunch of stories that mentioned COVID-19 related closures of other scientific facilities? What about weekend closures for cleaning?
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Your take away was the temporary closure, not the 100ft long gash in the satellite dish and damage to the receiver?
COVID-19 did a lot of things, but last I checked it didn't require a major mechanical repair to a scientific facility.
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From the photos it's clearer than from the word "gash" that a large area of the dish has been wrecked. This'll take a while to repair.
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The damage to the "weather dome" protecting the more sensitive electronics, wave guides etc, is likely to be more of an issue.
Aaah, Goldeneye ... the last watchable James Bond. (Score:2)
Before the kid from the Mad Magazine cover took over, and the stories became utterly brain-dead.
I mean don't get me wrong... the stories already were borderline retarded, the actors mediocre at best, and the fight scenes at that telescope so bad that I literally remember the bad cuts and lighting that made following almost impossible to this day.
So, standard spy/police/military propaganda fare...
But at least it still smelt of classiness a bit.
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Dude, it "smelt of classiness" because you were young and impressionable and excited about a dapper badass fighting a space cannon, and because first impressions last a lifetime. Valorize your subjective experiences all you want -- we all do -- but don't fool yourself that they're objective or universal.
Re: Aaah, Goldeneye ... the last watchable James B (Score:1)
It's awesome (Score:3)
I got to get in and see it a long time ago, and it's just awesome. It's suspended from cables between *mountains*. It makes me sad that the US government doesn't do large scale science any more. We could do such awesome stuff.
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Goldeneye was a mediocre movie? I thought it was an excellent ground breaking Nintendo 64 game that put FPS gaming on the console map.
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I thought it was an excellent ground breaking Nintendo 64 game that put FPS gaming on the console map.
It was groundbreaking for the N64, but meanwhile PC gamers were playing Quake and laughing at the slow kids with their Goldeneye. I mean we were literally into the second generation of FPSes already when that shit came out. They might as well have called it Browneye. And that wasn't even counting mods! If you've ever played lmctf you know what I'm talking about. No N64 game even comes close to that experience, not even vaguely.
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A partial-spherical dish (not parabolic) so you can suspend the receiving antenna (from the three aforementioned "mountains") and "look at" different parts of the sky without needing to move the dish. Just wait until the Earth faces in that general direction and look at the part of the sky in which you're interested. Move the receiving antenna to keep
Goddammit Florida Man! (Score:2)
The University of Central Florida had just one job...
Manage the facility, but nooooo the Florida man working there was too busy writing half illiterate reviews for 80s VHS tapes of Traci Lords on his Geocities webpage using his old Packard Bell Legend 70CD in the utility room while going through some ungodly number of cases of Natty lights he bought with funds meant for the facility's maintenance.
C'mon man!
Although, I can't wait for his next review. ;)
Arecibo is old (Score:5, Interesting)
20 years on Slashdot ... (Score:1)
... and I have never felt so sad or let down by a headline. This is really low. I hope it doesn't happen again.
Not permanent (hopefully) (Score:3)
In addition to the silly Bond reference, the title also makes it sound like the observatory is closing up for good. They're assessing the damage to determine the scale of repair, implying UCF has no plans to shutter it.
The Wired article has a better title and actually rattles off some of Arecibo's achievements:
https://www.wired.com/story/th... [wired.com]
It's an awful waste of space (Score:2)
Yeah, that's the movie it was most featured in. And a violent, murder fest at that.
Any other big films where it was grandly featured mucb betterly? Something hopeful for the future of humanity and intellectual exploration?
Reading Rainbow (Score:1)
I was lucky enough to visit Arecibo about 10 years ago, and super disappointed to find out that if you're not Levar Burton on Reading Rainbow (MY first TV exposure to it, not Golden Eye), you don't get to walk on it with special 'snow' shoes or see the control rooms ;)
I'm glad it's still in operation though - it's almost been shut down a few times.
It's famous, but not because of the movie (Score:2)
I saw Goldeneye, but aside from the title, and that it's a Bond film, I couldn't tell you anything else about it, including any locations such as Arecibo.
I'm not a radio astronomy guy, but simply saying Arecibo observatory is sufficient for me to know what they are talking about. It's probably the only one I know by name, or know where it is.
(Well, there's a small array in the Grand Senora Desert, south of Sandy Shores.)
Only to asses? (Score:1)
I don't get it. (Score:2)
A dish a thousand feet across, and they still had cable?
For the local TV stations (Score:2)
Even a dish that big doesn't get you the local TV stations.