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from the Why-couldn't-they-say-that-before? dept.
On September 6th, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) made the decision to temporarily vacate the Sunspot Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico as a precautionary measure while addressing a security issue. The facility closed down in an orderly fashion and is now re-opening. The residents that vacated their homes will be returning to the site, and all employees will return to work this week.
AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak. During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility and ceased science activities at this location.
The decision to vacate was based on the logistical challenges associated with protecting personnel at such a remote location, and the need for expeditious response to the potential threat. AURA determined that moving the small number of on-site staff and residents off the mountain was the most prudent and effective action to ensure their safety.
http://www.aura-astronomy.org/news/news.asp?newsID=389
(Score: 4, Informative) by ikanreed on Monday September 17 2018, @05:53PM
I recently learned the distinction between sentient(as it's commonly used) and sentient(psychological jargon) and shied away from it.
So, sentient as we commonly understand it means "intelligent and self-aware", but in psychology, the scientific meaning is just "possesses senses" which is exactly what I didn't want to say. So I chose the less common, but technically accurate term sapient.