Hopes Fade for Resurrecting Puerto Rico's Famous Arecibo Telescope

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October 20, 2022

Dear Reader, This week, we're saying goodbye to an old friend—albeit one that some astronomers might say had overstayed its welcome. Our lead story covers the recent news that the National Science Foundation will not be rebuilding the Arecibo telescope, a gigantic 305-meter-wide radio telescope that collapsed in 2020 after decades of use for radio astronomy. Although certainly iconic, for most scientific applications the giant dish-shaped receiver was superseded years ago by cheaper and more flexible arrays of smaller radio telescopes, undermining many arguments for its continued operation. Even so, it remained a world-leading facility for studying potentially Earth-threatening asteroids, and its demise leaves a giant Arecibo-shaped hole in the frontline of our planetary defenses. Elsewhere this week, we have stories on the discovery of a long-lost ancient sky map, rule-breaking particle physics results, water's ability to pack in extra protons, and more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics @LeeBillings

Astronomy Hopes Fade for Resurrecting Puerto Rico's Famous Arecibo Telescope Nearly two years after the collapse of its 305-meter radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory's fate has been decided. The iconic giant dish will not be rebuilt, but research and public outreach at the site may continue By Daniel Leonard

Astronomy First Known Map of Night Sky Found Hidden in Medieval Parchment The fabled star catalog from the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus had been feared lost By Jo Marchant,Nature magazine

Engineering This Black Female Engineer Broke through the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism and Directly Nurtured a Legion of STEM Leaders Yvonne Y. Clark, known as Y.Y., had a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements. In the final episode of this season's Lost Women of Science podcast, we see how Y.Y.'s more than five decades of teaching educated a new generation of mechanical engineers, who credit her with helping to change the industry By Katie Hafner,Carol Sutton Lewis,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Particle Physics Rule-Breaking Particles Pop Up in Experiments around the World Several physics measurements suggest that novel particles and forces exist in the universe By Andreas Crivellin

Basic Chemistry In a First, Scientists See How Water Stores Extra Protons Scientists capture complex structure in a molecule-deep pool of ice By Lars Fischer,Fionna M. D. Samuels

Materials Science Engineered Metamaterials Can Trick Light and Sound into Mind-Bending Behavior Advanced materials can modify waves, creating optical illusions and useful technologies By Andrea Alù

Planetary Science Jupiter's Ocean Moon Europa Is Ready for Its Close-up Fresh data from the Juno probe's flyby of Europa could help scientists learn whether this icy moon of Jupiter is habitable—or even inhabited By Daniel Leonard

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 327, Issue 5

QUOTE OF THE DAY "Arecibo was absolutely still producing important data for asteroid science at the time of its collapse, and there is no replacement for its specific capabilities for high-resolution radar studies." Andy Rivkin, planetary astronomer and investigative lead of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission

FROM THE ARCHIVE Telescopes on Far Side of the Moon Could Illuminate the Cosmic Dark Ages Instruments deployed on missions to the lunar far side might give us an unprecedented view of the early universe By Anil Ananthaswamy | January 2021

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