Word: beams
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Dubbed LAGEOS, for laser geody-namic satellite, the new satellite consists of an aluminum shell dimpled with 426 so-called cube-corner prism reflectors. Each of the prisms reflects directly to the source a laser beam striking it from any angle. Inside the sphere is a solid brass core, which contributes most of the 903-Ib. satellite's weight. Because it is so small yet has so much mass, LAGEOS will not be much affected by any traces of the earth's atmosphere, particles in the solar wind, or variations in the earth's gravity field...
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...years and a few days ago, in the early morning hours of April 25, 1974, Radio Lisbon began to beam the revolutionary song "Grandola" over the land. The anthem, expressing belief in "equality on every face" and a Portugal where "the people take first place," carried a message that had rarely been heard in a nation which had suffered for 48 years under fascism. Fittingly, the song was the signal for those army officers--mainly captains and majors--committed to the cause of a socialist and democratic Portugal to take command of key military and government installations, and to overthrow...
...phone, where they are converted back to sound waves. In a typical optical arrangement (see diagram), sound waves entering a telephone microphone are converted into electrical signals. These signals pass through an encoder, which converts them into electrical pulses that switch a laser on and off, interrupting a light beam being sent into the end of a fiber. The light thus travels in a series of pulses, not unlike Morse code, that race along the glass "wire." At the end of their journey, these light pulses are picked up by a photodetector, which converts them back to electrical pulses. These...
Suddenly the music stops. It is 2 a.m., and out of nowhere materialized uniformed policemen, plaid-jacketed plainclothesmen, and a searchlight the size of a cannon. The disc-jockey abandons his notorious sound system to steer the bright beam over the crowd. The silver-studded dancers break apart like mercury and slither sullenly towards the exit. There is a twenty minute wait for coats;the boy with the orange cape has donned less auspicious clothing and bustles about the cloakroom, calling out numbers, grabbing tickets, rolling his eyes...