SCIENCE NOTES & NEWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 550, 15 March 1913, Page 2

SCIENCE NOTES & NEWS.

SEHSi iWATER DISAPPEARS

In the moon w© may see what the «arth is coming to-—a planet without water and hence without life. It is true some eminent astronomers argue that there are evidences of plants ait the bottom of some of the huge craters. But these would he only the very last remnants of life there. Now, a German savant, named Kernbaum, comes forwaru with a brand new theory to account for the disappearance of water. When water is decomposed by radium or the ultra-violet rays of light there are produced hydrogen and peroxide of hydrogen, but no oxygen. Herr Kernbaum's theory is that some water is being constantly decomposed in this way, and that the hydrogen so formed, being the lightest substance known, rises into the upper regions of the atmosphere, never to unite with oxygen and return to the earth's surface. Instead it would gradually be dissipated in space. In this way the earth's suply of water would constantly diminish. In support of his theory he cites the unquestioned fact that many parts of the earth are drier than formerly.

FOR HOLDING BAGS IN PLACE

Filling sacks with loose materials, grain, potatoes, and such-like, is a troublesome operation, and requires the services of two men —one holding the bag whilst the other fills in the commodity. An implement has been invented which readers the process much easier. It is a modified sack barrow, so contrived as to hold the mouth of the bag open, and when the latter is filled, the workman wheels it away without any loss of time. Instead of the sides of the barrow resting upon the axle in the ordinary way they are carried on standards, which rise ten or a dozen inches from the axle. On the sides are fastened flexible steel bands, sufficiently loose to form a bed for the sack to lie upon without rolling off. At the upper ends of the sides are a pair of semi-circular iron jaws which work on pivots, and over which the mouth of the bag is opened. Whilst the bag is being filled the barrow is kept in position by th< support.

REFINED MEASUREMENTS

The extreme delicacy of scientific measurement is shown by an apparatus of English invention for comparing official standards of length. Its action depends uponthe interference of light-waves, causing shadow bands, the width of which is half the wave-length of the light employed. The red radiation from hydrogen or cadmium is used, and its wave-length is, say, the 50,000 th of an inch. The machine carries two microscopes, one- of which is attached to one of the glass plates reflecting the light and producing the interference bands. Fiist the recognised standard rod—say the imperial standard yard —is placed under the two microscopes, and one of its terminal marks is brought under the spider-lines of each. Then the rod to be tested is substituted, and one of its terminals is accurately adjusted. If it varies from the length of the standard, the other microscope, carrying the reflector, must be shifted until coincidence is obtained. The number of bands that move past during the shifting, multiplied by the half-wave-lengths of the light, gives the difference in length of the rods.

MOTION PICTURES MADE TO TALK.

To sit at the rear of a hall and watch himself make a speech on the platform to a group of fellow scientists is the unique experience enjoyed by Mr. Gaumont, a French savant, at a recent meeting of the Academy of Sciences in Paris. M. Gaumont is the inventor of a synchronised motion picture-phono-graph machine which -he calls a "chronograph." It is the result of many experiments with motion pictures and talking machines and is said to be a perfect co-ordination of the two. In' presenting the result of his labours to his associates, M. Gaumont adopted a method entirely out of the ordinary, but one which showed the capacity of the machine in a manner the reading of a long paper could never have done. He simply prepared his address and then caused pictures and phonographic records to be made of it wiih his machine. When it came time to present it to his audience, he darkened the room and let the machine speak for itself, projecting the pictures of himself on the screen while the talking machine gave simultaneously the details of the invention.

A RAILWAY IXNOVATION

Birmingham has introduced a new system for the printing and issuing of railway tickets. The booking clerk, when requiring to issue a ticket to any station, takes a blank card, places it in a slot in the sliding carriage, and moves it along until the pointer is opposite the alphabetically arranged name of the required station. He then depresses the hanrMo, and the ticket drops out, printed with live names of the issuing ant! destination number, dass etc while an automatic register of r.lu» operation is made.