SEVEN WONDERS OF THE FUTURE.
; HARNESSING THE ATOM. The feasibility of harnessing the atom is now generally recognised, and one of i Great Britain's foremost scientists has advanced this belief that it will be an accomplished fact in a very short time. But opinion is divided as to whether this is a cause for rejoicing or not. It may prove a blessing. On the other hand, it may prove an instrument for hurling the world to self-destruction. For the energy stored up in the atom is so terrific that, when released, all other known energies will be insignificant by comparison. The power which it will give to those who control it will be beyond any hitherto exercised. When wfs think of the seven-"wgnders" of the past, we arc apt to smile nowadays. Among the seven wonders of the future, the harnessing of the atom will certainly be one. What will be the other six? Captain Albau .1. Roberts (who was formerly 4n I'atea, Varanaki) gave an astonishing demonstration at' the London Coliseum of control by light and sound vibrations. When this is further developed, it may rank as No. 2 of the new wonders. Ilis invention was used secretly during the war in capturing enemy submarines, and consists of directing objects at a distance by throwing lights on them, or projecting sounds in their direction.
ON THE VERGE OF THE UNCANNY.
He flashes his electric torch. The ray plays upon a gong a hundred feet off, and the gong sounds. By the same process he causes explosions. To watch iiim "driving" and directing an empty motor car, making it, turn this way or that, start or *top, merely by blowing a small whistle, is to feel that one is on the verge of the uncanny.
But there is nothing uncanny or spiritualistic about the matter. It is pure science. And it may riiean that before long we shall be able to evplode a mine or fire a battery in Constantinople by pressing a button in London.
Alarm bells can already be rung by wireless at a distance of one hundred miles, and the Marconi Company is about to fit ships with the necessary apparatus.
Reverting to war devices, the United States "flying torpedo" suggests the third wonder. It" is in effect a miniature aeroplane, without a pilot, which, after it lias started on its journey, drops its chassis of its own accord, .presently discards its wings, and becomes a bomb. Its present range is 400 miies, and its altitude 300n feet. Before it is launched in the air it can be set with unfailing accuracy to any point within these limits. It develops a speed of from 100 to 200 miles nil hour, and if started between'ten and eleven a.m. in Edinburgh could drop in on Londoners and give them a surprise at lunch. The photographic or visible telephone may lx< included as No, 4. When this is perfected, it will be possible to telephone to a person at a distance and see him while he is talking to you. THE WONDERS OF RADIUM. * Radium will be responsible for another wonder, but one hesitates at this stage to predict, the precise, form. Periodically, one atom erupts live particles yi succession. In proportion to the eruption of a fierce active Volcano, the radium eruption is a million times more violent.
This comparison is sufficiently suggestive to show one aspect of radium'!) vast possibilities.
The old seven wonders include the hanging gardens of Semiramis, at Babylon. Among the new may be a hanging city, tiie forerunner 9f others, in which members of the overcrowded earth will take up their residence in the sky. It will probably be a development of the aerial station. A bookstall will appear, a shop or two; then offices and houses—it is easy to visualise the development.
And what, should be included as the seventh and last ; wonder of the future? Harnessing the tides; photographing sound, houses ruu entirely by pressing buttons and pullinjf levers, mechanical men to work for us! Progress has been' made in all of these.
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Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1920, Page 9 (Supplement)
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681SEVEN WONDERS OF THE FUTURE. Taranaki Daily News, 9 October 1920, Page 9 (Supplement)
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