Science and Invention.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 448, 17 November 1904, Page 7

Science and Invention.

WINCED FLYING MACHINE. A YOUNG Italian engineer has invented a flying machine based on the flight of birds, which he has been studying for many years. The wings of the apparatus are made of aluminium and fine silk, and measure thirteen yards from tip to tip. The mode of propulsion is the same as in a bird's flight, and a rudder will guide the machine; It differs from others of its kind in that it can be made to rise from levol ground.

J STAMPS! A useful pcnny-in-the-slot machine has been patented by which the purchasor will bo enabled to obtain stamps at all hours. The machine is so constructed that it can bo fitted into a wall or pillar-box, for it is of small compass. The purchaser, after placing the penny in the slot, prosses the knob and the machine does the rest. The stamps are placed on a roller, and only one stamp is released at a time, white an indicator shows the number of stamps remaining in the machine. It is understood that the Postmaster-General has the invention under consideration.

MEASURING WIRELESS WAYES. Dr. J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., has constructed an apparatus for measuring the wave lengths of the electric or Hertzian waves that are discharged by the sending station in wireless telegraphy. The principle of the devico is based on the fact that if any series of waves in regular succession is reflected from an obstacle—like sea waves from a sea-wall—the returning and oncoming waves, sometimes neutralising and sometimes reinforcing one another, form ' nodes ' acd ' loops ' of maximum and minimum effort at fixed points. Dr. Fleming's apparatus for showing the nodes and loops of an electric train of waves consisted of a spiral of fine wire, along which the discharge of two Leyden jars propelled vibrations varying in number per second. The resultant electric wave travelled along the spiral at about fifteen hundred miles a second, was reflected and returned, thus establishing on the wire stationary electric waves, just as stationary aerial waves arc produced in an organ pipe. The position of the r.odes and loops was ascertained by the use of a series of carbonic dioxide vacuum tubes, which glowed when near a loop—the point where the oncoming and returning waves joined to produce a region of maximum electric force.

THE SUN A BINARY STAR. In a study of the circulation of the atmosphere of the sun, Prof. Frank H. Bigelow presents a mass of data and observations showing that ' the sun should be regarded as an incipient binary star.' Recent scientific work in investigating tho circulation of the solar atmosphera in accordance with the laws governing the convective and radiative action of a large mass of matter contracting by its own gravitation, has led Prof. Bigelow to the hypothesis that, ' tho single fiery envelope conceals two discs,' A series of observations extending over many years on the period of solar rotation at various points on the surfase shows that ' the same meridian of the sun is seen twice in a single rotation of the entire mass, first as the eastern limb, and second, thirteen days later as the western limb. Whatever may be the intrinsic activity of the sun at a given zone and on a given meridian, that display becomes visible twice, first to the east, and second to the west.' The tables prepared by Prof. Bigelow giving the rate of angular rotation of various zones of the sun's surface show that it is far from uniform, being increased in proportion to the distance from the equator. As yet little has been done regarding ' the fundamental problem of the mode of the internal solar circulation.' This difference of external activity of the sun ' on two opposite sides of its mass, as if a certain diameter had greater energy than the one at right angles to it,' is similar to a recent discovery of .Prof. Bigelow in regard to the earth's atmosphere, and leads him to the conclusion already stated, that' this persistent excess of outflowing energy on two opposite sides of the sun suggests the possibility that the sun should bo regarded as an incipient binary star where the dumb-bell figure of rotation prevails instead of the spheroidal. If this is really the case, and the evidence suggests it, then there would be a reason for the existence of the two primary centres of activity of the sun instead of its having a single centre. Prom this we would expect to find that the sun has two magnetic and two meteorological systems, and, indeed, some double-acting system appears to impress itself generally upon the solar cosmical relations. This view is quite in harmony with the well-known fact of the existence of numerous binary systems of suns more or less widely separated, and it cannot be regarded as unlikely that the sun is developing in the same way. Tho enormous mass of the sun would seem to entice its constituents to group themselves preferably about two centres for the physical processes involved in circulation and radiation, rather than about one, and I suspect that this is the correct explanation of several well-known phenomena.'

AN AUTOMATIC EXTINGUISHING ELECTRIC LAMP. An electric lamp that automatically extinguishes itself when its candle-power has fallen to a certain point is a new departure. The light-giving power of an incandescent lamp decreases with age, and, while the current consumption also falls, the two do not change in proportion. That is, the candle power falls off much fastsr than the current; jn other words, the efficiency decreases, as the lamp gets older. This matter so important by many central stations that, in addition to purchasing their lamps under the most rigid tests and specifications as to maintenance of life, they regularly visit their various customers and remove the lamps that show less than a certain predetermined minimum of light. Recognising - the growing demand for this system of lamp renewal, the BryanMarsh Company, of Few York, are now placing on the market a lamp which will automatically extinguish itself after its candle-power has fallen to a certain fixed point. As at present constructed, the apparatus is arranged to go out when its candle-power has fallen to about 80 per cent, of the original, which takes place under ordinarily good voltage regulation in about 300 hours.

A SUBJWARIJ*E DETECTOR,; The Russian ironclad ' Rusalka,' which foundered a few years ago with all hands in a storm in the Gulf of Finland, has been discovered mainly by means of Captain M'Evoy's ' submarine detector '— an electrical apparatus with a sinker attached. When the sinker trailed at the bottom of the sea approaches a mass of metal—a lost anchor, a parted iron chain, a broken telegraph cable, still more a sunk ironclad—the electric indicator in the mahogany ca.se on shipboard sounds more or less loudly according to the nearness of the sinker to the submerged mass ; and so the position of the litter can be pretty accurately ascertained before divers are sent down. Much time wasted in painful gropings in the dark by the. divers under the special difficmlties of their condition may thus be avoided. The submarine detector was primarily designed to enable warships to discover anchored torpedoes; .and the con-, nection established by thesinker was in T , tended also to serve as a means of firing, in safety, a torpedo discovered by the I < detector.'