SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7938, 11 January 1906, Page 6

SCIENCE SIFTINGS.

A RACE IN THE AIR. The first airship race held in the United States was sailed last Monday between Mr Alva Reynolds' Man Angel No. 2 and Mr Wordin Twombly's Ballet. The ships were scheduled to sail 30 miles, and then return. They failed to return, and the decision was announced as a draw. The Bullet, which is a a large craft, rose to a height of 900 ft., and then lost her rudder, but she managed to complete her outward trip successfully. The Man Angel is a tiny craft, propelled by handoars, and rose to an elevation of 3000 ft. She is said to have responded perfectly to all attempts to manoeuvre her, and sailed true to her course. THE STRIKING OP CLOCKS. The clock in the tower of the new Naval College at Dartmouth—to be opened shortly by the King—will mark time as it is kept on board ships, by striking eight, six, four bells, etc. It is to be hoped there will be no uncertainty in the neighbourhood as to breakfast time. We rather agree with those who thinu that striking clocks are somewhat of a nuisance when too numerous. In the course of 24 hours the ordinary striking clock gives 156 strokes a day, or 59,940 .strokes in the year. If the clock gives the usual chimes for the quarters the number of strokes is increased by 900 in the day, or 350,400 in the year. Such a clock inflicts humanity with 40,310 concussions per year. THE SWISS WATER POWER AND ELECTRIC TRACTION. The Switzerland Government has resolved to convert the whole of the railroads in the country to electric traction, and tenders for carrying out the enterprise are to be invited from ihe most, promitient electrical engineering firms. Enormous sources of generating the requisite energy are available from the abundant waterfalls, greater proportion of which power is at pr«sen t running to waste. The State railroads aggregate 1520 miles of track, of which 242 miles are double. Although the revenue from the railroads is already considerable, and lucrative to the Government, it is anticipated that conversion of the railroads to eleotric traction will result in an increased profit. MYSTERIES OF LIGHT. j All the mysteries and marvels of light are by no means explained, even now, after three centuries of critical researoh by some of the ablest m«n the world nas produced. For Kepler and Newton worked year after year in hope of solving the problem of the ages, "What is Light?" Every object on earth ia black. Colours do not exit in any kind of matter or material things, but in the light. If light, just as received from the sun, be passed through a prism of glass, and let fall on a white wall or screen, a lone band of colours will be seen. This is called the solar spectrum. The colours are ranged in regular order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and voilet. A red rose destroys, quenches, or absorbs every colour of the {spectrum and reflects red light only, and a green leaf is able tu reflect green and no other tint. There are many thousand shades of red, blue, green and so on and, colours merging one into another gradually. There may be almost m infinite number of tints.