The already damaged Arecibo Observatory telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed overnight. It played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century, but its 900-ton receiver platform and the four-story tall Gregorian dome that houses secondary reflectors fell onto the northern portion of the reflector dish over 400 feet below. The U.S. National Science Foundation announced today that it would be closed. Read more for a video and additional information.
Photo credit: The Spencer Owen
The Utah monolith coordinates may not be of much use anymore, or at least for anyone wanting to visit the structure, as it has seemingly disappeared overnight, without a trace, other than a mysterious silver triangle. Utah’s Department of Public Safety stated that biologists first spotted the 11-foot-tall monolith on November 18, and it appeared to have sides made of stainless steel. Since then, at least dozens of groups have hiked their way to the location for photographs. Read more for a video showing what remains and additional information.
Helicopter pilot Bret Hutchings discovered a bizarre monolith in the Utah desert that looks to be straight from 2001: A Space Odyssey. After spotting this structure in the middle of nowhere, the crew landed to take a closer look, and even stood atop each other’s shoulders to reach the top of it. Standing between 10ft and 12ft tall, the monolith appeared to be securely fastened to the ground and made from some sort of metal. Read more for a video and additional information.
The LAFD just got a big upgrade in the way of the Robotic Systems 3, a firefighting robot capable of shooting 2,500=gallons of water or foam per minute. If necessary, it can even be used to knock down walls and roofs. It can be remotely operated with a belly pack controller that provides high-definition video feedback for the ultimate in maneuverability when faced with difficult conditions. Read more for two videos and additional information.
An 11-year-old boy may have been playing too much Grand Theft Auto when he decided to steal a school bus and lead Louisiana police on a wild chase. Authorities received a call about the incident at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, which prompted multiple police units to follow the bus as the child allegedly taunted and flipped officers off as well as striking three other vehicles for nearly 45-minutes. Read more for two videos and additional information.
You’re not looking at an image from Blade Runner 2049, just the San Francisco sky on Wednesday. This apocalyptic color comes from smoke particles caused by the burning wildfires across the state. Many people flew drones through the skyline, but the smoke is so thick, you’d think a fire was actually burning close to San Francisco. However, the ash and smoke floating over the Bay Area Wednesday actually comes from the Bear Fire burning near Oroville, around 150 miles northeast of San Francisco. Read more for two videos, including drone footage, and additional information.
Photo credit: Death Valley NPS
The National Weather Service announced today that Death Valley’s Furnace Creek reached a preliminary high temperature of 130° F (54.4° C) at 3:41 p.m. Sunday. Once verified, this would be the hottest temperature recorded on Earth since July of 1913, which also happened at Death Valley. The temperature was so high at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center that the display monitor glitched and showed a warmer temperature, due to its sensor being closer to radiant heat from the metal posts. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Photo credit: ArsTechnica
The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico houses the world’s most powerful radio space telescope, and unfortunately, it incurred heavy damage when an auxiliary cable that stabilizes its radio antenna snapped. Situated in the middle of a dense forest, this telescope listens for radio signals from distant galaxies and has contributed to numerous breakthroughs in astronomy. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Photo credit: Jane Dodd via Peta Pixel
Jane Dodd renewed her driver’s license online, but what she received was completely unexpected. The digital renewal was to solely avoid a trip to the DMV, which can be a tedious process to say the least, but in the end, she received something worthy of an internet meme. How so? On her new license, a photo of an empty chair replaced the one that should have shown her face. Read more for the news segment and additional information.
Israa Seblani, a 29-year-old Lebanese bride, figured that it would be just another Tuesday as she stood smiling and posing for her wedding video. Little did she know that moments later, the world around her would be shattered by a powerful shockwave that nearly blows her off her feet. In just seconds, all of the structures around her and the photographer are covered in piles of smashed glass from the blown-out windows. Read more for the footage and additional information.