ATOMIC ENERGY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 250, 3 August 1946, Page 5

ATOMIC ENERGY

NEW HORIZONS ARE OPENED MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright.) NEW YORK, August 2. Opening new horizons of medical and biological research, the Manhattan atomic project presented tiny units of radio-active carbon known as Carbon 14, to various research institutes for special purposes, thus making the first peacetime use of the atomic project. Each unit of Carbon 14 weighs only 1-10,0.00 th of an ounce, costs 400 dollars and is capable of emitting 37,000,000 aotnic ray particles a second for the next 10,000 to 25,000 years.

Carbon 14 will be first used for research in connection with cancer, diabetes, teeth, hones, liver, blood, utilisation of fats in the body and the mechanism of photosynthesis, meaning the phenomenon whereby plants take energy from sunlight and store it as chemical energy.

Photosynthesis is responsible for most of the stored energy used by mail, such as coal, oil, xvood and food.

In addition to radio-active carbon, atomic energy facilities can produce radio-active forms of rare elements, including radio-active sulphur, phosphorous and iodine.

The greatest benefit from the use of radio-active materials is likely to come from tracer rather than therapeutic technique in investigating the causes of disease and the life process generally. Manhattan engineers said that each tiny unit of Carbon 14 represents 100 to 1000 times as much of isotops previously available for research in any single cyclotron produced.