00:00:08.464 --> 00:00:10.714
(no audio)

00:00:17.113 --> 00:00:22.113
(insects chirping)
(water flowing)

00:00:27.112 --> 00:00:29.529
(birds call)

00:00:36.933 --> 00:00:40.600
(insects continue chirping)

00:00:44.477 --> 00:00:47.227
(birds chirping)

00:00:50.233 --> 00:00:51.816
(bell tinkles)

00:00:51.816 --> 00:00:55.321
- 100 pounds of propane.
- 200 pound?

00:00:55.321 --> 00:00:57.948
- 100.
- 200? (laughing)

00:00:57.948 --> 00:00:59.992
- Trying to take all my money.

00:00:59.992 --> 00:01:01.950
(cash register beeping)

00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:04.200
- 4.03.
- I got three.

00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.290
- [Donnie] My grandfather's
dad came to Green Bank,

00:01:07.290 --> 00:01:09.210
I believe in the '20s.

00:01:09.210 --> 00:01:10.860
And you know, a lot of the families

00:01:10.860 --> 00:01:12.760
have been here, eight, 10 generations.

00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:16.620
We're really connected.

00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:18.720
For the most part, everybody
that lives here is.

00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:19.680
- You have a good night, Ms. Debbie.

00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:20.910
- Okay, you too.

00:01:20.910 --> 00:01:21.990
See you.

00:01:21.990 --> 00:01:23.820
- You know all your neighbors.

00:01:23.820 --> 00:01:26.460
You know their parents, and
then you know their kids.

00:01:26.460 --> 00:01:28.110
They help you, and you help them.

00:01:29.550 --> 00:01:32.733
It's maybe the way it
used to be everywhere.

00:01:33.652 --> 00:01:36.402
(birds chirping)

00:01:41.409 --> 00:01:43.659
(cow moos)

00:01:45.286 --> 00:01:47.953
(gate rattling)

00:01:50.429 --> 00:01:53.929
(dog barking in distance)

00:01:55.800 --> 00:01:57.850
This is probably the best view from here.

00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.290
You can just see it
right down through there.

00:02:02.553 --> 00:02:07.097
That is the world's largest
fully movable radio telescope.

00:02:09.090 --> 00:02:10.150
They listen

00:02:11.310 --> 00:02:13.530
for I'm not sure what.

00:02:13.530 --> 00:02:16.814
Maybe extraterrestrials. (chuckles)

00:02:16.814 --> 00:02:21.814
(static humming)
(soft mysterious music)

00:02:24.690 --> 00:02:27.840
- [Announcer 1] This is the
Mountain State, West Virginia.

00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:31.260
Ringed by mountains and
dotted by small farms,

00:02:31.260 --> 00:02:33.903
a peaceful place for an afternoon's drive.

00:02:35.543 --> 00:02:37.088
(sheep bleat)

00:02:37.088 --> 00:02:38.070
(music intensifies)

00:02:38.070 --> 00:02:42.930
Then in 1957, roads of dirt were paved.

00:02:42.930 --> 00:02:45.210
Foundations were laid.

00:02:45.210 --> 00:02:48.750
Engineers, architects, carpenters,

00:02:48.750 --> 00:02:51.750
a full force of men and machines,

00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:55.221
brought a new future
into the quiet valley.

00:02:55.221 --> 00:02:58.554
(bright exciting music)

00:03:01.108 --> 00:03:02.310
(birds chirping)

00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:05.760
Only as strange and
delicate structures arose

00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:08.070
did it become apparent that this was to be

00:03:08.070 --> 00:03:12.063
the home of the National
Radio Astronomy Observatory.

00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:16.650
- [Announcer 2] The National
Radio Astronomy Observatory

00:03:16.650 --> 00:03:18.930
at Green Bank, West Virginia

00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:20.683
is sponsored by the
National Science Foundation.

00:03:20.683 --> 00:03:23.190
It is open to astronomers and students

00:03:23.190 --> 00:03:24.693
with radio research projects.

00:03:27.930 --> 00:03:30.930
- The community is in the middle

00:03:30.930 --> 00:03:34.653
of basic scientific research.

00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:37.620
- That represents the future

00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:40.773
and the ongoing quest for discovery.

00:03:42.450 --> 00:03:44.490
- It gives answers to
questions that we've been

00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:47.583
asking and telling stories
about since time began.

00:03:48.630 --> 00:03:51.450
- Life has risen, in effect, a billionfold

00:03:51.450 --> 00:03:53.790
when we realize that Earth-like planets

00:03:53.790 --> 00:03:56.610
are not rare, but that there are literally

00:03:56.610 --> 00:03:59.133
billions of them just
within our own galaxy.

00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:03.783
Any signal will transform
our view of the universe.

00:04:05.160 --> 00:04:07.890
- The sense of the wonder
the stars bring out,

00:04:07.890 --> 00:04:11.520
I mean, there is so much to be learned.

00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:13.830
We know that we're only
scratching the surface,

00:04:13.830 --> 00:04:15.360
that we're just trying to make that

00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.733
the best scratch that we possibly can.

00:04:19.158 --> 00:04:24.158
(signal beeping)
(bright exciting music)

00:04:31.076 --> 00:04:36.076
(birds and insects chirping)
(music fading)

00:04:36.547 --> 00:04:40.047
(tractor engine rumbling)

00:04:48.677 --> 00:04:52.845
(birds continue chirping)

00:04:52.845 --> 00:04:55.428
(car whooshes)

00:04:58.561 --> 00:05:01.644
(machinery whirring)

00:05:03.572 --> 00:05:05.100
- [Tech] So you ready?

00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:06.900
How much more time do you need?

00:05:07.830 --> 00:05:09.510
- Yeah, we're on the verge of being ready.

00:05:09.510 --> 00:05:10.871
- We'll just box the truck over here

00:05:10.871 --> 00:05:12.244
and be ready to go.

00:05:12.244 --> 00:05:15.290
- [Scientist] Yeah, let me turn it off.

00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:16.251
(machinery stops)

00:05:16.251 --> 00:05:17.123
- Can we wheel this out a bit, just to-

00:05:17.123 --> 00:05:19.123
- Yes, you can.
- Thanks.

00:05:21.087 --> 00:05:23.714
- The everyday questions that occur here

00:05:23.714 --> 00:05:25.870
probably somewhere else would be

00:05:26.850 --> 00:05:28.740
the once-in-a-lifetime question,

00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:31.140
especially when we actually
discover something,

00:05:31.140 --> 00:05:33.015
or do something really amazing.

00:05:33.015 --> 00:05:36.432
(soft atmospheric music)

00:05:45.526 --> 00:05:50.156
(soft atmospheric music continues)

00:05:50.156 --> 00:05:51.960
- I wasn't quite sure how
this hoisting would work.

00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:54.180
That's, uh, convenient.

00:05:54.180 --> 00:05:58.950
- Yeah, it is convenient.
(both laughing)

00:05:58.950 --> 00:06:00.660
- [Karen] It's an interesting discrepancy,

00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:03.780
that we have this incredibly
advanced telescope,

00:06:03.780 --> 00:06:05.420
plenty of science and engineering going on

00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:07.113
in this fairly rural environment.

00:06:13.890 --> 00:06:16.127
- [Michael] This is the last bolt.

00:06:16.127 --> 00:06:18.090
- But at the same time,

00:06:18.090 --> 00:06:20.400
if you think about the
classic idea of a scientist,

00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:23.460
which is somebody who sits
around and contemplates,

00:06:23.460 --> 00:06:24.780
and thinks about stuff,

00:06:24.780 --> 00:06:27.750
that's the caricature
you often hear about,

00:06:27.750 --> 00:06:30.450
there's no better environment than this.

00:06:30.450 --> 00:06:33.368
There is, in some ways,
nothing else to do.

00:06:33.368 --> 00:06:36.118
(birds chirping)

00:06:42.900 --> 00:06:45.870
Working at this facility,
it's a challenge for us,

00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:48.930
because if we get too
much radio noise out there

00:06:48.930 --> 00:06:51.240
from all these things
that are transmitting,

00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:52.470
then there's no more telescope.

00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:54.090
There's no more point
having a telescope here.

00:06:54.090 --> 00:06:55.830
The reason the telescope exists

00:06:55.830 --> 00:06:57.240
is because we're in a radio quiet zone.

00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.187
It never would have been
built here without it.

00:06:59.187 --> 00:07:02.520
(soft electronic music)

00:07:03.510 --> 00:07:04.920
- [Michael] When you
think of an observatory,

00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:06.390
you'd normally think of it sitting

00:07:06.390 --> 00:07:07.593
on top of a mountain,

00:07:08.460 --> 00:07:10.710
but we needed the
protection of the mountains

00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:13.983
because of radio interference.

00:07:15.270 --> 00:07:17.760
- [Announcer 3] In the
survey for peace and quiet,

00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:20.940
tests were conducted in
over 30 select locations

00:07:20.940 --> 00:07:22.773
in five eastern states.

00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:26.040
Measurements showed that Deer Creek Valley

00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:29.640
was well-shielded from
outside electrical noises.

00:07:29.640 --> 00:07:32.010
After a long and intensive search,

00:07:32.010 --> 00:07:35.040
the village of Green
Bank in Deer Creek Valley

00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:36.663
was finally chosen.

00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:40.440
- In 1958, the federal government created

00:07:40.440 --> 00:07:42.990
the National Radio Quiet Zone,

00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:45.360
over 13,000 square miles,

00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.960
and specifically names
the Observatory here

00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:50.643
as one of its protections.

00:07:51.750 --> 00:07:56.190
From any spurious electrical
interference of any kind.

00:07:56.190 --> 00:07:58.284
That's any electrical interference.

00:07:58.284 --> 00:08:00.210
(electricity zapping)
- [Karen] When you think about

00:08:00.210 --> 00:08:01.590
all that technology out there,

00:08:01.590 --> 00:08:04.530
Wifi, you've got the
internet of things out there.

00:08:04.530 --> 00:08:07.083
All of that provides noise
to our radio signals.

00:08:07.083 --> 00:08:08.010
(signals beeping)

00:08:08.010 --> 00:08:09.750
If that signal's only coming once,

00:08:09.750 --> 00:08:12.213
or coming kind of intermittently-

00:08:12.213 --> 00:08:13.046
(cellphone vibrates)

00:08:13.046 --> 00:08:15.513
And if your cellphone or
Wifi is on at that time,

00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:18.352
we might miss it.

00:08:18.352 --> 00:08:20.849
(explosion booms)

00:08:20.849 --> 00:08:24.188
(cellphone vibrating)

00:08:24.188 --> 00:08:27.612
(door creaking)

00:08:27.612 --> 00:08:29.400
(laughing) Watch out!

00:08:29.400 --> 00:08:30.274
- Oh, ah!

00:08:30.274 --> 00:08:31.107
Here comes the Boo!

00:08:31.107 --> 00:08:31.940
The Boo!

00:08:33.775 --> 00:08:36.525
(birds chirping)

00:08:37.367 --> 00:08:38.200
Yes!

00:08:41.325 --> 00:08:43.992
(Willie grunts)

00:08:44.887 --> 00:08:47.073
- [Willie] I fell on my bum-bum.

00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:49.290
- It's amazing, isn't it,

00:08:49.290 --> 00:08:52.413
that we all survive walks with Willie.

00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:56.280
I grew up certainly without cellphones.

00:08:56.280 --> 00:08:57.960
They didn't exist.

00:08:57.960 --> 00:08:59.490
And so I had a lot of freedom.

00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:01.540
I had a lot of time to figure things out.

00:09:03.210 --> 00:09:04.770
And I love the fact that my kids

00:09:04.770 --> 00:09:07.710
don't grow up holding onto these devices.

00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:09.000
My kids aren't deprived.

00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:10.620
We have computers at home.

00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:13.983
They have access to all the
stuff of their generation.

00:09:15.150 --> 00:09:17.900
But they don't have them in
their pockets all the time.

00:09:20.430 --> 00:09:24.180
- And it's like, I like
it 'cause there's no

00:09:24.180 --> 00:09:25.953
signs of civilization.

00:09:28.260 --> 00:09:29.160
- I'm gonna go back to the house,

00:09:29.160 --> 00:09:30.180
make phone calls and all that.

00:09:30.180 --> 00:09:32.094
You guys be back in time for dinner, okay?

00:09:32.094 --> 00:09:33.048
- Okay.

00:09:33.048 --> 00:09:33.881
- Bye.

00:09:33.881 --> 00:09:35.253
- I guess!
- Goodbye.

00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:39.780
- [Max] Come on, Willie!

00:09:42.930 --> 00:09:45.900
- [Willie] We're a bit
too high up for our dams.

00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:47.580
- [Max] See that giant pool of water?

00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:49.080
That was us.

00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:49.913
Wow.

00:09:50.760 --> 00:09:51.993
We're an overachiever.

00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:54.631
Ugh, Willie.

00:09:54.631 --> 00:09:57.656
I walked straight into the forest.

00:09:57.656 --> 00:10:01.073
(bright inspiring music)

00:10:05.704 --> 00:10:06.537
Got it!

00:10:09.976 --> 00:10:10.809
Ah!

00:10:14.564 --> 00:10:17.597
(sticks clacking)

00:10:17.597 --> 00:10:18.430
Ow!

00:10:20.431 --> 00:10:22.051
Yeah, fine.

00:10:22.051 --> 00:10:23.266
(sticks clacking)

00:10:23.266 --> 00:10:24.099
Yes.

00:10:29.437 --> 00:10:30.270
- [Paul] Karen, you want me to just

00:10:30.270 --> 00:10:32.100
make executive decisions on dinner?

00:10:32.100 --> 00:10:33.150
- Yes.
- Okay.

00:10:33.150 --> 00:10:33.983
I can do that.
- I can pretend

00:10:33.983 --> 00:10:35.157
to chop something.

00:10:35.157 --> 00:10:37.140
- [Paul] Are you guys all caught up on,

00:10:37.140 --> 00:10:39.150
no, we're gonna do social
studies after dinner.

00:10:39.150 --> 00:10:39.983
Is that the plan?

00:10:39.983 --> 00:10:41.190
- [Karen] No, we're not
doing social studies tonight.

00:10:41.190 --> 00:10:42.023
- Cool.

00:10:42.023 --> 00:10:44.040
So we're done with work
for the evening, then?

00:10:44.040 --> 00:10:45.660
- We're done.
- Yay.

00:10:45.660 --> 00:10:46.680
- [Karen] Yes.

00:10:46.680 --> 00:10:48.579
- [Paul] You guys could let
me win at Catan tonight.

00:10:48.579 --> 00:10:49.830
(Karen laughs)

00:10:49.830 --> 00:10:51.300
What's the latest with your program?

00:10:51.300 --> 00:10:53.205
- I broke it.

00:10:53.205 --> 00:10:54.038
In, like-

00:10:54.038 --> 00:10:55.620
- [Paul] But you had a
backup, of course, right?

00:10:55.620 --> 00:10:56.588
- I've got a backup version of it.

00:10:56.588 --> 00:10:57.900
(Karen laughing)
That works.

00:10:57.900 --> 00:10:59.173
- Uh-huh, do you really?
- Yeah.

00:10:59.173 --> 00:11:00.006
Yeah, I do.

00:11:00.006 --> 00:11:01.410
- So is the basics still the same,

00:11:01.410 --> 00:11:03.330
where you've got these moving things,

00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:05.638
and if it touches you, you lose a life?

00:11:05.638 --> 00:11:06.471
- Yes.

00:11:06.471 --> 00:11:08.850
Yeah, oh, I also added gravity to it.

00:11:08.850 --> 00:11:09.780
- [Paul] Well, we talked about

00:11:09.780 --> 00:11:11.430
the whole gravity thing, right?

00:11:11.430 --> 00:11:12.693
- [Max] Yeah, I know.

00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:16.050
- [Karen] What you got?

00:11:16.050 --> 00:11:16.883
- [Willie] What's yours?

00:11:16.883 --> 00:11:18.270
- [Karen] You say first, man!

00:11:18.270 --> 00:11:20.940
- The person who attacks-
- All right I'm a six.

00:11:20.940 --> 00:11:22.050
- Says!
- I'm a six.

00:11:22.050 --> 00:11:23.553
What are you?
- A two.

00:11:24.390 --> 00:11:25.223
- [Karen] Yay!

00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:30.000
- Just need some plates
and some silverware,

00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:30.900
and we'll be good.

00:11:33.660 --> 00:11:35.310
Oh guys, I haven't told you yet!

00:11:35.310 --> 00:11:37.350
So Frank Ego, at work.

00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:38.490
You won't believe what he gave me.

00:11:38.490 --> 00:11:42.780
He gave me a DVD of four
episodes of "Doctor Who"

00:11:42.780 --> 00:11:44.100
from the early 70s.

00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:45.720
- [Max] Oh, that's great!

00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.000
- He recorded it using VHS.

00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.410
Remember what VHS is?
- No.

00:11:49.410 --> 00:11:51.960
- He recorded that off the TV,

00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:55.350
and then he converted it to DVD.

00:11:55.350 --> 00:11:56.820
And then it looks like he even typed out,

00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:59.580
like, the description of
each episode and everything.

00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:01.100
Get it out after dinner.
- I hope it is-

00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:03.060
- [Paul] So guys, this
is vintage stuff, okay?

00:12:03.060 --> 00:12:04.860
This isn't something that he bought.

00:12:05.739 --> 00:12:08.406
(wind rustling)

00:12:09.866 --> 00:12:12.206
(door creaks)

00:12:12.206 --> 00:12:14.760
(geese calling)

00:12:14.760 --> 00:12:16.000
- I wanna show you

00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:19.593
some lovely decorations on the tree.

00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:23.749
And I thought, wow,
welcome to West Virginia.

00:12:23.749 --> 00:12:26.730
(Sue laughs)

00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:28.260
But then you look over here, and you see,

00:12:28.260 --> 00:12:30.630
wow, look at West Virginia.

00:12:30.630 --> 00:12:32.130
Look at these trees, these pine trees.

00:12:32.130 --> 00:12:33.003
It's amazing.

00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:38.355
It is so quiet here.

00:12:38.355 --> 00:12:42.235
I mean, you hear the wind right now.

00:12:42.235 --> 00:12:44.610
(birds calling)

00:12:44.610 --> 00:12:46.290
Sometimes a bird will fly over,

00:12:46.290 --> 00:12:47.160
and you hear the wings.

00:12:47.160 --> 00:12:50.130
You go (makes whooshing sound) you know?

00:12:50.130 --> 00:12:52.710
Or sometimes, I'll come
home late at night,

00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:54.720
and my keys, like-
(keys jingling)

00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:56.073
You just hear the keys.

00:12:57.720 --> 00:12:58.553
You know?

00:12:58.553 --> 00:13:00.420
Like if you're in the
city, you don't hear keys.

00:13:00.420 --> 00:13:02.100
You hear cars backfiring,

00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:04.983
and garbage trucks, and stuff, you know?

00:13:06.303 --> 00:13:11.303
(car horns blaring)
(modems screeching)

00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:17.153
(cellphones beeping)

00:13:18.271 --> 00:13:21.021
(birds chirping)

00:13:25.156 --> 00:13:26.910
You're probably wondering
why we have silver

00:13:26.910 --> 00:13:30.360
on the wall, but you'll
find that out soon.

00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.900
I have a condition called
electro hypersensitivity,

00:13:33.900 --> 00:13:37.680
also known as radio wave sickness.

00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:40.440
This wall is painted with a special paint.

00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:41.943
It's called YShield paint.

00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:44.820
And then we have to ground it,

00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:47.670
and there's a grounding plate right there.

00:13:47.670 --> 00:13:52.320
I am made physically ill
from radio wave devices

00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.630
and other electromagnetic fields,

00:13:54.630 --> 00:13:59.630
but in particular, Wifi,
cellphone towers, smart meters.

00:14:02.790 --> 00:14:06.573
They make my body extremely sick.

00:14:07.560 --> 00:14:10.620
- This mesh on the windows is a, um-

00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:13.110
- [Sue] That's made with
very thin, silver threads.

00:14:13.110 --> 00:14:16.080
And that will block any Wifi coming in

00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:18.014
from the neighbors' house.

00:14:18.014 --> 00:14:19.625
- Helps, it helps.
- It helps.

00:14:19.625 --> 00:14:20.580
(soft atmospheric music)

00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.560
I had excruciating headaches.

00:14:22.560 --> 00:14:23.973
My skin would burn.

00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:26.163
This is my silver room.

00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:29.910
I had tingling and numbness.

00:14:29.910 --> 00:14:31.323
I had a heart arrhythmia.

00:14:33.510 --> 00:14:36.720
As soon as I'm away
from it, it would stop.

00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.610
It was a direct cause and effect.

00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:41.823
It took me quite a while
to figure out what it was.

00:14:44.130 --> 00:14:46.230
I have love/hate
relationship with this room.

00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:48.417
It's torture, and yet
I get relief in there.

00:14:48.417 --> 00:14:50.067
And I sleep in there every night.

00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:52.890
It's near impossible to get away

00:14:52.890 --> 00:14:56.850
from radio frequency, microwave
radiation, it's everywhere.

00:14:56.850 --> 00:14:58.860
I have to have the door closed.

00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:00.063
I have a flashlight.

00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:04.980
- [Mark] Completely dark, black.

00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:06.330
- I don't know, there's
not much else to show.

00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:07.953
That's my dance floor.

00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:16.110
I found out about Green
Bank in a magazine.

00:15:16.110 --> 00:15:19.470
I found out that there
were dozens of other people

00:15:19.470 --> 00:15:21.630
living there that have gone through,

00:15:21.630 --> 00:15:25.950
I mean, it's amazing how
similar our stories are.

00:15:25.950 --> 00:15:27.690
So I'm gonna need a bed.

00:15:27.690 --> 00:15:29.730
I gotta bring one of the dressers.

00:15:29.730 --> 00:15:30.680
I can't believe it.

00:15:31.830 --> 00:15:32.663
- Are we ready?

00:15:35.430 --> 00:15:38.040
- I'm going to go back next weekend

00:15:38.040 --> 00:15:40.470
to my trailer in Green Bank,

00:15:40.470 --> 00:15:42.750
and John is going to stay here.

00:15:42.750 --> 00:15:45.360
He's gonna work here, maintain the house.

00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:48.210
You know, we care for some relatives

00:15:48.210 --> 00:15:51.060
that we're not leaving.

00:15:51.060 --> 00:15:52.110
- Yes, we are, intellectually,

00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:53.850
we know we have to be apart

00:15:53.850 --> 00:15:56.670
to take care of both ends.

00:15:56.670 --> 00:15:58.430
But emotionally, it's hard.

00:15:58.430 --> 00:15:59.280
It really is hard.

00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:01.290
You could listen to a song,

00:16:01.290 --> 00:16:03.360
or just have a thought or memory,

00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.510
and you know, you could
get very emotional.

00:16:10.650 --> 00:16:12.630
- There's been a lot of discussion

00:16:12.630 --> 00:16:15.510
about whether or not
electro hypersensitivity

00:16:15.510 --> 00:16:16.923
is truly a disease.

00:16:17.880 --> 00:16:21.030
And what we find is that
when they do come here,

00:16:21.030 --> 00:16:22.983
they do feel much better.

00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:28.940
They gather here as a source of refuge.

00:16:29.880 --> 00:16:32.640
And they're really great for what we do,

00:16:32.640 --> 00:16:34.800
because they do not transmit,

00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:38.643
and so they don't affect
our operations at all.

00:16:40.170 --> 00:16:44.190
So we have what's called an
interference protection group.

00:16:44.190 --> 00:16:46.350
He has a truck that's full of equipment

00:16:46.350 --> 00:16:50.520
that can detect fairly minute signals

00:16:50.520 --> 00:16:55.353
that he can scan for, like
cellphones, even Wifi.

00:16:58.410 --> 00:17:02.853
If he finds a signal that is
a problem to the astronomer,

00:17:04.110 --> 00:17:05.583
we can fix that.

00:17:06.750 --> 00:17:09.900
- People naturally, when they see a truck

00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:12.570
with a dozen antennas on the roof,

00:17:12.570 --> 00:17:13.860
they naturally start looking at us,

00:17:13.860 --> 00:17:15.910
trying to figure out what it's all about.

00:17:21.330 --> 00:17:22.760
I'm monitoring a frequency

00:17:22.760 --> 00:17:25.020
that's used on a cable TV system.

00:17:25.020 --> 00:17:27.090
Looking for interference.

00:17:27.090 --> 00:17:29.010
And normally, when I'm doing it,

00:17:29.010 --> 00:17:30.900
I'll leave this channel open,

00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:32.100
and listen to the noise.

00:17:34.633 --> 00:17:36.003
I listen more than blow it.

00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:40.440
And hear things in the noise

00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:42.123
that don't show up on the screen.

00:17:46.020 --> 00:17:48.123
And just keep tabs on the environment,

00:17:49.710 --> 00:17:50.760
see what's out there.

00:17:57.180 --> 00:17:59.040
- [Michael] Is this okay?

00:17:59.040 --> 00:17:59.970
- [Anne] Yeah, that's good.

00:17:59.970 --> 00:18:01.200
Okay, so I'm gonna just have you

00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.760
introduce yourself to the mic first.

00:18:02.760 --> 00:18:03.600
- Sure.

00:18:03.600 --> 00:18:06.060
My name is Michael Holstine,

00:18:06.060 --> 00:18:08.010
and I am the business manager

00:18:08.010 --> 00:18:10.260
for the Green Bank Observatory

00:18:10.260 --> 00:18:11.970
in Green Bank, West Virginia.

00:18:11.970 --> 00:18:13.920
- So previously in Green Bank's history,

00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:15.930
you used to be 100% NSF funded?

00:18:15.930 --> 00:18:19.230
- Basically, this was a fully-funded

00:18:19.230 --> 00:18:20.940
federal research facility

00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:22.830
through the National Science Foundation.

00:18:22.830 --> 00:18:26.580
In 2012, the National Science Foundation

00:18:26.580 --> 00:18:30.720
formed a committee, and
the Green Bank Telescope,

00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.510
unfortunately, fell below the line,

00:18:33.510 --> 00:18:35.130
and was deemed by the committee

00:18:35.130 --> 00:18:37.623
as one that should be defunded.

00:18:39.030 --> 00:18:41.760
It just seems the world, as a whole,

00:18:41.760 --> 00:18:46.170
has become more concerned
with counting the beans

00:18:46.170 --> 00:18:48.990
than growing the beans.

00:18:48.990 --> 00:18:51.873
If the Green Bank
Observatory were to close,

00:18:52.890 --> 00:18:55.230
it would have a devastating effect

00:18:55.230 --> 00:18:57.423
to radio astronomy for this country.

00:18:58.590 --> 00:19:01.350
This telescope is the most sensitive radio

00:19:01.350 --> 00:19:05.010
telescope in the world.

00:19:05.010 --> 00:19:08.580
We contribute almost $30 million a year

00:19:08.580 --> 00:19:11.643
to the local and state economy.

00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:17.040
It would be fairly
devastating to the town,

00:19:17.040 --> 00:19:20.970
and really, would affect
the state of West Virginia.

00:19:20.970 --> 00:19:22.530
- I'm Ellie White.

00:19:22.530 --> 00:19:25.530
I'm an 11th grader from
Barbersville, West Virginia.

00:19:25.530 --> 00:19:27.177
Home schooled.

00:19:27.177 --> 00:19:30.810
And I'm really interested
in science and technology.

00:19:30.810 --> 00:19:33.360
- [Anne] How did you
feel when you first heard

00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:35.730
that Green Bank could close in the future?

00:19:35.730 --> 00:19:37.410
- Obviously, terrible.

00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:39.870
- We're forming a
grassroots activist group

00:19:39.870 --> 00:19:41.400
to help Green Bank Observatory,

00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:43.200
which is why we're here today.

00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.400
- [Ellie] In addition to losing

00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.980
all the wonderful
opportunities for students,

00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:49.350
it would leave a huge hole

00:19:49.350 --> 00:19:52.473
here in West Virginia
that couldn't be filled.

00:19:55.168 --> 00:19:57.918
(birds chirping)

00:20:00.060 --> 00:20:02.520
- We've got some apple walnut bread.

00:20:02.520 --> 00:20:04.283
Do you want it warmed up with butter?

00:20:05.130 --> 00:20:05.963
- [Ellie] Sure.

00:20:08.130 --> 00:20:09.870
- Hey.
- How are you this morning?

00:20:09.870 --> 00:20:10.703
- Awake.

00:20:10.703 --> 00:20:12.130
- Did you sleep okay?
- Yep.

00:20:13.284 --> 00:20:14.430
(soft music)

00:20:14.430 --> 00:20:17.010
- [Deana] So after the
meeting, we'll just come home.

00:20:17.010 --> 00:20:18.676
- Mm-hmm.
- [Deana] We can do some math.

00:20:19.710 --> 00:20:20.543
You wanna try and,

00:20:20.543 --> 00:20:21.540
what else you wanna
try and get done today?

00:20:21.540 --> 00:20:23.580
- I guess American literature.

00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:25.501
- [Deana] And then sociology,
do you have a discussion?

00:20:25.501 --> 00:20:26.334
- Yeah.

00:20:26.334 --> 00:20:29.070
- I've been home schooled
since I was in kindergarten.

00:20:29.070 --> 00:20:31.170
Actually, the curriculum
was basically the same

00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:32.460
as any other kid's.

00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:34.980
You know, your maths, your
sciences, your English,

00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:35.880
and all that stuff.

00:20:35.880 --> 00:20:38.760
- Remember, we're trying to overlap trig.

00:20:38.760 --> 00:20:40.440
- [Ellie] The reason that
my parents home schooled

00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.870
was not because they didn't
trust the public schools,

00:20:42.870 --> 00:20:45.300
or because of religious
reasons, or anything like that.

00:20:45.300 --> 00:20:47.880
- Thanks for putting it in there.

00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:49.263
This is our school room.

00:20:50.760 --> 00:20:53.160
When I made the decision to
home school the children,

00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:55.560
I really wanted them to have a little bit

00:20:55.560 --> 00:20:59.610
more freedom and time to learn
the traditional subjects,

00:20:59.610 --> 00:21:04.290
as well as find their passion.

00:21:04.290 --> 00:21:06.960
To find what moves them.

00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:08.810
You know, they're both very artistic.

00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:13.140
- This is basically my nerd shrine.

00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:16.650
I've got everything that I like to watch

00:21:16.650 --> 00:21:17.733
or play, or whatever.

00:21:18.630 --> 00:21:21.360
But if I hadn't paid close attention

00:21:21.360 --> 00:21:24.300
to these cartoons and games
and movies and things,

00:21:24.300 --> 00:21:26.010
I wouldn't know how to tell stories,

00:21:26.010 --> 00:21:28.552
or how to do good animation.

00:21:28.552 --> 00:21:30.930
(bright piano music)

00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:33.000
- So of course I have lots of space stuff

00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:33.963
up in my room.

00:21:35.910 --> 00:21:39.840
So I was never really a big science kid.

00:21:39.840 --> 00:21:41.433
I thought I would be an artist.

00:21:42.840 --> 00:21:45.600
But when I turned 13 and started reading

00:21:45.600 --> 00:21:47.250
all these books by Carl Sagan,

00:21:47.250 --> 00:21:50.580
Professor Brian Cox, about these different

00:21:50.580 --> 00:21:52.680
amazing concepts, like particle physics,

00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.903
astrobiology, all this different stuff.

00:21:55.800 --> 00:21:57.450
These books were written at a level

00:21:57.450 --> 00:21:59.190
for anyone to understand,
and they were still

00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:00.630
extremely difficult.

00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:02.130
It's like learning a language.

00:22:04.110 --> 00:22:05.827
This book is really special for me.

00:22:05.827 --> 00:22:08.010
"Cosmos" by Carl Sagan.

00:22:08.010 --> 00:22:11.220
That's how I first got
interested in astronomy.

00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:13.893
I liked it so much, I saw
another one at a book fair,

00:22:15.760 --> 00:22:16.620
and I just had to have two,

00:22:16.620 --> 00:22:20.814
so this one has a nice old book smell.

00:22:20.814 --> 00:22:24.900
(soft atmospheric music)

00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:27.870
- The Cosmos is all that is,

00:22:27.870 --> 00:22:30.333
or ever was, or ever will be.

00:22:31.560 --> 00:22:34.320
Some part of our being knows

00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:36.180
this is where we came from,

00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:38.400
because the cosmos is also within us.

00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:40.530
We're made of star stuff.

00:22:40.530 --> 00:22:44.283
We are a way for the
cosmos to know itself.

00:22:45.487 --> 00:22:48.180
- "We are a way for the
universe to know itself,"

00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:49.980
really stuck with me from that book.

00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.970
It's all about asking
questions and being curious,

00:22:53.970 --> 00:22:57.183
and I just realized,
okay, I want to do this.

00:22:59.370 --> 00:23:02.850
So when I was 15, my
family and I took a trip

00:23:02.850 --> 00:23:04.740
to the Observatory, and
I got to take a tour

00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:06.240
of the telescope control room.

00:23:07.316 --> 00:23:09.450
I was just so thrilled to
listen to this scientist

00:23:09.450 --> 00:23:10.620
give this phenomenal tour

00:23:10.620 --> 00:23:12.450
that I actually worked up
the courage to raise my hand

00:23:12.450 --> 00:23:13.533
and ask a question.

00:23:16.260 --> 00:23:19.740
He gave me this super
in-depth fascinating answer,

00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:21.480
and ended up giving me his business card,

00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:23.853
and told me to contact him anytime.

00:23:25.050 --> 00:23:29.070
And I was just, like, in
nerd heaven at that point.

00:23:29.070 --> 00:23:32.373
And I've been working with
him for almost two years now.

00:23:35.511 --> 00:23:37.181
(knocks on door)

00:23:37.181 --> 00:23:38.931
- Hi.
- Morning.

00:23:38.931 --> 00:23:39.930
- How are you?
- Good, how are you?

00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:41.703
- Come in, have a seat.
- Right.

00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:45.210
So back in April, Dr.
Prestage and I Skyped,

00:23:45.210 --> 00:23:47.760
and I asked him, "So hey,
do you have any other

00:23:47.760 --> 00:23:49.650
projects going on right now
that I could help with?"

00:23:49.650 --> 00:23:51.090
He said, "Well, we've been wanting to do

00:23:51.090 --> 00:23:53.250
this pointing analysis
for a really long time

00:23:53.250 --> 00:23:56.430
to try and make the GPT point better."

00:23:56.430 --> 00:23:58.452
- If their telescope is
pointed to the horizon,

00:23:58.452 --> 00:23:59.747
it's just a rotation, and
it doesn't have any effect

00:23:59.747 --> 00:24:01.560
on the pointing at all.

00:24:01.560 --> 00:24:04.200
Just straight up, it's a tilt,

00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:05.850
so it's an elevation again,

00:24:05.850 --> 00:24:07.893
which looks something like this.

00:24:09.589 --> 00:24:14.520
I can't draw it, but this is the track.

00:24:14.520 --> 00:24:19.170
This is the elevation
bearing, axle, and then-

00:24:19.170 --> 00:24:22.860
- [Ellie] To possibly influence how well

00:24:22.860 --> 00:24:26.100
the largest fully steerable
telescope in the world works.

00:24:26.100 --> 00:24:27.900
- [Richard] And this angle theater.

00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:30.573
- I mean, you can't get any
more exciting than that.

00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.070
- So I've had similar discussions
with WVU graduate students

00:24:35.070 --> 00:24:38.100
who just cannot grasp the concept.

00:24:38.100 --> 00:24:39.510
And like, their eyes glaze over,

00:24:39.510 --> 00:24:40.950
and it's clear that they don't understand

00:24:40.950 --> 00:24:42.110
what a Fourier transform does,

00:24:42.110 --> 00:24:43.740
or what's a complex number.

00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:45.690
You asked insightful questions,

00:24:45.690 --> 00:24:48.541
and didn't need a dumbed-down answer.

00:24:48.541 --> 00:24:49.834
(soft inspiring music)

00:24:49.834 --> 00:24:51.903
You know, that's what I saw in you.

00:25:01.013 --> 00:25:05.015
(soft inspiring music continues)

00:25:05.015 --> 00:25:07.268
Oh, it's bigger than I remember it.

00:25:07.268 --> 00:25:10.720
And it's heavier than I remember it.

00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.470
Maybe it's not gonna fit into your-

00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:14.400
(all laughing)

00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:16.230
Truck.
- Oh my goodness.

00:25:16.230 --> 00:25:19.170
- That box has got a
satellite TV dish in it.

00:25:19.170 --> 00:25:23.100
It's in six segments,
and then you get a thing

00:25:23.100 --> 00:25:24.570
that you see in people's backyards,

00:25:24.570 --> 00:25:26.100
10 feet diameter.

00:25:26.100 --> 00:25:27.120
Those are surplus.

00:25:27.120 --> 00:25:29.280
Nobody wants to buy those anymore.

00:25:29.280 --> 00:25:31.410
But they work great as
little radio telescopes.

00:25:31.410 --> 00:25:32.247
Do you wanna steer it?

00:25:32.247 --> 00:25:34.830
And Ellie wants to
build a radio telescope,

00:25:34.830 --> 00:25:37.263
so it's, fine, take mine.

00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:41.490
Satellite dish.

00:25:41.490 --> 00:25:42.600
- Wow.

00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:44.459
- [Deana] The neighbors are gonna love it.

00:25:44.459 --> 00:25:47.613
(Ellie laughing)

00:25:47.613 --> 00:25:49.278
- If we can get it to work,

00:25:49.278 --> 00:25:50.760
and if we can get it
to work cheaply enough,

00:25:50.760 --> 00:25:53.100
then we can get every
high school in the country

00:25:53.100 --> 00:25:54.630
to build their own little radio telescope.

00:25:54.630 --> 00:25:55.623
That's the point.

00:25:59.905 --> 00:26:01.491
- All right, look at that.

00:26:01.491 --> 00:26:02.324
- Perfect.

00:26:02.324 --> 00:26:04.380
It was made to fit.

00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:06.630
I think it was pretty
neat that a 16-year-old

00:26:06.630 --> 00:26:08.160
home-schooled high school student

00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.170
is building her own radio telescope.

00:26:10.170 --> 00:26:13.080
I never, you know, I didn't
come from a wealthy family,

00:26:13.080 --> 00:26:14.430
but we were, like, middle class,

00:26:14.430 --> 00:26:17.370
and we had Lego toys, and all the stuff.

00:26:17.370 --> 00:26:20.310
I never built a radio telescope.

00:26:20.310 --> 00:26:22.830
She's a pretty impressive young lady.

00:26:22.830 --> 00:26:24.240
It's a little radio telescope.

00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:29.240
It is exactly the same as
that thing there, right?

00:26:29.370 --> 00:26:31.950
Except that one is 45 foot.

00:26:31.950 --> 00:26:33.570
This one's only 10 foot.

00:26:33.570 --> 00:26:34.830
- Cool.
- Okay.

00:26:34.830 --> 00:26:35.880
- Neat.

00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:38.597
- You'll have a project.
- Yeah. (laughing)

00:26:38.597 --> 00:26:39.630
- So.

00:26:39.630 --> 00:26:41.504
- [Richard] Finish the
pointing model first.

00:26:41.504 --> 00:26:43.572
- All right.
(both laughing)

00:26:43.572 --> 00:26:45.575
- Yeah, of course.
- Good, okay.

00:26:45.575 --> 00:26:46.408
You need to send me a picture

00:26:46.408 --> 00:26:48.273
of what it looks like once it's built.

00:26:49.161 --> 00:26:52.661
(exciting dramatic music)

00:27:01.718 --> 00:27:06.051
(exciting dramatic music continues)

00:27:10.067 --> 00:27:12.727
(music fades)

00:27:12.727 --> 00:27:15.270
- [Announcer 4] Mad scientists
on the silver screen

00:27:15.270 --> 00:27:19.083
struggle to harness an
invisible ray from space.

00:27:20.010 --> 00:27:22.590
But neither screenwriters
nor real scientists

00:27:22.590 --> 00:27:25.680
suspected radio waves.

00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:27.990
Discovery of these
waves has revolutionized

00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:30.120
our concept of the universe,

00:27:30.120 --> 00:27:31.800
and given birth to a new kind

00:27:31.800 --> 00:27:34.140
of astronomical observatory,

00:27:34.140 --> 00:27:35.883
the radio observatory.

00:27:37.890 --> 00:27:39.740
- [Ellie] So what is radio astronomy?

00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:44.280
Radio astronomy is a field of astronomy

00:27:44.280 --> 00:27:46.470
that uses radio waves
instead of visible light

00:27:46.470 --> 00:27:48.003
to study objects in space.

00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.110
Our eyes allow us to see visible light.

00:27:54.600 --> 00:27:56.460
But there's so much more
information available

00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:59.070
throughout the electromagnetic spectrum

00:27:59.070 --> 00:28:01.370
at wavelengths that we
can't detect as humans.

00:28:04.770 --> 00:28:06.300
But that we can detect with instruments

00:28:06.300 --> 00:28:08.350
that intercept and process those signals.

00:28:11.100 --> 00:28:14.190
And that's what radio
telescopes allow us to do.

00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:16.890
They give us a unique
window on the universe,

00:28:16.890 --> 00:28:18.510
and allow us to make amazing discoveries

00:28:18.510 --> 00:28:21.360
that wouldn't be possible
using optical telescopes alone.

00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:26.190
- This is a reasonably
stunning piece of information.

00:28:26.190 --> 00:28:28.680
The total amount of energy ever received

00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:31.470
by all the radio telescopes
on the planet Earth

00:28:31.470 --> 00:28:36.450
is less than the energy
of a signal snowflake

00:28:36.450 --> 00:28:38.225
striking the ground.

00:28:38.225 --> 00:28:41.310
(dramatic music)

00:28:41.310 --> 00:28:42.150
- [Ellie] There are a number of big areas

00:28:42.150 --> 00:28:44.043
that the GBT studies.

00:28:45.510 --> 00:28:48.480
One area focuses on
pulsars, or neutron stars,

00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:50.400
which are the fast-spinning
remnants left behind

00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:53.493
after massive stars die
in supernova explosions.

00:29:00.840 --> 00:29:03.780
The GBT also studies our cosmic origins,

00:29:03.780 --> 00:29:06.600
which involves everything
from galaxy evolution,

00:29:06.600 --> 00:29:09.150
to star formation, to even collecting data

00:29:09.150 --> 00:29:10.413
from the early universe.

00:29:14.910 --> 00:29:16.650
And then there's SETI, which is the Search

00:29:16.650 --> 00:29:18.453
for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

00:29:19.605 --> 00:29:21.840
The GBT searches for technosignatures,

00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:24.863
which are the telltale signs
of advanced life beyond Earth.

00:29:29.782 --> 00:29:32.949
(soft dramatic music)

00:29:37.334 --> 00:29:39.917
(music fading)

00:29:42.498 --> 00:29:45.165
(water flowing)

00:29:47.884 --> 00:29:50.634
(birds chirping)

00:29:57.776 --> 00:30:01.276
(birds continue chirping)

00:30:02.692 --> 00:30:05.359
(engine starts)

00:30:07.650 --> 00:30:10.413
- I worked at the Observatory since '64.

00:30:11.970 --> 00:30:13.383
Yeah, Green Bank's my home.

00:30:14.730 --> 00:30:16.230
See, a lot of the other engineers,

00:30:16.230 --> 00:30:18.570
they came from other places.

00:30:18.570 --> 00:30:20.460
And I found, most who are retired,

00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:22.680
they kinda go back where they're from.

00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:24.450
I'm not gonna go back to New Jersey

00:30:24.450 --> 00:30:26.793
after living in a
beautiful place like this.

00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:29.913
My roots are deep here.

00:30:31.560 --> 00:30:33.660
My mom and dad are buried here,

00:30:33.660 --> 00:30:35.433
and my wife is buried here.

00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:38.433
My kids grew up here.

00:30:39.390 --> 00:30:42.140
(birds chirping)

00:30:43.439 --> 00:30:44.790
(knocks on door)

00:30:44.790 --> 00:30:46.770
Hello, Michael.
- How are you doing?

00:30:46.770 --> 00:30:48.528
You doing all right?
- Yeah, I'm doing good.

00:30:48.528 --> 00:30:49.361
- You look good.
- Thank you.

00:30:49.361 --> 00:30:50.194
- How you feeling?
- Yeah, I'm feeling good.

00:30:50.194 --> 00:30:51.027
- Are you?
- Yeah.

00:30:52.122 --> 00:30:55.440
Praise the Lord every morning
I wake up not hurting, yeah.

00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:56.273
- Yeah?

00:30:56.273 --> 00:30:58.150
- I guess I told you about
the problems I got, yeah.

00:30:58.150 --> 00:30:59.288
- Yeah.
- Yeah, so.

00:30:59.288 --> 00:31:00.963
But I'm feeling good.

00:31:01.860 --> 00:31:02.850
- Yeah, you remember this.

00:31:02.850 --> 00:31:04.764
- Yeah, this is my old lab.

00:31:04.764 --> 00:31:05.887
(Michael laughing)

00:31:05.887 --> 00:31:07.080
- Feel like this is home.

00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:09.120
- This is George Behrens.

00:31:09.120 --> 00:31:11.550
George used to work here in this lab.

00:31:11.550 --> 00:31:12.780
- Pleasure to meet you.

00:31:12.780 --> 00:31:14.280
- That was my office over there,

00:31:14.280 --> 00:31:16.050
where it says "Caution".

00:31:16.050 --> 00:31:17.261
And this was a-

00:31:17.261 --> 00:31:18.393
- Oh, we put that sign there.

00:31:18.393 --> 00:31:21.105
- Oh yeah?
(all laughing)

00:31:21.105 --> 00:31:22.890
- [Michael] Look at your cart.

00:31:22.890 --> 00:31:24.540
- That's surprising.
- Wow, that's you.

00:31:24.540 --> 00:31:27.210
- Yeah, I left, like,
17 years ago, you know?

00:31:27.210 --> 00:31:29.250
That thing is still here.

00:31:29.250 --> 00:31:30.963
Better get it repainted, huh Mike?

00:31:32.040 --> 00:31:33.563
I went to the University of Maine

00:31:33.563 --> 00:31:36.270
where I got my degree in
electrical engineering,

00:31:36.270 --> 00:31:39.660
and after I graduated,
I heard that a company

00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:43.710
was building this giant Arecibo project

00:31:43.710 --> 00:31:45.450
for radio astronomy.

00:31:45.450 --> 00:31:49.299
So that's what I did,
I took a job with them.

00:31:49.299 --> 00:31:50.132
(soft mysterious music)

00:31:50.132 --> 00:31:51.600
- [Announcer 5] Located in a remote valley

00:31:51.600 --> 00:31:53.430
on the island of Puerto Rico.

00:31:53.430 --> 00:31:57.120
This is the Arecibo Observatory.

00:31:57.120 --> 00:31:59.700
The Arecibo Observatory has been used,

00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:03.000
although sparingly, to search for signals

00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:05.610
from civilizations in space.

00:32:05.610 --> 00:32:07.830
- [George] I'm not an
astronomer, but that's how

00:32:07.830 --> 00:32:10.533
I got interested in radio astronomy.

00:32:13.350 --> 00:32:14.700
- It's kind of a history lesson,

00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:17.574
as you drive down through
here, you know it?

00:32:17.574 --> 00:32:20.430
- [George] Now this one
was being used by the Navy.

00:32:20.430 --> 00:32:21.263
- [Michael] It was.

00:32:21.263 --> 00:32:22.620
- [George] They're not using it anymore?

00:32:22.620 --> 00:32:26.880
- Almost a totally
educational telescope now.

00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.280
It's a project called Skynet,

00:32:29.280 --> 00:32:34.260
and no relationship to
the "Terminator" movies,

00:32:34.260 --> 00:32:35.093
by the way.

00:32:36.810 --> 00:32:38.940
Of course, this is the one you spent

00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:40.140
your career on.
- Yeah.

00:32:41.188 --> 00:32:42.690
(bright electronic music)

00:32:42.690 --> 00:32:45.030
- [Announcer 1] The design of the 140 foot

00:32:45.030 --> 00:32:47.100
fully steerable telescope

00:32:47.100 --> 00:32:50.220
combines the close tolerances of a clock

00:32:50.220 --> 00:32:52.800
with an extremely massive structure,

00:32:52.800 --> 00:32:56.280
resulting in one of the
largest precision telescopes

00:32:56.280 --> 00:32:57.113
in the world.

00:33:03.150 --> 00:33:04.693
- Oh yeah, look at it.

00:33:04.693 --> 00:33:05.553
I remember this place.

00:33:05.553 --> 00:33:07.983
Put many hours in down here.

00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:10.950
- We're trying to set this up for tourists

00:33:10.950 --> 00:33:13.050
to be able to come in and see it,

00:33:13.050 --> 00:33:16.320
and get a little talk about the projects

00:33:16.320 --> 00:33:18.270
that this used to do,

00:33:18.270 --> 00:33:20.880
and then we're also going to talk a lot

00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:24.903
about the new search for
extremely intelligence.

00:33:26.130 --> 00:33:28.620
- Can you imagine if
they do find something,

00:33:28.620 --> 00:33:30.360
man, they'd be putting
money into this place

00:33:30.360 --> 00:33:31.649
like it would be unbelievable.

00:33:31.649 --> 00:33:32.984
- You'd think they would, wouldn't they?

00:33:32.984 --> 00:33:34.613
- That would be great.
- Yeah, it would.

00:33:36.277 --> 00:33:40.367
(people chatting)
(group singing hymns)

00:33:40.367 --> 00:33:42.866
♪ When I reach to you ♪

00:33:42.866 --> 00:33:45.616
♪ In the morning ♪

00:33:47.874 --> 00:33:49.645
- Hi Marilyn.
- How are you?

00:33:49.645 --> 00:33:51.392
I haven't seen you forever.

00:33:51.392 --> 00:33:52.592
- Hi, Marilyn.
- Hi, George.

00:33:52.592 --> 00:33:55.563
- Good to see you.
- It's good to see you, too.

00:33:55.563 --> 00:33:57.570
- Now remember, don't frown

00:33:57.570 --> 00:33:59.277
when you're saying "I'm smiling."

00:34:00.390 --> 00:34:04.287
Okay, let's do "Blowing in the Wind".

00:34:05.139 --> 00:34:06.892
Everybody that's sleeping.

00:34:06.892 --> 00:34:11.559
(pianist playing "Blowing in the Wind")

00:34:14.404 --> 00:34:15.319
Together.

00:34:15.319 --> 00:34:20.319
♪ How many years must a mountain exist ♪

00:34:20.526 --> 00:34:25.526
♪ Before they are sown to the sea ♪

00:34:26.326 --> 00:34:28.023
♪ And how many years ♪

00:34:28.023 --> 00:34:31.473
- I've got cancer throughout
my whole urinary system.

00:34:34.200 --> 00:34:36.600
Yeah, I have some symptoms.

00:34:36.600 --> 00:34:38.490
It's not a painful thing,

00:34:38.490 --> 00:34:42.570
but it's a urinary problem that I got.

00:34:42.570 --> 00:34:45.270
But you know, I've just decided,

00:34:45.270 --> 00:34:48.061
I feel like the Lord's
blessed me with a good life.

00:34:48.061 --> 00:34:49.140
I mean, I really had.

00:34:49.140 --> 00:34:52.323
I had a beautiful place to
live, I had a wonderful job.

00:34:53.970 --> 00:34:57.240
And you know, I just
feel like whatever time

00:34:57.240 --> 00:34:59.359
I got left, well then Lord, take me home.

00:34:59.359 --> 00:35:00.957
That's it.

00:35:00.957 --> 00:35:03.534
♪ The answer, my friend ♪

00:35:03.534 --> 00:35:06.451
♪ Is blowing in the wind ♪

00:35:06.451 --> 00:35:10.784
♪ The answer is blowing in the wind ♪

00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:13.860
- That's a good one.

00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:15.960
Haven't heard that for a while.

00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:18.450
Okay, let's do ...

00:35:18.450 --> 00:35:20.940
- [George] This one,
we've got pictures here

00:35:20.940 --> 00:35:24.270
of the stuff your husband Gene took.

00:35:24.270 --> 00:35:25.262
- Yeah.

00:35:25.262 --> 00:35:26.280
- At the Observatory.

00:35:26.280 --> 00:35:28.800
- The one thing I remember,

00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:32.550
when the Observatory first
came, it was so funny.

00:35:32.550 --> 00:35:36.160
If we had a storm, the
old timers would say

00:35:37.620 --> 00:35:40.500
the astronomy had caused this.
(George laughing)

00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:42.150
They said, those big dishes

00:35:42.150 --> 00:35:45.237
brought in the storm. (laughing)

00:35:45.237 --> 00:35:47.880
And remember, you
couldn't have a microwave

00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:49.980
there for a while.
- Mm.

00:35:49.980 --> 00:35:52.770
- And an electric tooth-
(George laughing)

00:35:52.770 --> 00:35:55.950
They picked an electric
toothbrush one time,

00:35:55.950 --> 00:35:57.420
that someone had.
- Oh yeah?

00:35:57.420 --> 00:35:59.580
- Yes, they did.

00:35:59.580 --> 00:36:02.460
- I guess when I first
came here back in '64,

00:36:02.460 --> 00:36:05.100
I thought, well, maybe
by the time I retire,

00:36:05.100 --> 00:36:07.500
I could actually find something.

00:36:07.500 --> 00:36:09.840
Actually, some of the
receivers that I worked on

00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:12.120
and put together and designed,

00:36:12.120 --> 00:36:13.710
I always thought, well,
maybe this is the one

00:36:13.710 --> 00:36:15.960
that's gonna find extraterrestrial life,

00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:17.855
but it never worked out.

00:36:17.855 --> 00:36:19.272
(Barbara laughs)

00:36:19.272 --> 00:36:21.540
So, what do you think
about intelligent life?

00:36:21.540 --> 00:36:22.903
Do you think there is such a thing?

00:36:22.903 --> 00:36:23.736
- On other planets?

00:36:23.736 --> 00:36:25.710
- Yeah, or, yeah.

00:36:25.710 --> 00:36:26.883
All this, yeah.

00:36:28.110 --> 00:36:30.030
Or any place in the universe,

00:36:30.030 --> 00:36:32.703
do you think there's life?

00:36:33.750 --> 00:36:35.700
Human beings, walking around?

00:36:35.700 --> 00:36:36.533
You don't believe so?

00:36:36.533 --> 00:36:37.893
- I don't believe in it.

00:36:37.893 --> 00:36:39.000
- Yeah.

00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:40.830
Why don't you believe in it?

00:36:40.830 --> 00:36:43.883
- Well, it's so far-fetched. (laughing)

00:36:43.883 --> 00:36:45.480
- It's hard for me to understand why God

00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:47.910
would make this whole universe,

00:36:47.910 --> 00:36:51.660
and put human beings in just one place.

00:36:51.660 --> 00:36:54.213
I mean, maybe he does
have a reason for that.

00:36:56.040 --> 00:36:58.440
It's nothing in the
Bible that I know about

00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:03.440
that talks about people
being in other places.

00:37:03.610 --> 00:37:05.613
- Hmm.
- Yeah.

00:37:07.770 --> 00:37:09.032
So anyway.

00:37:09.032 --> 00:37:10.160
- Okay.

00:37:10.160 --> 00:37:14.130
So, will you be over tonight for supper?

00:37:14.130 --> 00:37:15.780
- Depends on what you're cooking.

00:37:17.940 --> 00:37:19.415
Yeah, of course I'm coming over.

00:37:19.415 --> 00:37:22.082
(both laughing)

00:37:23.430 --> 00:37:25.633
- So I'll see you tonight, okay?

00:37:25.633 --> 00:37:27.382
- Okay, see you.

00:37:27.382 --> 00:37:28.678
- [Barbara] Don't come outside.

00:37:28.678 --> 00:37:31.200
- I gotta get that snow off there.

00:37:31.200 --> 00:37:32.893
I don't want you walking on it.

00:37:32.893 --> 00:37:36.310
(soft atmospheric music)

00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:44.310
Barbara's a great lady, and she comes

00:37:44.310 --> 00:37:45.450
to the doctor with me,

00:37:45.450 --> 00:37:47.970
and when I was real ill last summer,

00:37:47.970 --> 00:37:50.733
she stuck by me at that
whole time out there.

00:37:51.750 --> 00:37:55.653
She's been a real faithful companion.

00:37:57.330 --> 00:37:59.100
And I love her very much for it,

00:37:59.100 --> 00:38:01.113
just being as good as she's been to me.

00:38:04.410 --> 00:38:05.243
- He's kind.

00:38:07.080 --> 00:38:08.973
He treats you with great respect.

00:38:10.350 --> 00:38:11.183
Oh.

00:38:14.640 --> 00:38:19.435
I just wanna take care of him. (laughing)

00:38:19.435 --> 00:38:22.018
(horn honking)

00:38:26.817 --> 00:38:29.484
(water flowing)

00:38:32.282 --> 00:38:35.200
(birds calling)

00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:36.495
- Hello.
- Hi!

00:38:36.495 --> 00:38:38.162
- Hey, honey.

00:38:38.162 --> 00:38:39.373
Hi.

00:38:39.373 --> 00:38:40.800
Oh.
- Mm!

00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:43.560
- A sight for sore eyes.
(Sue laughing)

00:38:43.560 --> 00:38:44.730
- I hope you brought food.

00:38:44.730 --> 00:38:46.030
- I brought food.
- Good.

00:38:48.258 --> 00:38:51.123
Avocados and bananas.
- Yeah, bananas.

00:38:51.123 --> 00:38:54.360
When I'm home, and I'm eating by myself,

00:38:54.360 --> 00:38:55.860
and the house is quiet,

00:38:55.860 --> 00:38:58.083
I'm sad that I'm not with my wife.

00:38:59.400 --> 00:39:00.360
And it's okay to feel sad.

00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:02.040
It's natural.

00:39:02.040 --> 00:39:03.398
It's nice to see your face.

00:39:03.398 --> 00:39:04.279
- I know.

00:39:04.279 --> 00:39:05.318
- Instead of hearing you on the phone.

00:39:05.318 --> 00:39:06.357
- I know.

00:39:06.357 --> 00:39:07.485
- [John] It's all I do, is I work.

00:39:07.485 --> 00:39:08.318
- I know.

00:39:08.318 --> 00:39:09.630
- I'm not hanging out with the guys,

00:39:09.630 --> 00:39:10.463
I'm not doing stuff.

00:39:10.463 --> 00:39:12.630
- [Sue] But you are
watching football again.

00:39:12.630 --> 00:39:14.640
- Not anymore.
(Sue laughing)

00:39:14.640 --> 00:39:15.954
It's over.

00:39:15.954 --> 00:39:18.660
But yes, I was enjoying
that immensely, and-

00:39:18.660 --> 00:39:20.660
- Well, we haven't had a TV in the house

00:39:21.543 --> 00:39:22.683
for eight years, so.

00:39:24.003 --> 00:39:25.167
(Sue laughs)

00:39:25.167 --> 00:39:26.790
- You know, I try and
keep a stiff upper lip,

00:39:26.790 --> 00:39:28.530
but it's not always easy.

00:39:28.530 --> 00:39:29.700
I think about what she's doing,

00:39:29.700 --> 00:39:31.590
and when I call here,
if she doesn't answer,

00:39:31.590 --> 00:39:32.910
I'm kinda glad, because that means

00:39:32.910 --> 00:39:34.620
she's probably out doing something.

00:39:34.620 --> 00:39:36.780
And I'd rather her out being social,

00:39:36.780 --> 00:39:38.530
doing something, than sitting home.

00:39:39.639 --> 00:39:42.630
(people chatting)

00:39:42.630 --> 00:39:45.145
So Carmen, you're here for the weekend?

00:39:45.145 --> 00:39:46.107
- Yes, yes.

00:39:46.107 --> 00:39:47.358
Until tomorrow.

00:39:47.358 --> 00:39:48.840
I have to-
- When did you get here?

00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:50.563
- I got here on Tuesday.
- Oh okay, so it's-

00:39:50.563 --> 00:39:52.948
- And I have to go back to the kids

00:39:52.948 --> 00:39:53.970
and the husband.

00:39:53.970 --> 00:39:54.900
- Yeah?
- Yes.

00:39:54.900 --> 00:39:56.540
It's very nice to be able

00:39:56.540 --> 00:40:00.330
to just hang out with people
that are electro-sensitive

00:40:00.330 --> 00:40:03.900
that don't come to the
house with a cellphone.

00:40:03.900 --> 00:40:06.720
You know, I don't get
to socialize at home.

00:40:06.720 --> 00:40:07.553
- I know.

00:40:07.553 --> 00:40:09.672
- It was good to see how it's possible.

00:40:09.672 --> 00:40:10.545
- [Sue] I know.

00:40:10.545 --> 00:40:11.490
- It's possible to have a little house,

00:40:11.490 --> 00:40:14.610
with healthy, and it's possible.

00:40:14.610 --> 00:40:15.483
It can be done.

00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:17.778
- [John] Your youngest is how old?

00:40:17.778 --> 00:40:18.694
- [Carmen] 14.

00:40:18.694 --> 00:40:19.779
- [John] Okay.

00:40:19.779 --> 00:40:20.612
- Mm-hmm.

00:40:20.612 --> 00:40:24.600
But as a mother, I always feel so guilty.

00:40:24.600 --> 00:40:25.710
- [Sue] I know.

00:40:25.710 --> 00:40:27.510
- I want to know everything.

00:40:27.510 --> 00:40:30.660
I cannot go to when they
get awards at school.

00:40:30.660 --> 00:40:32.550
I cannot, I just, you know?

00:40:32.550 --> 00:40:33.840
But it's okay.

00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:34.673
I'm okay.

00:40:34.673 --> 00:40:35.970
I don't cry with them.

00:40:35.970 --> 00:40:38.643
Only when I get emotional,
when I talk about it.

00:40:38.643 --> 00:40:39.476
- [John] Yeah, we know it's hard.

00:40:39.476 --> 00:40:40.560
- We know exactly.

00:40:40.560 --> 00:40:42.990
I missed my daughter's graduation.

00:40:42.990 --> 00:40:45.720
- From college.
- College graduation.

00:40:45.720 --> 00:40:47.070
That was heartbreaking.

00:40:47.070 --> 00:40:47.903
I know.

00:40:47.903 --> 00:40:50.430
- When I went to the graduation,
and when we went to dinner,

00:40:50.430 --> 00:40:51.840
I put my cellphone in the middle

00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:53.610
of the table on speaker,

00:40:53.610 --> 00:40:55.760
so she could make a
toast to everyone there.

00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:57.360
- I was home.
- She was home.

00:40:57.360 --> 00:40:59.010
- I was home, and when they were ordering,

00:40:59.010 --> 00:41:00.630
and I'd say, "Oh, what's on the menu?

00:41:00.630 --> 00:41:02.932
I want chicken, and I want," you know?

00:41:02.932 --> 00:41:04.598
- You're giving me a lot of good ideas.

00:41:04.598 --> 00:41:05.685
- [John] It's better than nothing.

00:41:05.685 --> 00:41:06.558
It's something.
- Yeah.

00:41:06.558 --> 00:41:08.280
- So the very technology that harmed me

00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:10.710
actually helped me connect-
- Sort of like internet.

00:41:10.710 --> 00:41:12.480
Without internet, we couldn't all connect.

00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:13.313
- Yeah.

00:41:13.313 --> 00:41:15.865
- So to help each other from
being tortured by the internet.

00:41:15.865 --> 00:41:17.880
(all laughing)

00:41:17.880 --> 00:41:19.770
It's an irony.
- Yeah.

00:41:19.770 --> 00:41:21.540
- I apologize for being late.

00:41:21.540 --> 00:41:22.600
- Hey!
- My call-

00:41:22.600 --> 00:41:24.638
- [John] Yeah, you're very late.

00:41:24.638 --> 00:41:27.420
(all laughing)

00:41:27.420 --> 00:41:29.795
- My call ran an hour late.

00:41:29.795 --> 00:41:31.170
(soft atmospheric music)

00:41:31.170 --> 00:41:33.600
There is no work
opportunity in Green Bank.

00:41:33.600 --> 00:41:35.703
Unless you work for the Observatory,

00:41:36.600 --> 00:41:38.850
you might work for the Dollar Store.

00:41:38.850 --> 00:41:40.890
I'm used to a much higher pay grade.

00:41:40.890 --> 00:41:43.950
- But what are alternatives
for people who say

00:41:43.950 --> 00:41:46.350
that they are planning
to come to move here

00:41:46.350 --> 00:41:48.360
to Green Bank?
- Yes.

00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:51.060
- [Diane] It's hard to
find a place to rent.

00:41:51.060 --> 00:41:53.220
- This place is gonna,

00:41:53.220 --> 00:41:54.450
a lot more people are gonna be coming,

00:41:54.450 --> 00:41:56.126
once global Wifi goes up.

00:41:56.126 --> 00:41:58.950
- It's gonna take a world catastrophe,

00:41:58.950 --> 00:42:01.800
and whether you think
it's sadly or fortunately,

00:42:01.800 --> 00:42:05.077
lots of catastrophes are
in the future of the world.

00:42:05.077 --> 00:42:08.660
(driving electronic music)

00:42:14.670 --> 00:42:17.490
- Hello, and welcome to the public meeting

00:42:17.490 --> 00:42:19.623
on the Green Bank Observatory.

00:42:21.870 --> 00:42:23.760
And the purpose of this meeting

00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:25.953
is to allow for public comments.

00:42:26.910 --> 00:42:30.420
The proposed action is
to substantially reduce

00:42:30.420 --> 00:42:33.300
NSF's contribution to the funding

00:42:33.300 --> 00:42:35.430
of the Green Bank Observatory.

00:42:35.430 --> 00:42:38.430
And the scientific community,
through reviews and surveys,

00:42:38.430 --> 00:42:41.160
has indicated that the
scientific capabilities

00:42:41.160 --> 00:42:43.260
of Green Bank are lower in priority

00:42:43.260 --> 00:42:46.650
than other scientific
capabilities that NSF funds.

00:42:46.650 --> 00:42:49.800
I would like to now go
onto the alternatives

00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:53.580
for future operations of
the Green Bank Observatory.

00:42:53.580 --> 00:42:56.280
Alternative A is
described as collaboration

00:42:56.280 --> 00:42:58.500
with interested parties
for continued science

00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:00.420
and education-focused operations

00:43:00.420 --> 00:43:02.070
with reduced NSF funding.

00:43:02.070 --> 00:43:04.890
And the others are B,
collaboration with interested

00:43:04.890 --> 00:43:06.660
parties for operation as a technology

00:43:06.660 --> 00:43:08.220
and education park.

00:43:08.220 --> 00:43:10.020
C is mothballing of facilities,

00:43:10.020 --> 00:43:12.854
and D is demolition and site restoration.

00:43:12.854 --> 00:43:14.250
(soft music)

00:43:14.250 --> 00:43:16.110
- We're gonna have one speaker at a time.

00:43:16.110 --> 00:43:19.020
We have quite a few people
who would like to speak today,

00:43:19.020 --> 00:43:22.260
and these comments do go on the record.

00:43:22.260 --> 00:43:24.660
- The first real experience at the GBT

00:43:24.660 --> 00:43:27.900
which I had is where school kids

00:43:27.900 --> 00:43:30.930
actually get involved in active research

00:43:30.930 --> 00:43:35.730
with us people, and I mean,
I've seen how people's faces

00:43:35.730 --> 00:43:38.580
light up when they see something

00:43:38.580 --> 00:43:41.700
which only scientists are supposed to see.

00:43:41.700 --> 00:43:44.424
- I can say with absolute confidence

00:43:44.424 --> 00:43:48.090
that because I'm a West
Virginian, I'm a scientist.

00:43:48.090 --> 00:43:51.030
And I'm a scientist because of the GBT.

00:43:51.030 --> 00:43:54.240
- I reject the idea that this facility

00:43:54.240 --> 00:43:56.490
needs to be closed down and shuttered.

00:43:56.490 --> 00:43:59.400
I know we have here a body that represents

00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:02.070
the scientists and the
intellect that we depend on

00:44:02.070 --> 00:44:03.390
to try to answer some of the most

00:44:03.390 --> 00:44:06.240
difficult, perplexing,
and complex questions

00:44:06.240 --> 00:44:08.220
about our existence in the universe,

00:44:08.220 --> 00:44:10.800
and I wanna ask the
National Science Foundation,

00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:12.810
what do you think you're
going to be making

00:44:12.810 --> 00:44:16.620
of our world when you make this decision?

00:44:16.620 --> 00:44:19.170
- Hello, my name is Diane Schou.

00:44:19.170 --> 00:44:21.660
There are a number of other people here

00:44:21.660 --> 00:44:26.220
who are also harmed by
electromagnetic radiation.

00:44:26.220 --> 00:44:27.900
This is why I'm here in Green Bank,

00:44:27.900 --> 00:44:31.290
and why a number of
people have less symptoms

00:44:31.290 --> 00:44:33.120
by being here.

00:44:33.120 --> 00:44:36.930
The Observatory is
essential, and it's essential

00:44:36.930 --> 00:44:39.030
for people around the world.

00:44:39.030 --> 00:44:40.593
It's safer here.

00:44:44.250 --> 00:44:46.050
- I'd like to speak about why the NSF

00:44:46.050 --> 00:44:47.820
should restore full 100% funding

00:44:47.820 --> 00:44:49.560
to the Green Bank Observatory.

00:44:49.560 --> 00:44:51.900
Researchers in nearly
every possible subfield

00:44:51.900 --> 00:44:54.330
of astronomy are making fantastic findings

00:44:54.330 --> 00:44:56.010
that bring us closer
to a full understanding

00:44:56.010 --> 00:44:57.600
of our universe.

00:44:57.600 --> 00:44:59.370
Many of the research
topics being investigated

00:44:59.370 --> 00:45:01.290
with the GBT are in line with the NSF's

00:45:01.290 --> 00:45:05.100
own astronomical priorities,
including education.

00:45:05.100 --> 00:45:07.710
I've benefited from these programs myself,

00:45:07.710 --> 00:45:09.630
and that's led to a mentorship experience

00:45:09.630 --> 00:45:11.670
that has helped me find my passions.

00:45:11.670 --> 00:45:13.290
The NSF is absolutely imperative

00:45:13.290 --> 00:45:15.000
to the future of the Observatory,

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:17.800
and the many people and
communities it impacts everyday.

00:45:19.140 --> 00:45:21.300
- The Chinese government is dumping money

00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:22.743
into basic research.

00:45:23.880 --> 00:45:26.130
They're not trying to play catch-up.

00:45:26.130 --> 00:45:28.080
They're trying to pass us, okay?

00:45:28.080 --> 00:45:30.360
I was there two years ago,

00:45:30.360 --> 00:45:32.880
and I remember working in their facility,

00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:35.490
and seeing this huge
construction right next door,

00:45:35.490 --> 00:45:36.840
and I'm like, "What is all that?"

00:45:36.840 --> 00:45:39.060
And they're like, "Oh,
that's our new lab."

00:45:39.060 --> 00:45:41.130
And then I come back here,

00:45:41.130 --> 00:45:43.920
you know, to look at options A, B, C, D,

00:45:43.920 --> 00:45:44.820
talking about shutting us.

00:45:44.820 --> 00:45:47.040
So, what the hell?

00:45:47.040 --> 00:45:48.810
Right?
(all laughing)

00:45:48.810 --> 00:45:50.552
Sorry, you can scratch the "hell" part.

00:45:50.552 --> 00:45:52.740
(all laughing)

00:45:52.740 --> 00:45:54.300
Are we gonna stop investing?

00:45:54.300 --> 00:45:56.370
Are we gonna abdicate our leadership role

00:45:56.370 --> 00:45:57.203
in the world?

00:45:58.560 --> 00:45:59.683
Okay.

00:45:59.683 --> 00:46:01.020
So let's keep America great,

00:46:01.020 --> 00:46:03.150
and let's keep investing
in the future, all right?

00:46:03.150 --> 00:46:04.194
Thank you.

00:46:04.194 --> 00:46:06.944
(all applauding)

00:46:10.530 --> 00:46:12.637
As a dad, I don't want to have to say,

00:46:12.637 --> 00:46:14.940
"Yeah, I used to work at
this really cool place

00:46:14.940 --> 00:46:17.190
that was doing this amazing stuff,

00:46:17.190 --> 00:46:22.190
that was expanding human knowledge

00:46:22.470 --> 00:46:24.510
about the universe, but we shut it down

00:46:24.510 --> 00:46:26.790
because we decided that
wasn't important anymore.

00:46:26.790 --> 00:46:29.760
So I work for Walmart now."

00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:32.160
You know, I mean, still as
a software engineer, right?

00:46:32.160 --> 00:46:34.887
Or better yet, I work for
Wall Street now, right?

00:46:34.887 --> 00:46:36.690
'Cause that's what's more important.

00:46:36.690 --> 00:46:39.461
Our society has decided that finance

00:46:39.461 --> 00:46:41.520
and fooling around with
other people's money

00:46:41.520 --> 00:46:43.473
is more important than science.

00:46:48.529 --> 00:46:51.196
(gate clinking)

00:46:53.790 --> 00:46:55.840
- The whole thing doesn't make any sense.

00:46:58.830 --> 00:47:02.520
The scope's only been
finished maybe 10, 12 years,

00:47:02.520 --> 00:47:04.440
and now they talk about closing it down,

00:47:04.440 --> 00:47:07.143
so that seems like a
complete waste of tax money.

00:47:08.716 --> 00:47:10.710
(cows mooing)

00:47:10.710 --> 00:47:12.180
They're missing the point if they think

00:47:12.180 --> 00:47:14.760
they're just studying stars,

00:47:14.760 --> 00:47:16.822
because they're shaping
a lot of young minds.

00:47:16.822 --> 00:47:19.239
(soft music)

00:47:21.660 --> 00:47:23.253
They do so much for students.

00:47:24.896 --> 00:47:26.970
(birds chirping)

00:47:26.970 --> 00:47:28.380
I remember lots of field trips,

00:47:28.380 --> 00:47:30.280
because we could walk from the school.

00:47:33.630 --> 00:47:35.820
One that sticks out was they
froze the head of lettuce

00:47:35.820 --> 00:47:37.170
with the liquid nitrogen,

00:47:37.170 --> 00:47:40.132
and then threw it down,
and it broke like glass.

00:47:40.132 --> 00:47:41.432
And never forget that, so.

00:47:47.100 --> 00:47:49.549
- What region of the sky again?

00:47:49.549 --> 00:47:51.000
- [Astronomer] 3C84 or so.

00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:53.280
- [Donnie] They let a lot of
people that I grew up with

00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:55.530
to get into the field of science and math.

00:47:55.530 --> 00:47:58.293
- Okay, you should be able to start it up.

00:47:59.224 --> 00:48:02.697
- Thanks.

00:48:02.697 --> 00:48:04.614
Let's see what happens.

00:48:06.390 --> 00:48:08.100
- The Observatory gives us an industry

00:48:08.100 --> 00:48:10.863
that other rural areas don't have.

00:48:12.489 --> 00:48:15.156
(drill buzzing)

00:48:15.990 --> 00:48:18.190
They employ, you know,
well over 100 people.

00:48:21.058 --> 00:48:24.225
(blowtorch whooshing)

00:48:25.097 --> 00:48:28.140
And in a town our size,

00:48:28.140 --> 00:48:29.290
that's the whole chunk.

00:48:33.030 --> 00:48:35.767
- [Sue] I did send in a written comment.

00:48:35.767 --> 00:48:37.830
"For us, this is not about losing a job

00:48:37.830 --> 00:48:39.270
or having to move.

00:48:39.270 --> 00:48:41.253
This is about our very survival.

00:48:42.210 --> 00:48:43.770
The Green Bank Observatory,

00:48:43.770 --> 00:48:45.780
within the National Radio Quiet Zone,

00:48:45.780 --> 00:48:48.420
is a rare and precious place.

00:48:48.420 --> 00:48:51.417
Once it's gone, there
is no getting it back."

00:48:54.956 --> 00:48:57.792
(cars whooshing)

00:48:57.792 --> 00:48:58.833
- [Senior] I had no idea.

00:48:58.833 --> 00:49:00.720
How much money has been invested

00:49:00.720 --> 00:49:02.583
into that huge telescope?
- Yeah.

00:49:03.690 --> 00:49:06.153
- It's almost two and
a half acres in size.

00:49:07.620 --> 00:49:10.470
If they go shutting
something like that down,

00:49:10.470 --> 00:49:12.030
I mean, what are you gonna have,

00:49:12.030 --> 00:49:13.713
a dinosaur sitting out there?

00:49:14.580 --> 00:49:15.413
It's-

00:49:15.413 --> 00:49:17.220
- Reopen it up for an amusement park,

00:49:17.220 --> 00:49:19.170
and turn it into rides.

00:49:19.170 --> 00:49:20.553
- If they closed it down,

00:49:21.510 --> 00:49:23.640
they got like 2,000 acres there

00:49:23.640 --> 00:49:24.990
that's going to waste.

00:49:24.990 --> 00:49:26.310
Yeah, if they close that down,

00:49:26.310 --> 00:49:28.593
this neighborhood would
really just dry up.

00:49:29.853 --> 00:49:31.173
It would be, like wow.

00:49:32.250 --> 00:49:37.250
- I have mixed feelings
about the Observatory.

00:49:37.770 --> 00:49:41.460
I knew the people that lived on the farms.

00:49:41.460 --> 00:49:44.253
I knew the people that owned the land.

00:49:45.930 --> 00:49:48.210
I can remember my aunt and uncle,

00:49:48.210 --> 00:49:52.053
I mean, they had been there
probably many generations.

00:49:53.430 --> 00:49:55.293
They hated to give that up.

00:49:57.390 --> 00:50:00.153
That part. (laughing)

00:50:01.260 --> 00:50:02.710
You know, was hard to accept.

00:50:05.730 --> 00:50:08.190
And now the Observatory,

00:50:08.190 --> 00:50:10.350
they want to maybe close down.

00:50:10.350 --> 00:50:12.033
Maybe disassemble.

00:50:13.230 --> 00:50:15.570
Those people would have lived there

00:50:15.570 --> 00:50:17.703
longer than 60 years.

00:50:18.870 --> 00:50:21.603
They would have lived generations there.

00:50:23.239 --> 00:50:28.239
But my late husband
worked there. (laughing)

00:50:28.560 --> 00:50:33.560
And it paid our bills. (laughing)

00:50:34.088 --> 00:50:39.088
(birds chirping)
(dog barking)

00:50:41.490 --> 00:50:42.600
- [Ellie] My experience with Green Bank

00:50:42.600 --> 00:50:44.790
has been an incredibly inspiring

00:50:44.790 --> 00:50:46.293
and uplifting experience.

00:50:47.160 --> 00:50:50.090
And to think that that might go away

00:50:50.090 --> 00:50:51.753
is really depressing.

00:50:55.080 --> 00:50:58.200
The future of Green
Bank is really important

00:50:58.200 --> 00:51:01.170
to the future of the state,

00:51:01.170 --> 00:51:02.250
the scientific community,

00:51:02.250 --> 00:51:05.910
and really, I think, our
understanding of the universe.

00:51:05.910 --> 00:51:06.900
Good?

00:51:06.900 --> 00:51:08.966
It's also important to my future.

00:51:08.966 --> 00:51:12.883
(people chatting and laughing)

00:51:13.872 --> 00:51:15.150
(glass clinking)

00:51:15.150 --> 00:51:16.020
- Hi there!

00:51:16.020 --> 00:51:19.440
First of all, I just wanna
thank everybody for coming.

00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:21.750
It means a lot to Ellie and all of us.

00:51:21.750 --> 00:51:25.290
So there are many ups and
downs to schooling at home,

00:51:25.290 --> 00:51:27.270
and one of the challenges
is how to celebrate

00:51:27.270 --> 00:51:29.096
significant milestones.

00:51:29.096 --> 00:51:29.929
(soft music)

00:51:29.929 --> 00:51:32.340
Um. (exhales)

00:51:32.340 --> 00:51:34.650
Ellie is a joy, she's a joy to learn with.

00:51:34.650 --> 00:51:36.450
She's a joy to work alongside,

00:51:36.450 --> 00:51:39.693
and she's just a joy to
generally just be with.

00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:42.510
I've learned more from her

00:51:42.510 --> 00:51:44.283
than most likely she has from me.

00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:47.730
Her story is just beginning,

00:51:47.730 --> 00:51:48.900
but the reason we wanted to have

00:51:48.900 --> 00:51:52.230
this celebration here
today with all of you,

00:51:52.230 --> 00:51:54.360
it's also your story.

00:51:54.360 --> 00:51:56.940
Each of you here have made such an impact

00:51:56.940 --> 00:52:00.000
on so many lives, and Richard, even though

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:01.830
he couldn't be here tonight,

00:52:01.830 --> 00:52:03.210
I couldn't have written up an order

00:52:03.210 --> 00:52:04.893
for a better mentor for Ellie.

00:52:06.090 --> 00:52:08.670
I'd like to present
Ellie with a few things,

00:52:08.670 --> 00:52:09.813
if she'd come up here.

00:52:13.530 --> 00:52:17.310
First, I'd like to present
you a couple certificates.

00:52:17.310 --> 00:52:19.694
One for being a national finalist.

00:52:19.694 --> 00:52:23.444
(all applauding)
- Thank you.

00:52:26.037 --> 00:52:28.113
- I'm so proud to present to you,

00:52:29.324 --> 00:52:30.157
I've gotta get this out.

00:52:30.157 --> 00:52:34.020
This is not very smooth.
(all laughing)

00:52:34.020 --> 00:52:36.360
This is your graduation diploma,

00:52:36.360 --> 00:52:38.157
earned at home, at Green Bank,

00:52:38.157 --> 00:52:39.600
and in the School of Life.

00:52:39.600 --> 00:52:41.217
Congratulations.

00:52:41.217 --> 00:52:43.967
(all applauding)

00:52:51.267 --> 00:52:52.920
- I can't thank you enough
for opening these doors,

00:52:52.920 --> 00:52:55.380
and for welcoming me into your,

00:52:55.380 --> 00:52:56.730
welcoming me and my family,

00:52:56.730 --> 00:52:59.790
into your great, beautiful community,

00:52:59.790 --> 00:53:01.692
so thank you.

00:53:01.692 --> 00:53:06.692
(all applauding)
(soft music)

00:53:11.863 --> 00:53:13.590
I do daydream a lot about what it would

00:53:13.590 --> 00:53:15.090
be like to work at Green Bank.

00:53:15.090 --> 00:53:17.370
Of course, I've had just
a little taste of it

00:53:17.370 --> 00:53:18.960
by doing the student research I've done,

00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:21.870
and getting to meet the
people who work there.

00:53:21.870 --> 00:53:23.520
I can just imagine, like,

00:53:23.520 --> 00:53:25.833
sitting in the control room.

00:53:27.720 --> 00:53:30.480
Making my own observations
the the telescope,

00:53:30.480 --> 00:53:34.160
and trying to answer some
big questions that I have.

00:53:36.394 --> 00:53:38.394
Is there life out there?

00:53:41.066 --> 00:53:44.460
(soft rousing music)

00:53:44.460 --> 00:53:46.590
The search for
extraterrestrial intelligence

00:53:46.590 --> 00:53:48.990
is a really well-respected
field of science now.

00:53:50.190 --> 00:53:51.490
It wasn't always that way.

00:53:53.310 --> 00:53:55.590
And in fact, back in the
60s, when Frank Drake

00:53:55.590 --> 00:53:58.410
and Carl Sagan, and only
a few other scientists,

00:53:58.410 --> 00:54:00.420
first kind of decided to get together

00:54:00.420 --> 00:54:02.670
and talk about it, they actually formed

00:54:02.670 --> 00:54:03.630
kind of a secret group,

00:54:03.630 --> 00:54:05.550
called the Order of the Dolphin,

00:54:05.550 --> 00:54:06.673
of people who were
interested in that field,

00:54:06.673 --> 00:54:09.240
but at the time, it was
a kind of taboo subject.

00:54:09.240 --> 00:54:10.770
People didn't talk about it

00:54:10.770 --> 00:54:13.017
for fear they would be labeled crazy.

00:54:13.017 --> 00:54:14.160
(dolphin squeaking)

00:54:14.160 --> 00:54:17.100
But it's actually really
not a crazy idea at all,

00:54:17.100 --> 00:54:19.260
to think that, well, if we got this far.

00:54:19.260 --> 00:54:20.790
We're living on a planet that's orbiting

00:54:20.790 --> 00:54:23.220
a fairly normal star,
then maybe the same thing

00:54:23.220 --> 00:54:25.420
has happened somewhere
else in the universe.

00:54:27.450 --> 00:54:29.430
Now it's kind of recognized
that they're just as

00:54:29.430 --> 00:54:32.864
legitimate as, like, oceanography.

00:54:32.864 --> 00:54:37.864
(dolphin squeaks)
(waves crashing)

00:54:39.120 --> 00:54:40.710
- Oh, I believe very strongly

00:54:40.710 --> 00:54:41.913
they are out there.

00:54:43.770 --> 00:54:45.420
The numbers support that.

00:54:45.420 --> 00:54:48.024
There's so many stars in the universe.

00:54:48.024 --> 00:54:52.260
Numbers that are so large,
they make no sense to us.

00:54:52.260 --> 00:54:54.150
We can be very, very wrong,

00:54:54.150 --> 00:54:57.483
and yet, there will be many,
many detectable civilizations.

00:54:58.389 --> 00:55:00.972
(bell tolling)

00:55:03.741 --> 00:55:06.491
(birds chirping)

00:55:10.620 --> 00:55:14.163
- College is, it is a big change.

00:55:16.080 --> 00:55:17.780
I expected it to be a lot of work.

00:55:19.020 --> 00:55:21.690
Anytime you do something
that is worth something,

00:55:21.690 --> 00:55:23.070
it's a challenge.

00:55:23.070 --> 00:55:26.760
This book here is "Fundamentals
of Dimensional Metrology".

00:55:26.760 --> 00:55:27.593
Okay.

00:55:28.950 --> 00:55:30.210
None of this stuff comes naturally.

00:55:30.210 --> 00:55:31.470
It's hard.

00:55:31.470 --> 00:55:32.303
Really hard.

00:55:33.270 --> 00:55:35.460
I mean, I remember my first summer

00:55:35.460 --> 00:55:36.603
working with Richard,

00:55:37.740 --> 00:55:39.270
when I would get an email from him,

00:55:39.270 --> 00:55:40.590
I would have to Google every other word

00:55:40.590 --> 00:55:42.540
in that email, because it was so dense,

00:55:42.540 --> 00:55:45.395
and so full of information.

00:55:45.395 --> 00:55:47.430
There's just this "Women
in Astronomy" book

00:55:47.430 --> 00:55:48.660
just lying here.

00:55:48.660 --> 00:55:49.920
That's cool.

00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:52.170
Just being able to
contribute to radio astronomy

00:55:52.170 --> 00:55:54.030
as a whole, I mean, beyond the question

00:55:54.030 --> 00:55:55.440
of is there life out there,

00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:58.323
there's ester biology,
instrumentation work.

00:55:59.400 --> 00:56:02.400
Those are all fields which I
find extremely fascinating,

00:56:02.400 --> 00:56:04.443
and I feel like this is really,

00:56:06.450 --> 00:56:08.600
you know, what I wanna
do with my life, so.

00:56:10.126 --> 00:56:10.959
(birds chirping)

00:56:10.959 --> 00:56:11.792
- Hey, Ellie.
- Hi.

00:56:11.792 --> 00:56:12.660
- Welcome.

00:56:12.660 --> 00:56:14.910
So I guess we're gonna
show you around today,

00:56:14.910 --> 00:56:17.190
and we got our key cards, so we can get

00:56:17.190 --> 00:56:20.160
into our offices, and
up in the control room.

00:56:20.160 --> 00:56:22.860
- [Ellie] So Dave
MacMahon and Matt Lebofsky

00:56:22.860 --> 00:56:26.790
who work for UC Berkeley
in their SETI research area

00:56:26.790 --> 00:56:28.230
needed to come to Green Bank

00:56:28.230 --> 00:56:32.490
to make some updates to the
Breakthrough Listen system.

00:56:32.490 --> 00:56:33.630
- Watch the threshold.

00:56:33.630 --> 00:56:35.190
Don't step on that.

00:56:35.190 --> 00:56:37.230
- [Ellie] So they were
kind enough to invite me

00:56:37.230 --> 00:56:40.350
to come and watch them,
and actually might get

00:56:40.350 --> 00:56:41.400
to do some observing tonight,

00:56:41.400 --> 00:56:43.080
so I'm really excited about that.

00:56:43.080 --> 00:56:44.790
- [Dave] Yeah, we're gonna
go manual mode on it.

00:56:44.790 --> 00:56:46.350
- Manual mode?
- Yup.

00:56:46.350 --> 00:56:47.250
- Cool, yeah.
- Awesome.

00:56:47.250 --> 00:56:48.600
- All right.
(all laugh)

00:56:48.600 --> 00:56:49.433
- Yeah, so it's gonna-

00:56:49.433 --> 00:56:53.280
Breakthrough Listen is the
world's largest SETI search

00:56:53.280 --> 00:56:55.440
to date in over 10 years,

00:56:55.440 --> 00:56:57.492
and we're four years into it.

00:56:57.492 --> 00:57:00.992
(dramatic exciting music)

00:57:02.370 --> 00:57:04.410
- It's time to commit to finding

00:57:04.410 --> 00:57:07.023
the answer to search
for life beyond Earth.

00:57:09.300 --> 00:57:12.180
We are life, we are intelligent,

00:57:12.180 --> 00:57:15.990
we must know that it's
important to us to know

00:57:15.990 --> 00:57:17.643
if we are alone in the dark.

00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:24.180
- Breakthrough Listen is going
to observe a million stars

00:57:24.180 --> 00:57:28.020
in 100 galaxies, and
thousands of nearby stars,

00:57:28.020 --> 00:57:31.650
to look for signs of
extraterrestrial intelligence.

00:57:31.650 --> 00:57:33.300
And this is where the data will actually

00:57:33.300 --> 00:57:35.895
come in from the net,
where it comes in there.

00:57:35.895 --> 00:57:36.840
If Green Bank shut down,

00:57:36.840 --> 00:57:38.970
that would be a monumental loss.

00:57:38.970 --> 00:57:41.700
That would be really tragic.

00:57:41.700 --> 00:57:44.490
I mean, Green Bank has an undeniable place

00:57:44.490 --> 00:57:45.960
in history for SETI science.

00:57:45.960 --> 00:57:48.783
I mean, it is the sort of
birthplace of modern SETI.

00:57:50.310 --> 00:57:52.680
- To answer that question, are there other

00:57:52.680 --> 00:57:55.590
civilizations out there,
that was very exciting

00:57:55.590 --> 00:57:57.540
because for all we knew,

00:57:57.540 --> 00:57:58.860
every star had a planet

00:57:58.860 --> 00:58:00.270
that was sending intelligent signals.

00:58:00.270 --> 00:58:03.150
We might succeed the first
day in the first hour.

00:58:03.150 --> 00:58:04.470
So when we first turned it on,

00:58:04.470 --> 00:58:05.940
of course everybody was wondering,

00:58:05.940 --> 00:58:07.860
what are we going to hear?

00:58:07.860 --> 00:58:10.380
What we heard was noise.

00:58:10.380 --> 00:58:11.502
Static.

00:58:11.502 --> 00:58:14.252
(birds chirping)

00:58:15.360 --> 00:58:16.710
- [Ellie] So what were you guys looking at

00:58:16.710 --> 00:58:17.543
with this observation?

00:58:17.543 --> 00:58:18.600
What was your target?

00:58:18.600 --> 00:58:20.910
- It's more of a
diagnostic target, really,

00:58:20.910 --> 00:58:22.080
of Voyager space probes.

00:58:22.080 --> 00:58:22.920
- [Ellie] Oh okay, cool.

00:58:22.920 --> 00:58:25.440
- So Voyager has actually
left the solar system now,

00:58:25.440 --> 00:58:27.120
but we can still detect it with GBT

00:58:27.120 --> 00:58:28.080
actually quite readily.

00:58:28.080 --> 00:58:30.180
If you can't find Voyager,
you're not gonna find ET.

00:58:30.180 --> 00:58:31.649
- Right.

00:58:31.649 --> 00:58:33.859
- And so that's definitely
a technological signal.

00:58:33.859 --> 00:58:34.692
- Yeah.

00:58:34.692 --> 00:58:37.380
- That is the farthest
known technological signal

00:58:37.380 --> 00:58:38.670
from Earth, I guess you could say.

00:58:38.670 --> 00:58:40.590
And that gives you confidence
that your instrument

00:58:40.590 --> 00:58:44.702
is functioning with a
degree of sensitivity.

00:58:44.702 --> 00:58:46.533
- Okay.
- And I guess the, you know,

00:58:47.580 --> 00:58:48.870
probably the worst case scenario,

00:58:48.870 --> 00:58:50.677
but if you found something,
and you told everybody,

00:58:50.677 --> 00:58:52.950
"Oh, it's at XYZ coordinates,"

00:58:52.950 --> 00:58:54.510
and then they go look
there, it's not there,

00:58:54.510 --> 00:58:56.430
then it's like, oh no.

00:58:56.430 --> 00:58:57.870
Something went wrong, we got it wrong.

00:58:57.870 --> 00:58:58.950
And so you wanna get it right,

00:58:58.950 --> 00:59:00.330
'cause I think that SETI detection

00:59:00.330 --> 00:59:03.330
is not something you can
get wrong very many times.

00:59:03.330 --> 00:59:06.120
It's like you can only cry
wolf, like, zero times, I think,

00:59:06.120 --> 00:59:08.235
basically, with SETI, so.

00:59:08.235 --> 00:59:10.590
(soft atmospheric music)

00:59:10.590 --> 00:59:13.470
- It would be a really
incredible shift of perspective

00:59:13.470 --> 00:59:17.400
if we were to find that there
was somebody else out there

00:59:17.400 --> 00:59:20.940
who is either at our level of advancement,

00:59:20.940 --> 00:59:23.640
or if they were beyond, it
would be even more impressive,

00:59:23.640 --> 00:59:27.690
because we could maybe
learn how did they survive?

00:59:27.690 --> 00:59:30.180
How did they survive developing technology

00:59:30.180 --> 00:59:33.167
that is powerful enough
to do a lot of damage?

00:59:33.167 --> 00:59:35.546
- Do we know what that one pink is, the-

00:59:35.546 --> 00:59:37.212
- Right here?
- On the flip side of that,

00:59:37.212 --> 00:59:38.250
if we don't find anything,

00:59:38.250 --> 00:59:41.280
if Earthlings are the
only advanced life forms

00:59:41.280 --> 00:59:43.320
in the universe, which
seems pretty unlikely,

00:59:43.320 --> 00:59:46.230
statistically speaking,
but it's a possibility,

00:59:46.230 --> 00:59:49.590
then what would that mean?

00:59:49.590 --> 00:59:51.060
That would mean that
it's extremely important

00:59:51.060 --> 00:59:53.250
for us to preserve ourselves,

00:59:53.250 --> 00:59:57.900
to preserve our planet,
to preserve our existence

00:59:57.900 --> 01:00:00.420
as a species, to look
out beyond ourselves,

01:00:00.420 --> 01:00:02.310
and to try and figure
out how do we get past

01:00:02.310 --> 01:00:07.310
our differences, and just
make the most that we can

01:00:08.070 --> 01:00:08.973
of our time here.

01:00:11.077 --> 01:00:16.077
(soft atmospheric music)
(birds chirping)

01:00:17.850 --> 01:00:18.683
- Did the produce.

01:00:18.683 --> 01:00:20.220
We'll do the meat in the morning.

01:00:21.390 --> 01:00:22.519
Okay, thank you.

01:00:22.519 --> 01:00:25.269
You take 'er easy, Don.
- You too.

01:00:31.448 --> 01:00:33.510
(music fades)

01:00:33.510 --> 01:00:34.696
Come on.

01:00:34.696 --> 01:00:35.700
(Donnie whistles)

01:00:35.700 --> 01:00:36.533
Come on.

01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:40.233
Sookie!

01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:43.944
All farmers have something.

01:00:43.944 --> 01:00:45.000
Sookie!

01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:47.277
My granddad always said, "Sookie cow."

01:00:48.745 --> 01:00:49.863
Sookie!

01:00:51.121 --> 01:00:51.954
Whoo!

01:00:52.833 --> 01:00:55.333
(cows mooing)

01:00:57.930 --> 01:01:00.240
Yeah, let's get 'em some treats.

01:01:00.240 --> 01:01:01.920
I'm just a hobby farm.

01:01:01.920 --> 01:01:04.927
It's very common to be a
hobby farmer in our area.

01:01:04.927 --> 01:01:06.810
(cow moos)

01:01:06.810 --> 01:01:08.670
And I have had some
that I just didn't sell,

01:01:08.670 --> 01:01:11.100
I just let 'em stay here until they died,

01:01:11.100 --> 01:01:12.550
because we were pretty tight.

01:01:14.970 --> 01:01:16.380
The connection to the past, I feel,

01:01:16.380 --> 01:01:19.410
is family, and how long my family's

01:01:19.410 --> 01:01:20.373
been in the area.

01:01:22.980 --> 01:01:24.300
I work some of the same land

01:01:24.300 --> 01:01:27.570
that three, four generations
of my family did,

01:01:27.570 --> 01:01:31.117
and that's one of the main
reasons I'm still here.

01:01:31.117 --> 01:01:32.420
(soft music)

01:01:32.420 --> 01:01:34.920
(Donnie clicking tongue)

01:01:34.920 --> 01:01:36.423
Tom, you're almost a pest.

01:01:38.838 --> 01:01:40.347
Hey, where you going?

01:01:40.347 --> 01:01:42.630
One of the things that
makes this place so special

01:01:42.630 --> 01:01:44.460
is the fact that the Observatory's here,

01:01:44.460 --> 01:01:47.520
and we're looking into the
past with the Observatory,

01:01:47.520 --> 01:01:50.070
but at the same time, if it
wasn't for the telescope,

01:01:50.070 --> 01:01:51.153
we'd be in the past.

01:01:52.639 --> 01:01:56.056
(soft atmospheric music)

01:02:00.120 --> 01:02:03.150
I know that in the back of
my mind, whenever I look up,

01:02:03.150 --> 01:02:05.750
that they're spending so
much time looking out there

01:02:09.300 --> 01:02:11.253
trying to find stuff all the time.

01:02:14.847 --> 01:02:16.863
And we have no idea what's out there.

01:02:21.360 --> 01:02:24.023
It really influences the way you think.

01:02:28.680 --> 01:02:31.350
I'd like to think that there
is something else out there

01:02:31.350 --> 01:02:32.463
besides us, you know?

01:02:34.012 --> 01:02:37.140
(Donnie clicking tongue)

01:02:37.140 --> 01:02:37.973
Sookie.

01:02:37.973 --> 01:02:40.197
Puts my mind out, just how vast it is

01:02:40.197 --> 01:02:42.134
and how small I am.

01:02:42.134 --> 01:02:44.801
(calves lowing)

01:02:53.367 --> 01:02:54.450
- I love you.

01:02:59.413 --> 01:03:00.246
Okay.

01:03:01.230 --> 01:03:05.553
- On the day that John
goes back to New York,

01:03:06.840 --> 01:03:08.253
it's hard for me.

01:03:15.090 --> 01:03:16.500
I wanna put down roots.

01:03:16.500 --> 01:03:19.410
I don't want to just stay
in a rental trailer anymore.

01:03:19.410 --> 01:03:21.333
I wanna build my own home.

01:03:22.770 --> 01:03:25.380
I'm looking at land, and very serious

01:03:25.380 --> 01:03:27.630
about a piece of land
that we might purchase.

01:03:28.830 --> 01:03:31.143
I never thought I would
live in West Virginia.

01:03:32.280 --> 01:03:34.880
Sometimes, I pull over, and
I just talk to the cows.

01:03:36.480 --> 01:03:38.370
I mean, I really, look at these cows.

01:03:38.370 --> 01:03:39.370
What are they doing?

01:03:41.372 --> 01:03:43.122
I'm like, "Hi, cows."

01:03:45.480 --> 01:03:50.220
I never thought I would be
in the Appalachian Mountains,

01:03:50.220 --> 01:03:53.580
and I am, and I'll tell you,

01:03:53.580 --> 01:03:54.980
it's the God's honest truth,

01:03:56.520 --> 01:03:58.650
if I had an opportunity to move back,

01:03:58.650 --> 01:04:02.490
and all the cell towers
came down, I wouldn't.

01:04:02.490 --> 01:04:03.323
I'd be here.

01:04:06.420 --> 01:04:08.010
I can't tell you, it's night and day,

01:04:08.010 --> 01:04:12.120
how I feel here compared
to how I felt in New York.

01:04:12.120 --> 01:04:13.154
Hi, Tom.
- Hi, how are you?

01:04:13.154 --> 01:04:14.610
- Good, how are you?
- Good, good.

01:04:14.610 --> 01:04:15.780
- I can live here.

01:04:15.780 --> 01:04:16.830
I am living.

01:04:16.830 --> 01:04:20.220
I lost a decade of my life to EHS.

01:04:20.220 --> 01:04:22.020
I don't want to miss another minute.

01:04:23.640 --> 01:04:25.710
I like to use this computer in the back,

01:04:25.710 --> 01:04:27.720
because it's not connected
to the other ones,

01:04:27.720 --> 01:04:31.230
and this is a little bit older system,

01:04:31.230 --> 01:04:33.690
and the newer one is a problem for me.

01:04:33.690 --> 01:04:35.140
Just waiting for it to start.

01:04:36.210 --> 01:04:39.120
It's been eight years since I've really

01:04:39.120 --> 01:04:40.590
been able to use a computer,

01:04:40.590 --> 01:04:44.460
and I would try periodically
to go into the public library,

01:04:44.460 --> 01:04:49.263
but with 12, 15 computers,
and also the lighting,

01:04:50.160 --> 01:04:51.540
they're very accommodating here,

01:04:51.540 --> 01:04:52.860
and they turn the lights off for me,

01:04:52.860 --> 01:04:54.213
which is really nice.

01:04:55.560 --> 01:04:58.200
You know, I can be here in this library,

01:04:58.200 --> 01:05:00.930
and I can spend a good 15, 20 minutes

01:05:00.930 --> 01:05:02.283
checking my email, or.

01:05:03.300 --> 01:05:04.133
Oh, wow.

01:05:04.133 --> 01:05:05.190
I haven't been on in three days,

01:05:05.190 --> 01:05:07.440
and I got a ton of things.

01:05:07.440 --> 01:05:09.060
I'm able to do some activism,

01:05:09.060 --> 01:05:10.890
signing petitions, and sending things

01:05:10.890 --> 01:05:12.840
to your senators and congressmen,

01:05:12.840 --> 01:05:16.427
and sharing information.

01:05:16.427 --> 01:05:18.270
(soft atmospheric music)

01:05:18.270 --> 01:05:22.590
I printed out a copy of AT&T coverage,

01:05:22.590 --> 01:05:25.170
cellphone coverage, in the United States.

01:05:25.170 --> 01:05:27.750
Now, that's only one of
the four major carriers.

01:05:27.750 --> 01:05:29.190
This is Green Bank.

01:05:29.190 --> 01:05:32.253
Any of the orange and the red
are cellphones around here.

01:05:33.150 --> 01:05:36.480
We're holding back the floodgates, right?

01:05:36.480 --> 01:05:38.820
And that's all AT&T cell coverage,

01:05:38.820 --> 01:05:42.270
completely covers everywhere but that dot,

01:05:42.270 --> 01:05:45.630
except for some definite
areas in maybe Montana,

01:05:45.630 --> 01:05:47.613
or Idaho, or Nevada.

01:05:49.470 --> 01:05:52.473
We're talking about the
telescope right there.

01:05:54.180 --> 01:05:56.280
I anticipate spending
the rest of my life here.

01:05:56.280 --> 01:05:57.600
Absolutely.

01:05:57.600 --> 01:05:59.716
As long as we can keep this.

01:05:59.716 --> 01:06:02.133
(soft music)

01:06:08.783 --> 01:06:09.870
(signal beeps)

01:06:09.870 --> 01:06:10.703
- Bingo.

01:06:10.703 --> 01:06:12.643
There's our first hit.

01:06:12.643 --> 01:06:14.790
- [Sue] When I got here,
I was told that there was

01:06:14.790 --> 01:06:16.237
no Wifi here.

01:06:16.237 --> 01:06:17.190
(signal beeps)

01:06:17.190 --> 01:06:19.053
But there was Wifi already here.

01:06:20.130 --> 01:06:22.320
Not everyone had it.

01:06:22.320 --> 01:06:24.000
It's really in the last couple of years,

01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:26.914
that it's just automatically hooked up.

01:06:26.914 --> 01:06:30.360
(signal beeping)

01:06:30.360 --> 01:06:32.250
- What we're seeing here
on the computer screen

01:06:32.250 --> 01:06:34.803
are Wifi hotspots,

01:06:36.510 --> 01:06:40.140
that are in people's
homes, and businesses.

01:06:40.140 --> 01:06:42.060
All these internet signals that are close

01:06:42.060 --> 01:06:45.573
to the Observatory are
causing interference.

01:06:47.160 --> 01:06:49.233
And we're just living with it right now.

01:06:51.330 --> 01:06:55.230
There was a plan to try
to get them all shut down,

01:06:55.230 --> 01:06:58.023
but it was a problem that
just kind of exploded on us.

01:06:59.490 --> 01:07:03.150
One person had said
out, "Screw you, NRAO."

01:07:03.150 --> 01:07:05.793
So they knew we were listening.

01:07:09.330 --> 01:07:11.580
- I don't think the
person from the telescope

01:07:11.580 --> 01:07:13.200
goes around and tells
anybody to turn it off

01:07:13.200 --> 01:07:14.370
at this point anymore.

01:07:14.370 --> 01:07:16.950
I mean, how can you keep it out now

01:07:16.950 --> 01:07:20.670
when they make wireless everything?

01:07:20.670 --> 01:07:22.440
- At the rate things are going,

01:07:22.440 --> 01:07:24.510
I'm not sure it will
be a quiet environment

01:07:24.510 --> 01:07:26.103
for 10, 15 years.

01:07:33.561 --> 01:07:36.811
(soft music continues)

01:07:41.040 --> 01:07:43.350
- [Max] Best case scenario,
they completely fund you.

01:07:43.350 --> 01:07:45.360
Worst case scenario, they shut you down?

01:07:45.360 --> 01:07:46.193
- [Willie] Yep.

01:07:46.193 --> 01:07:47.220
- [Karen] That's simple enough, yup.

01:07:47.220 --> 01:07:48.900
- 'Cause it gives, like, half the job,

01:07:48.900 --> 01:07:50.310
I don't know how many jobs.

01:07:50.310 --> 01:07:51.710
It's like a third, isn't it?

01:07:52.671 --> 01:07:55.166
- If the Observatory shuts, we don't stay.

01:07:55.166 --> 01:07:56.610
- If the Observatory shuts down,

01:07:56.610 --> 01:07:57.903
we don't have money.

01:07:58.800 --> 01:08:00.270
- Um, well-
- We can't stay.

01:08:00.270 --> 01:08:01.890
- Technically, Willie, I
think what would happen

01:08:01.890 --> 01:08:04.950
is we'd move, rather than starve.

01:08:04.950 --> 01:08:05.783
- True.

01:08:05.783 --> 01:08:07.170
- The most likely scenario that we move,

01:08:07.170 --> 01:08:08.910
we would probably end up in the city.

01:08:08.910 --> 01:08:11.850
So if you were in a big city, cellphones?

01:08:11.850 --> 01:08:12.990
Devices?

01:08:12.990 --> 01:08:15.060
- I mean, probably, like-
- Would you join your cousins

01:08:15.060 --> 01:08:17.790
in the land of I'd Have to
Tell You to Put Them Away?

01:08:17.790 --> 01:08:18.990
- The only, well, okay.

01:08:18.990 --> 01:08:21.510
I hope I wouldn't get that bad.

01:08:21.510 --> 01:08:22.830
- I would be concerned about you

01:08:22.830 --> 01:08:24.030
in that world like that.

01:08:24.905 --> 01:08:26.460
'Cause you like screen time.

01:08:26.460 --> 01:08:28.320
Everybody's texting
each other all the time.

01:08:28.320 --> 01:08:29.190
- It's like that anyways.

01:08:29.190 --> 01:08:30.690
They just drop each other notes.

01:08:30.690 --> 01:08:31.740
- Yeah, exactly.

01:08:31.740 --> 01:08:32.640
- Yeah, pretty much.

01:08:32.640 --> 01:08:33.956
- It's just old school.

01:08:33.956 --> 01:08:36.330
(Karen laughing)
- Yeah.

01:08:36.330 --> 01:08:38.250
- So with all this, with the NSF,

01:08:38.250 --> 01:08:40.880
hopefully we'll hear something soon.

01:08:40.880 --> 01:08:44.298
(soft atmospheric music)

01:08:44.298 --> 01:08:47.215
(insects chirping)

01:08:56.937 --> 01:09:01.187
(soft atmospheric music continues)

01:09:02.234 --> 01:09:04.651
(door beeps)

01:09:13.624 --> 01:09:16.297
(soft atmospheric music continues)

01:09:16.297 --> 01:09:18.271
- I don't even know where to start.

01:09:18.271 --> 01:09:19.267
Let's see.

01:09:19.267 --> 01:09:20.100
Um.

01:09:24.570 --> 01:09:27.840
So Richard passed away not too long ago.

01:09:27.840 --> 01:09:28.673
Um.

01:09:29.850 --> 01:09:32.340
So, yeah.

01:09:32.340 --> 01:09:33.843
That was a really sad thing.

01:09:35.790 --> 01:09:38.610
We worked together from
the time that I met him

01:09:38.610 --> 01:09:43.320
at that control room tour
until he passed away.

01:09:43.320 --> 01:09:46.533
He became a good friend
to my family, and to me.

01:09:50.160 --> 01:09:51.483
So just being here,

01:09:52.707 --> 01:09:55.113
I have a lot of memories.

01:09:56.700 --> 01:09:57.933
They'll always be there.

01:09:59.220 --> 01:10:00.963
So that's important to have that.

01:10:07.230 --> 01:10:08.993
I learned a lot from him.

01:10:10.007 --> 01:10:11.730
How to have confidence in myself,

01:10:11.730 --> 01:10:13.683
how to have confidence in my abilities.

01:10:17.190 --> 01:10:19.770
I just wanna thank him
for being the inspiration

01:10:19.770 --> 01:10:21.063
that he was, and for,

01:10:25.050 --> 01:10:26.253
for teaching me so much.

01:10:28.324 --> 01:10:33.324
(crickets chirping)
(wind rustling)

01:10:38.943 --> 01:10:41.693
(birds chirping)

01:10:49.260 --> 01:10:52.443
- When my mom died, I bought
a plaque for four people.

01:10:53.370 --> 01:10:55.173
And so my dad is buried there.

01:10:56.610 --> 01:10:58.923
My wife, Mary Sue, was buried there.

01:11:01.410 --> 01:11:03.813
I'll be buried there when I pass on.

01:11:07.860 --> 01:11:11.250
I was doing pretty well, until
about three, four weeks ago.

01:11:11.250 --> 01:11:13.713
I started having a real
pain in my stomach.

01:11:15.090 --> 01:11:19.350
An oncologist said, "You'll
have to have radiation,"

01:11:19.350 --> 01:11:21.450
so I felt, well, damn.

01:11:21.450 --> 01:11:23.294
Well, let's see how it goes.

01:11:23.294 --> 01:11:26.711
(soft atmospheric music)

01:11:33.805 --> 01:11:36.450
Ah, sometimes I just tell what's going on,

01:11:36.450 --> 01:11:37.323
with the kids.

01:11:40.144 --> 01:11:44.190
I could tell her about
having a great-grandchild

01:11:44.190 --> 01:11:46.113
coming up in July.

01:11:51.540 --> 01:11:54.870
There's a quotation from
the Bible, Revelations,

01:11:54.870 --> 01:11:59.870
and it tells about how
the heaven and the earth

01:12:00.090 --> 01:12:01.413
pass away, and it'll be a,

01:12:04.993 --> 01:12:06.903
a new heaven and earth.

01:12:09.240 --> 01:12:13.513
No more tears and pain.

01:12:13.513 --> 01:12:14.613
And there'll be peace.

01:12:16.830 --> 01:12:18.120
And it was written by John,

01:12:18.120 --> 01:12:19.710
and these were the visions he had

01:12:19.710 --> 01:12:22.950
that the heavens in the
sky would disappear.

01:12:22.950 --> 01:12:24.180
And it will.

01:12:24.180 --> 01:12:26.040
Eventually, things will go away.

01:12:26.040 --> 01:12:26.880
They keep changing.

01:12:26.880 --> 01:12:27.930
We can look at the heaven,

01:12:27.930 --> 01:12:31.020
and we see all these
stars continuing to change

01:12:31.020 --> 01:12:34.020
and evolve, and it's gonna happen

01:12:34.020 --> 01:12:37.470
with our planetary system
eventually someday.

01:12:37.470 --> 01:12:39.900
So I can't see any contradiction

01:12:39.900 --> 01:12:43.533
between science and what
it says in the Bible.

01:12:46.137 --> 01:12:48.930
(soft atmospheric music)

01:12:48.930 --> 01:12:50.387
Everything does change.

01:12:55.681 --> 01:12:58.348
(birds calling)

01:13:05.225 --> 01:13:07.892
(clock ticking)

01:13:11.939 --> 01:13:15.439
I'm so proud of each and every one of you.

01:13:17.159 --> 01:13:18.409
Barbara?

01:13:18.409 --> 01:13:19.242
- [Karl] She's right over here, Dad.

01:13:19.242 --> 01:13:20.541
- Is she here?

01:13:20.541 --> 01:13:22.037
Come over.

01:13:22.037 --> 01:13:22.870
- Barbara?

01:13:24.496 --> 01:13:27.663
My dad wanted to say something to you.

01:13:33.004 --> 01:13:35.227
- I've been good to you,

01:13:35.227 --> 01:13:37.846
and the other way around.

01:13:37.846 --> 01:13:39.597
I'll miss you.

01:13:39.597 --> 01:13:41.762
I will miss you very much.

01:13:41.762 --> 01:13:43.762
I'll miss you very much.

01:13:45.479 --> 01:13:48.897
- Come on.
- Terrible. (crying)

01:13:48.897 --> 01:13:50.814
- Don't cry, don't cry.

01:13:53.822 --> 01:13:55.322
Not gonna miss us.

01:13:58.613 --> 01:14:01.363
(Barbara crying)

01:14:09.832 --> 01:14:13.380
(soft atmospheric music continues)

01:14:13.380 --> 01:14:16.213
(Barbara sobbing)

01:14:26.014 --> 01:14:30.264
(soft atmospheric music continues)

01:14:32.255 --> 01:14:35.005
(pulse thumping)

01:14:37.781 --> 01:14:40.781
(music intensifies)

01:14:43.951 --> 01:14:46.784
(explosion booms)

01:14:52.502 --> 01:14:55.669
(soft dramatic music)

01:15:00.290 --> 01:15:02.884
(chain clinking)

01:15:02.884 --> 01:15:05.801
(workers chatting)

01:15:06.866 --> 01:15:09.699
(chains clinking)

01:15:14.317 --> 01:15:17.234
(tractor rumbling)

01:15:24.930 --> 01:15:27.690
- My dad was from New York City,

01:15:27.690 --> 01:15:30.180
but when he came here,

01:15:30.180 --> 01:15:34.230
and got a job at the Observatory,

01:15:34.230 --> 01:15:37.050
he was just amazed by how
beautiful it was here.

01:15:37.050 --> 01:15:39.567
And he was like, "Oh boy,
I really love it here."

01:15:40.410 --> 01:15:43.563
And basically fell in love with the state.

01:15:46.890 --> 01:15:48.990
This was actually a song
he wanted me to play

01:15:48.990 --> 01:15:51.100
at his funeral, so.

01:15:51.100 --> 01:15:53.270
(Karl playing guitar)

01:15:53.270 --> 01:15:55.941
♪ Almost heaven ♪

01:15:55.941 --> 01:15:58.360
♪ West Virginia ♪

01:15:58.360 --> 01:16:00.364
♪ Blue Ridge Mountains ♪

01:16:00.364 --> 01:16:03.823
♪ Shenandoah River ♪

01:16:03.823 --> 01:16:05.710
♪ Life is old there ♪

01:16:05.710 --> 01:16:08.498
♪ Much older than the trees ♪

01:16:08.498 --> 01:16:11.041
♪ Younger than the mountains ♪

01:16:11.041 --> 01:16:13.085
♪ Blowing like a breeze ♪

01:16:13.085 --> 01:16:15.966
♪ Country roads ♪

01:16:15.966 --> 01:16:18.714
♪ Take me home ♪

01:16:18.714 --> 01:16:21.839
♪ To the place ♪

01:16:21.839 --> 01:16:24.763
♪ I belong ♪

01:16:24.763 --> 01:16:27.553
♪ West Virginia ♪

01:16:27.553 --> 01:16:30.557
♪ Mountain mama ♪

01:16:30.557 --> 01:16:33.483
♪ Take me home ♪

01:16:33.483 --> 01:16:36.150
♪ Country roads ♪

01:16:40.571 --> 01:16:44.071
(bright electronic music)

01:16:53.902 --> 01:16:58.235
(bright electronic music continues)

01:17:08.193 --> 01:17:12.526
(bright electronic music continues)

01:17:21.747 --> 01:17:25.333
(bright electronic music continues)

01:17:25.333 --> 01:17:28.166
(people chatting)

01:17:37.651 --> 01:17:39.311
- I'll take that outta there.
- This one was two.

01:17:39.311 --> 01:17:40.311
- All right.

01:17:42.283 --> 01:17:43.860
- I just wanna take just a moment

01:17:43.860 --> 01:17:46.170
to remind just guys why we're all here.

01:17:46.170 --> 01:17:47.997
I think we're at the
point where Green Bank

01:17:47.997 --> 01:17:49.620
can now say that we have a,

01:17:49.620 --> 01:17:51.930
not just a future, we
have a fantastic future

01:17:51.930 --> 01:17:52.763
ahead of us.

01:17:52.763 --> 01:17:53.855
Thank you, guys.

01:17:53.855 --> 01:17:57.303
(all applauding)

01:17:57.303 --> 01:18:01.447
- "The NSF issues Record
of Decision on GBO".

01:18:01.447 --> 01:18:03.480
- "Green Bank Observatory
director Karen O'Neil

01:18:03.480 --> 01:18:05.100
announced Tuesday that the Observatory

01:18:05.100 --> 01:18:07.470
will continue to operate
as one of the premiere

01:18:07.470 --> 01:18:09.810
radio telescope
observatories in the world."

01:18:09.810 --> 01:18:12.847
- [Guide] I'm going to be
giving you your tour today.

01:18:12.847 --> 01:18:15.450
- [Ellie] "NSF now issues
its record of decision

01:18:15.450 --> 01:18:17.460
selecting alternative A, collaboration

01:18:17.460 --> 01:18:19.410
with interested parties
for continued science

01:18:19.410 --> 01:18:21.270
and education-focused operations."

01:18:21.270 --> 01:18:23.193
- Alternative A, yes.

01:18:23.193 --> 01:18:25.807
- "The NSF acknowledged," hmm.

01:18:25.807 --> 01:18:28.327
- "Acknowledged the scientific value of,"

01:18:29.972 --> 01:18:30.805
let's see.

01:18:32.393 --> 01:18:35.261
"Of the GBO remains high."

01:18:35.261 --> 01:18:36.094
- Going up.
- Oh!

01:18:36.094 --> 01:18:38.070
- [Sue] "As demonstrated
by the capabilities

01:18:38.070 --> 01:18:42.187
of and demand for its
premiere instrument, the GBT."

01:18:42.187 --> 01:18:43.440
- [Ellie] "And that hundreds of scientists

01:18:43.440 --> 01:18:45.180
use the GBT each year for research

01:18:45.180 --> 01:18:47.160
that spans virtually every field

01:18:47.160 --> 01:18:48.507
of modern astrophysics."

01:18:49.680 --> 01:18:52.080
- I tell you, it lessens fears I had.

01:18:52.080 --> 01:18:54.480
Fears of, you know,
putting everything we have,

01:18:54.480 --> 01:18:57.067
and mind, body, soul,
everything, into this place.

01:18:57.067 --> 01:18:59.730
You know, it was just
stress, underlying stress,

01:18:59.730 --> 01:19:01.440
that something could happen.

01:19:01.440 --> 01:19:02.490
- Yeah, like where were we gonna go?

01:19:02.490 --> 01:19:03.712
- Where were we gonna go?
- Yeah.

01:19:03.712 --> 01:19:04.545
- [John] I don't know where.

01:19:04.545 --> 01:19:05.550
- I know, high five.
- Big relief.

01:19:05.550 --> 01:19:06.383
Big relief.
(Sue laughs)

01:19:06.383 --> 01:19:07.633
- Yes.

01:19:07.633 --> 01:19:09.380
(paper crinkles)

01:19:09.380 --> 01:19:10.472
- Okay.

01:19:10.472 --> 01:19:15.000
(people chatting and laughing)

01:19:15.000 --> 01:19:18.243
- I'm wondering if my brain
has too much knowledge in it.

01:19:19.517 --> 01:19:20.350
(Ellie laughing)

01:19:20.350 --> 01:19:23.070
- So this is great news for
the next five years or so,

01:19:23.070 --> 01:19:26.220
but after that, it's hard
to say what comes next.

01:19:26.220 --> 01:19:28.590
So we need to celebrate the good news now,

01:19:28.590 --> 01:19:33.180
but also recognize that this isn't the end

01:19:33.180 --> 01:19:35.340
of the story, and we need to work hard

01:19:35.340 --> 01:19:38.287
to make sure that this
resource never goes away.

01:19:38.287 --> 01:19:40.440
(birds chirping)

01:19:40.440 --> 01:19:42.390
- This is Miss Ellie, Ellie White,

01:19:42.390 --> 01:19:44.190
and she's from Marshall University.

01:19:44.190 --> 01:19:46.440
I've been telling them how cool

01:19:46.440 --> 01:19:47.730
of an experience this is gonna be,

01:19:47.730 --> 01:19:49.650
because I don't think any other kids

01:19:49.650 --> 01:19:52.800
in the entire world have
what she has made here,

01:19:52.800 --> 01:19:54.510
and we were talking
really, like this morning,

01:19:54.510 --> 01:19:57.150
how important this is about
getting these things out,

01:19:57.150 --> 01:19:59.550
especially 'cause we live in Appalachia.

01:19:59.550 --> 01:20:00.960
- So how many of you guys have heard

01:20:00.960 --> 01:20:02.463
of the Green Bank Observatory?

01:20:03.930 --> 01:20:05.340
Almost all of you, all of you!

01:20:05.340 --> 01:20:06.210
That's great.

01:20:06.210 --> 01:20:07.650
- I wanna be an astrophysicist,

01:20:07.650 --> 01:20:09.120
and hopefully go to MIT.

01:20:09.120 --> 01:20:10.140
- How cool.
- Right.

01:20:10.140 --> 01:20:12.300
- Fingers crossed. (laughing)
(Ellie laughs)

01:20:12.300 --> 01:20:14.490
- We are from Appalachia,
and a lot of people

01:20:14.490 --> 01:20:17.430
look down on us, and
think that people here

01:20:17.430 --> 01:20:19.140
are uneducated, and things like that.

01:20:19.140 --> 01:20:21.900
And I wanna help break that stereotype.

01:20:21.900 --> 01:20:24.540
- And as a result of talking
with Dr. Richard Prestage,

01:20:24.540 --> 01:20:26.070
he gave me some projects to do.

01:20:26.070 --> 01:20:28.830
He actually let me do research
as a high school student.

01:20:28.830 --> 01:20:30.990
- [Teacher] I wanted to
bring Ellie into my classroom

01:20:30.990 --> 01:20:33.750
to let them know that we
have these awesome resources

01:20:33.750 --> 01:20:35.310
here in West Virginia,
that a lot of people

01:20:35.310 --> 01:20:37.230
don't think about.

01:20:37.230 --> 01:20:39.240
- And it's really important,
because scientists,

01:20:39.240 --> 01:20:40.290
there's a lot of work to do,

01:20:40.290 --> 01:20:41.430
and scientists can't do all of it,

01:20:41.430 --> 01:20:43.980
because there aren't a ton of scientists.

01:20:43.980 --> 01:20:46.167
So Richard here is gonna talk about

01:20:46.167 --> 01:20:47.820
why that's important for students

01:20:47.820 --> 01:20:49.233
to do citizen science.

01:20:50.130 --> 01:20:53.370
- You know, people play
music, people do art,

01:20:53.370 --> 01:20:57.510
people, even if they're
not famous artists,

01:20:57.510 --> 01:21:01.830
like to explore these different fields,

01:21:01.830 --> 01:21:04.038
and why not do the same
thing with science?

01:21:04.038 --> 01:21:05.640
(soft music)

01:21:05.640 --> 01:21:06.473
- Yeah.

01:21:06.473 --> 01:21:08.490
- So tell us about what
you made over there,

01:21:08.490 --> 01:21:10.170
and how it works.

01:21:10.170 --> 01:21:12.270
- So this is the great
thing about radio astronomy.

01:21:12.270 --> 01:21:13.680
It can be done with stuff that you dig up

01:21:13.680 --> 01:21:14.610
out of your backyard.

01:21:14.610 --> 01:21:15.690
It doesn't weigh very much.

01:21:15.690 --> 01:21:17.010
It's light.

01:21:17.010 --> 01:21:18.780
But it's really not very different

01:21:18.780 --> 01:21:20.610
from the Green Bank telescope, so.

01:21:20.610 --> 01:21:22.710
- We put all this stuff together.

01:21:22.710 --> 01:21:24.603
We're going to have that.

01:21:25.480 --> 01:21:27.853
Do you think they could build
it in, like, 10 minutes?

01:21:27.853 --> 01:21:29.149
- [Ellie] Oh yeah.

01:21:29.149 --> 01:21:29.982
- [Student 1] I have the strong one,

01:21:29.982 --> 01:21:31.830
so you're taking-
- And these on the side.

01:21:31.830 --> 01:21:33.510
- Small.
- Here.

01:21:33.510 --> 01:21:34.612
- [Student 1] Hey, can
I have that other side?

01:21:34.612 --> 01:21:35.881
- May I have the other side-
- Yes.

01:21:35.881 --> 01:21:37.080
- Need a big one.
- Wait no, this is-

01:21:37.080 --> 01:21:38.160
- [Student 2] No, stick it on the bottom.

01:21:38.160 --> 01:21:39.540
Remember, these are the bottom.

01:21:39.540 --> 01:21:40.744
- Yeah.
- We need that for that.

01:21:40.744 --> 01:21:42.541
- I need a little-
- Ah.

01:21:42.541 --> 01:21:43.587
- [Teacher] Someone go over there and see

01:21:43.587 --> 01:21:46.338
if you can find the copper
wire, and these little zip ties.

01:21:46.338 --> 01:21:48.123
- They're 37 and a half.
- [Teacher] Okay.

01:21:48.123 --> 01:21:48.956
- [Student 1] You could
just drop it a little.

01:21:48.956 --> 01:21:52.230
- I think we can put it back
on there. (kids chatting)

01:21:52.230 --> 01:21:53.370
So I'm really proud of you guys.

01:21:53.370 --> 01:21:54.450
You did a very good job.

01:21:54.450 --> 01:21:55.470
Now.

01:21:55.470 --> 01:21:58.830
So Ellie created that
curriculum over there,

01:21:58.830 --> 01:22:02.280
so the next step in this is to actually

01:22:02.280 --> 01:22:03.960
get this thing moving, and going,

01:22:03.960 --> 01:22:07.197
and collecting data, and
then sending it to you.

01:22:07.197 --> 01:22:09.510
- How many lessons are we gonna do?

01:22:09.510 --> 01:22:11.438
'Cause hopefully there's a lot.

01:22:11.438 --> 01:22:12.271
(kids laugh)
- Oh!

01:22:12.271 --> 01:22:13.350
So that means they're excited
about it! (clapping hands)

01:22:13.350 --> 01:22:14.550
Hopefully there's a lot.

01:22:19.770 --> 01:22:22.020
- Amazing how much stuff you have,

01:22:22.020 --> 01:22:23.670
you live in a house for 20 years.

01:22:25.080 --> 01:22:27.003
It's been in my family for 70 years.

01:22:28.752 --> 01:22:29.585
All right?

01:22:29.585 --> 01:22:32.280
All right, just watch
your step, Pete, okay?

01:22:32.280 --> 01:22:33.543
Just bittersweet.

01:22:34.476 --> 01:22:37.350
As much as I'm saddened by leaving,

01:22:37.350 --> 01:22:40.410
I'm looking forward to
being with my wife now.

01:22:40.410 --> 01:22:42.000
Everyday.

01:22:42.000 --> 01:22:44.130
Every year. (chuckling)

01:22:44.130 --> 01:22:45.330
You okay?

01:22:45.330 --> 01:22:46.980
Watch the wire.

01:22:46.980 --> 01:22:47.823
Okay, you good?

01:22:49.440 --> 01:22:50.273
Very good.

01:22:50.273 --> 01:22:53.520
On his truck is a picture of the telescope

01:22:53.520 --> 01:22:55.530
where I'm going.

01:22:55.530 --> 01:22:56.520
I don't know what to think.

01:22:56.520 --> 01:22:58.053
This is just so bizarre.

01:22:59.040 --> 01:23:00.750
I'm driving here, tonight.

01:23:00.750 --> 01:23:01.980
I'll be there in the morning.

01:23:01.980 --> 01:23:03.130
That's where I'm going.

01:23:06.834 --> 01:23:07.966
That's it.

01:23:07.966 --> 01:23:12.417
That's it!

01:23:12.417 --> 01:23:17.304
(gentle uplifting music)
(engine rumbling)

01:23:17.304 --> 01:23:20.054
(engine rumbles)

01:23:30.144 --> 01:23:34.394
(gentle uplifting music continues)

01:23:37.140 --> 01:23:39.003
- Welcome to our humble abode.

01:23:39.900 --> 01:23:41.343
We've got lots of land.

01:23:42.690 --> 01:23:44.238
We will have a home.

01:23:44.238 --> 01:23:45.720
- Yeah.

01:23:45.720 --> 01:23:46.553
- Garden.

01:23:48.210 --> 01:23:49.585
Yeah, I like it.

01:23:49.585 --> 01:23:50.913
I like the cows.
- I love it.

01:23:50.913 --> 01:23:52.251
No, the cows, eh.

01:23:52.251 --> 01:23:53.160
- No, I like the cows.

01:23:53.160 --> 01:23:54.764
Cows are staying.

01:23:54.764 --> 01:23:57.181
(Sue laughs)

01:23:58.200 --> 01:23:59.790
You know, we would like to, at some point,

01:23:59.790 --> 01:24:02.400
make a series of cabins for refugees

01:24:02.400 --> 01:24:03.550
that need a place to land before,

01:24:03.550 --> 01:24:04.833
so to get settled.

01:24:09.660 --> 01:24:10.710
You know, when we got married,

01:24:10.710 --> 01:24:12.420
I told you, I don't care where we are.

01:24:12.420 --> 01:24:14.270
I would live in a paper bag with you.

01:24:15.737 --> 01:24:16.943
This is far from a paper bag.

01:24:16.943 --> 01:24:17.970
- We've gotten close, too, to a paper bag.

01:24:17.970 --> 01:24:19.694
- We've been close to a paper bag.

01:24:19.694 --> 01:24:23.586
- Yeah.

01:24:23.586 --> 01:24:28.586
- [Sue] This is nice.

01:24:33.583 --> 01:24:35.643
- [Barbara] I come at least once a week.

01:24:38.730 --> 01:24:41.550
I think it's nice to visit.

01:24:41.550 --> 01:24:42.903
I wanna thank you.

01:24:47.308 --> 01:24:51.390
(wind chimes clanging)

01:24:51.390 --> 01:24:53.823
Doing real well since the weather changed.

01:24:57.300 --> 01:24:59.310
George loved to sit out
here and watch them,

01:24:59.310 --> 01:25:00.453
or just sit here.

01:25:02.160 --> 01:25:04.503
He delighted in showing me things.

01:25:05.520 --> 01:25:08.730
He enjoyed explaining different things

01:25:08.730 --> 01:25:11.313
about the scopes, and their operation.

01:25:13.260 --> 01:25:16.560
He worked here when Dr. Drake

01:25:16.560 --> 01:25:19.860
sent his messages out. (laughing)

01:25:19.860 --> 01:25:24.003
And he believed it.

01:25:29.209 --> 01:25:32.459
(soft uplifting music)

01:25:35.771 --> 01:25:36.720
- I don't necessarily look down there

01:25:36.720 --> 01:25:39.420
and wonder what they're
listening to today.

01:25:39.420 --> 01:25:41.485
I'm sure they're listening
to something there.

01:25:41.485 --> 01:25:42.870
(Donnie's friend laughs)

01:25:42.870 --> 01:25:45.540
- You helped build it.
- Yeah, I worked there.

01:25:45.540 --> 01:25:46.853
When they were building it.

01:25:48.300 --> 01:25:49.700
So do you believe in aliens?

01:25:50.550 --> 01:25:52.260
Extraterrestrial life?

01:25:52.260 --> 01:25:53.580
- I don't know.

01:25:53.580 --> 01:25:54.540
What about you?

01:25:54.540 --> 01:25:55.373
- Yeah.

01:25:55.373 --> 01:25:56.460
I think they're out there.

01:25:56.460 --> 01:25:57.293
Somewhere.

01:25:59.610 --> 01:26:02.100
I don't think they've been here yet.

01:26:02.100 --> 01:26:04.297
- [Donnie's Friend] I just
see it for what it is.

01:26:04.297 --> 01:26:05.373
It's a big satellite.

01:26:06.690 --> 01:26:09.012
- We should get better
TV with a dish that big.

01:26:09.012 --> 01:26:12.400
(Donnie's friend laughing)

01:26:12.400 --> 01:26:15.567
(soft wondrous music)

01:26:22.524 --> 01:26:25.607
(music intensifying)

01:26:31.910 --> 01:26:35.243
(bright exciting music)

01:26:37.538 --> 01:26:40.288
(plank thudding)

01:26:44.132 --> 01:26:47.049
(cement splatting)

01:26:56.852 --> 01:27:01.019
(bright exciting music continues)

01:27:10.241 --> 01:27:11.630
(bright exciting music continues)

01:27:11.630 --> 01:27:12.797
- Right there.

01:27:16.860 --> 01:27:20.433
- Our story is the story of the universe.

01:27:23.250 --> 01:27:24.903
Every piece of everyone,

01:27:27.060 --> 01:27:29.410
of everything you love
and everything you hate,

01:27:32.460 --> 01:27:34.323
of the thing you hold most precious,

01:27:36.270 --> 01:27:38.010
was assembled by the forces of nature

01:27:38.010 --> 01:27:40.660
in the first few minutes of
the life of the universe,

01:27:42.600 --> 01:27:44.463
transformed in the hearts of stars,

01:27:45.720 --> 01:27:47.523
or created in their fiery deaths.

01:27:50.310 --> 01:27:52.440
These are the words of the
well-known particle physicist

01:27:52.440 --> 01:27:54.873
and science communicator,
Professor Brian Cox.

01:27:56.760 --> 01:27:58.860
Both Professor Cox and Dr. Sagan,

01:27:58.860 --> 01:28:01.680
with his famous quote, "We
are made of star stuff,"

01:28:01.680 --> 01:28:04.580
share a message that resonates
with people the world over.

01:28:05.820 --> 01:28:08.580
And the message they share
is that as Earthlings,

01:28:08.580 --> 01:28:10.830
we are truly connected to the universe,

01:28:10.830 --> 01:28:11.993
and to each other.

01:28:18.482 --> 01:28:21.565
(music intensifying)

01:28:30.070 --> 01:28:31.830
And in the vastness of space,

01:28:31.830 --> 01:28:34.280
our existence is both
significant and meaningful.

01:28:37.920 --> 01:28:39.810
It seems appropriate
to end with a few words

01:28:39.810 --> 01:28:40.743
from Carl Sagan.

01:28:44.167 --> 01:28:45.423
"We speak for Earth.

01:28:47.070 --> 01:28:49.110
Our obligation to survive and flourish

01:28:49.110 --> 01:28:51.480
is not just to ourselves,

01:28:51.480 --> 01:28:53.133
but also to that cosmos,

01:28:54.030 --> 01:28:56.907
ancient and vast, from which we spring."

01:29:00.598 --> 01:29:04.015
(bright inspiring music)

01:29:13.077 --> 01:29:15.827
(metal clinking)

01:29:26.960 --> 01:29:31.293
(bright inspiring electronic music)

01:29:37.136 --> 01:29:39.636
(music fades)

01:29:44.059 --> 01:29:46.476
(soft music)

01:29:55.947 --> 01:29:59.197
(soft music continues)

01:30:08.752 --> 01:30:12.002
(soft music continues)

01:30:14.129 --> 01:30:15.839
(music crescendos)

01:30:15.839 --> 01:30:19.006
(soft dramatic music)

01:30:28.870 --> 01:30:32.870
(soft dramatic music continues)

01:30:42.285 --> 01:30:46.285
(soft dramatic music continues)

01:30:55.295 --> 01:30:59.295
(soft dramatic music continues)

01:31:08.586 --> 01:31:12.669
(soft dramatic music continues)

01:31:13.943 --> 01:31:16.526
(music fading)