WONDERS OF SCIENCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 28 June 1923, Page 1

WONDERS OF SCIENCE.

AIACIIIXK WITH BRAINS. ! I.OXDOX. May is Professor C. A . Boy- lms -pent tin year- in perfecting a wonderful n chine which he Inis invented. This on exhibition at the Koval So. iely, Burlington House. Ihe nmrvello new mechanism calculate-, thinks, a tl cti dips a pen in ink. and writes dm it- thoughts. It lias human intel gone.', and more tlnfn human infill Dility. It never tire, and never tnak a mi-take. The work of the calm meter D to pass out gas. correct tet perntnrc and pressure, adjust wnt vapour, and write down the aetu value of the gtt- in ink on a r< M paper. It is the gas consumer's watc dog. Xu mi-take escapes its vigilant' It detects the -lightest variation in tl quality of gas. and at mice pens an i) .hetman! of the olfi-me. for action 1 the expert engineer. The work will j on unceasingly lor mouths without an human a'-i.-liuuc. XI.W Hi:ADS.

1 So many remarkable examples i scientific progress were displayed a the annual conver-n/.ione of the Boy; Soi ielv that those who examined the: hern mo hew ildered by what they saw Beetles whose heads had hoeli cut o] were shown with other beetles' head transplanted on them. Air Ortihat Cannon said that the body of th beetle on being given a change o head would gradually conform to th species, and even the sex. of the de capitated beetle whose head it nov wore. Some of these broth's lived si: weeks after their change of head, tun led and lived normally, Truly, tin possible lines of development ol these startling experiments make one think The contents of a man-eating eroro dile’s -tomaeh. pre-ented to the Briti.s! Aliiseum by Air C. S. Al. Swynerton attracted considerable attention. A number of human hones, I 1 gold bracelet,. ami head necklaces were found iuf side thi- monster. Pieces ol deep-sea , able damaged by -hark::. „n,. of which had left In- teeth behind, were ni-o shown. -IB B. PAGF.T’S AIITIFH IAB “Id! BOAT." One of the most inteersting items was the demonstration given by Sir L. I’aget. who has made artificial throatwhich can produce vowel sounds, and even -peak. • ■•['here have." -aid Sir Bichard, “been scientific experiment- made for the reproducing of the human voice .i ( i,, 17<)7. A good ninny vowel sounds have been reproduced by combining a reed like the reed of a clarionet with a tube which i"-.mates. But it has never been pos-ihle in thi- way to produce all the vowel -omul-, and the fundamental principle of vowel production by the human voice did not seem to he undelstood. During the war I had a good deal of experience ill listening to and analysing sound- in connection with the detection ''l -llh Ilia t'i lie- . About -» yeai ago I • a interested in li-tetiing the uiiiinl of my own voice when whi-pering vowel sound- without u-ing tin larynx. I heard in every case two note- of re-ouance in.-ale my neatth. I then made experiments wifi I'ln-li- < im- cavities, whicli I tuned to have thi • tune resonances a- i ho-,' I had heard ; in mv own mouth. II * • plastieine cavities were battle—lmped, with waistami according a- the model had a high waist or a low wai.-t. the two cavities wa- to produce what we call a whispered vowel sound. Having added on a reed at the hack of the model -n a- to oas, vibratory air through the model, instead of a continuous stream of air. tho-e resonances coloured ills' notes J that came front the tv.-d in a way which j the human car appreciated its voiced j "The practical result of the experi- ! meut is to give an explanation of the j mcthanism of vowel prodmUon. and j ah,o the pi:-- ihility of le-tillg by expi film, ot; with model- the diUert lit olivets 01 lariat ions of the. larynx, and the v,\ fin tiun*. in tiio -i/.o niul foutuni* <’ ! t lii<' r-nvi l ies ol i iio liUJunii inoutli au<l TImMI ill* 1 rxporilin'lilN JlNo 1,, 11,«> possibility of miikini' an instnililt'lll that will iniitalf 11 it* human vokh* hitherto—for example, an improved vox huuuma pipe for organs. Ii would also lie possible to make talking doll'. | We limv even conceive a British industry of talking doll making. STAN DAB DISF.D VOW FI.. "Then there i- the possibility of makimi iii«mU*U lor vowel sounds for instructional puiqio-es. said Sm Bichar.!. “The phonograph is not altogether satisfactory as a method ol standardising vowel sounds because the vowel sound i- roii-tant. whatever tieair pressure and whatever the larynx note employed. TTiere is a I ull hc 1 possibility of applying the invention to (he deveiopnient oi a new branch ot in,t—i* - since it 1- clear that human speech is essentially a musical cliVct."