![]() Scientist: Warming Makes Storms like Harvey Wetter (17/8/30).Rising Seas, Development Predicted to Cause More Flood Disasters (17/9/1).Could Carbon Farming Help Slow Rising Temperatures? (17/9/3).Finding Solutions for World Water Shortage (17/9/10).Powerless Aircraft Sets Altitude Record (17/9/16).Disease Continues to Threaten American Bats (17/9/17).Discovery May Help Pregnant Women Carry Babies to Full Term (17/9/17).US Researchers Study Issue Tied to Long-Term Space Flight (17/9/24).World’s Longest-Living Trees Crowded Out by Climate Change (17/9/27).to carry or to deal with a heavy or difficult load the system of generators, transformers and wires designed to provide electricity to a large areaīurden – v. beyond the Earth, from spaceĮlectricity grid – n. a person who does something for pleasure and not as a jobĮxtraterrestrial – adj. rocks or planet-like objects that orbit the sunĪmateur – n. to find, to confirm the presence ofĪsteroids – n. bringing light rays or some other electromagnetic radiation closer together to form an imageĭetect – v. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit 51VOA.COM. Mario Ritter adapted this story from an AP report and additional material for VOA Learning English. The island is seeking protection from its creditors in the biggest government bankruptcy in U.S. Puerto Rico's government is also burdened by tens of billions of dollars in debt that it is unable to pay. Meanwhile, workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are trying to set up aid centers across the U.S. Damage is estimated to be in the billions of dollars. President Donald Trump has promised the island aid. The recovery response has been slow, as supplies need to be flown in or shipped to the island. He said research, like bouncing radar off of other planets, requires a lot of power from the island's electricity grid, which was severely damaged by the hurricane. James Ulvestad is acting director for NSF's math and physics directorate. Scientists may be able to carry out some kinds of observations soon, but others will not be possible for a long time. The observatory is expected to be closed for some time because of the damage. Telephone communications were nearly wiped out, as the storm destroyed cell phone towers.ĭowned power lines and debris are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Sept. citizens without power or basic necessities. Hurricane Maria, a category four storm, left most of Puerto Rico's 3.4 million U.S. The Arecibo telescope was surpassed in size last July by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope in Guizhou, China. The huge dish was also part of the SETI project, an effort to search for signs of extraterrestrial life. Radar can be used to study conditions in the Earth's atmosphere and detect asteroids that pass dangerously close to Earth. It also can send out radio waves as radar. The telescope can be used to study radio signals coming from space. The discovery received a Nobel Prize in 1974. It was used to find an unusual kind of star system, a binary pulsar, in 1967. The Arecibo radio telescope has been involved in well-known scientific research since first being used in the 1960s. Arecibo could face closure if money cannot be found to repair it and to continue operations. space agency, NASA.įunding limitations and the desire to build and operate newer telescopes has made the NSF think about cutting its support for older telescopes. It is supported by the National Science Foundation, or NSF, in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as the U.S. The storm damage threatens the telescope's future in several ways. ![]() Storm costs could threaten future operations Perhaps not surprisingly, the first people that the researchers were able to contact after the storm were amateur radio operators. They had some food and water, but, like most in Puerto Rico, were cut off from the rest of the world. The instruments are suspended above the dish on towers over 80 meters high.ĭuring the storm, a small group of researchers remained at the observatory. It collects radio waves and focuses them onto scientific instruments that measure and process them. The observatory is home to the Arecibo radio telescope, a 305-meter- wide dish. Damage to the observatory is estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Arecibo Deputy Director Joan Schmelz called that "a thing to be thankful for" in an interview with the Associated Press.īut a large antenna used to study the Earth's upper atmosphere broke during the storm, the AP reported. ![]() Many of the observatory's instruments appear to be unharmed. Until last year, it was the largest single telescope of its kind in the world. The storm also caused damage to a well-known scientific tool in the U.S. Millions of people there are without power, water or food. Hurricane Maria severely damaged Puerto Rico's electricity and communications systems. ![]()
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