INSIDER
Investigators are being sent to US research base on Antarctica to look into sexual violence concerns
Read full article: Investigators are being sent to US research base on Antarctica to look into sexual violence concernsThe watchdog office overseeing the National Science Foundation is sending investigators to Antarctica’s McMurdo Station after hearing concerns about the prevalence of sexual violence at the U.S. research base.
At US Antarctic base hit by harassment claims, workers are banned from buying alcohol at bars
Read full article: At US Antarctic base hit by harassment claims, workers are banned from buying alcohol at barsFrom Sunday, workers at the main United States base in Antarctica will no longer be able to walk into a bar and order a beer, after the federal agency overseeing the research program decided to stop serving alcohol.
Takeaways from AP's investigation into sexual harassment and assault at Antarctica's McMurdo Station
Read full article: Takeaways from AP's investigation into sexual harassment and assault at Antarctica's McMurdo StationMany women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish.
Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers
Read full article: Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassersMany women who work at McMurdo Station, the main United States research base in Antarctica, say the isolated environment and macho culture have allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish.
Washtenaw Community College receives $1.38M grant for STEM students
Read full article: Washtenaw Community College receives $1.38M grant for STEM studentsThe Ann Arbor college will use the grant to expand initiatives attracting “economically disadvantaged students” to its programs with financial support, officials said.
US opts to not rebuild renowned Puerto Rico telescope
Read full article: US opts to not rebuild renowned Puerto Rico telescopeThe National Science Foundation has announced it will not rebuild a renowned radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which was one of the world’s largest until it collapsed nearly two years ago.
University of Michigan’s Mcity gets $5M to expand access, enable remote autonomous vehicle testing
Read full article: University of Michigan’s Mcity gets $5M to expand access, enable remote autonomous vehicle testingU-M's autonomous vehicle technology testing facility has received $5.1 million from NSF to enable remote access to the public-private mobility partnership.
US environmental study launched for Thirty Meter Telescope
Read full article: US environmental study launched for Thirty Meter TelescopeThe National Science Foundation says it will conduct a study to evaluate the environmental effects of building one of the world’s largest optical telescopes on sites selected in Hawaii and Spain's Canary Islands.
Astronomers capture first image of supermassive black hole at center of Milky Way
Read full article: Astronomers capture first image of supermassive black hole at center of Milky WayThe Event Horizon Telescope has captured the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.
Washtenaw Community College, U-M receive federal funds to increase equity in STEM fields
Read full article: Washtenaw Community College, U-M receive federal funds to increase equity in STEM fieldsSix Michigan universities and colleges have received a $3 million from NSF to expand STEM opportunities for minority students.
Officials seeking answers to Puerto Rico telescope collapse
Read full article: Officials seeking answers to Puerto Rico telescope collapseThis photo provided by Aeromed shows the collapsed Radio Telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. The update is part of a report that the federal agency, which owns the telescope, had to submit to Congress as the investigation continues into the Arecibo telescope. It was until recently the world’s largest radio telescope and was used to study pulsars, detect gravitational waves, search for neutral hydrogen and detect habitable planets, among other things. The telescope is located in Puerto Rico’s karst region, which serves as an important water source and contains the island’s richest biodiversity. It was a crushing event for scientists around the world who had been using the telescope for nearly six decades.
Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope, already damaged, collapses
Read full article: Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope, already damaged, collapsesThis satellite image provided by 2020 Maxar Technologies shows the damaged radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2020. (Satellite image 2020 Maxar Technologies via AP)SAN JUAN – A huge, already damaged radio telescope in Puerto Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century completely collapsed on Tuesday. The U.S. National Science Foundation had earlier announced that it would close the radio telescope. The collapse stunned many scientists who had relied on what was until recently the largest radio telescope in the world. “It's a huge loss,” said Carmen Pantoja, an astronomer and professor at the University of Puerto Rico who used the telescope for her doctorate.
Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope to close in blow to science
Read full article: Huge Puerto Rico radio telescope to close in blow to scienceFILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 file photo, provided by the Arecibo Observatory, shows the damage done by a broken cable that supported a metal platform, creating a 100-foot (30-meter) gash to the radio telescope's reflector dish in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (Arecibo Observatory via AP)SAN JUAN – The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in a blow to scientists worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life. The independent, federally funded agency said it’s too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope -- one of the world’s largest -- given the significant damage it recently sustained. An auxiliary cable broke in August and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. Then on Nov. 6, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped, leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse.
Cable failures endanger renowned Puerto Rico radio telescope
Read full article: Cable failures endanger renowned Puerto Rico radio telescopeFILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 file photo, provided by the Arecibo Observatory, shows the damage done by a broken cable that supported a metal platform, creating a 100-foot (30-meter) gash to the radio telescope's reflector dish in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. It’s a blow for the telescope that more than 250 scientists around the world were using. The telescope was built in the 1960s and financed by the Defense Department amid a push to develop anti-ballistic missile defenses. Repairs from Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, were still underway when the first cable snapped. The most recent damage was likely the result of the cable degrading over time and carrying extra weight after the auxiliary cable snapped, the university said.
Solar storms threat: Michigan researchers work to improve forecasts
Read full article: Solar storms threat: Michigan researchers work to improve forecastsANN ARBOR, Mich. Faculty members at the University of Michigan are leading two $2.9 million projects to improve solar storm forecasting. The University of Michigan is involved in two projects:The NextGen Space Weather Modeling Framework project, funded by NSF, aims to accurately predict solar storms and coronal mass ejections a full day in advance. And Aether, funded by NASA, aims to improve models of Earths upper atmosphere. Other than a pandemic, a space weather-caused disruption is the only natural threat that would have nationwide impacts, said Gabor Toth, U-M research professor of climate and space sciences and engineering and principal investigator on the space weather modeling framework project. If we know what to expect and when, most consequences of space weather can be avoided.
Rep. Debbie Dingell: University of Michigan to receive more than $1M for rapid response coronavirus research
Read full article: Rep. Debbie Dingell: University of Michigan to receive more than $1M for rapid response coronavirus researchANN ARBOR – Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) announced Wednesday that the University of Michigan will receive more than $1 million in funding to advance research efforts on the novel coronavirus. The University of Michigan and Michigan State University have received several CARES Act-funded awards from the National Science Foundation as of May 10. “Science and research are incredibly important at this time and will empower us to defeat this virus,” Dingell said in a news release. “We must always support science and it is great to see the University of Michigan is being entrusted to help lead these efforts.”✉ Like what you’re reading? Related reading:More information on NSF-funded programs and awards in Michigan can be found on the NSF state fact sheets.
Zeus, most powerful laser in the US, to be built at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
Read full article: Zeus, most powerful laser in the US, to be built at University of Michigan in Ann ArborANN ARBOR, Mich. - ZEUS, a new laser system that will be the most powerful laser in the United States, will be built at the University of Michigan. ZEUS will be a 3-petawatt laser system -- a single petawatt is equal to a quadrillion watts (think 1 followed by 15 zeros), and ZEUS will be three times as powerful. The new laser system, ZEUS, will be an upgrade from the HERCULES 300 TW laser. ZEUS will be taking over for the HERCULES 300 TW laser, a 0.5-petawatt laser system activated in 2007. The laser system will aid in expanding an understanding of particle acceleration and quantum electrodynamics.