GOOD RESULTS FROM RESEARCH

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21199, 25 June 1934, Page 12

GOOD RESULTS FROM RESEARCH

—: THREE USEFUL INVENTIONS * PROMISING NEW TYPE OF COMPASS LONDON, May 12. Government expenditure on scientific research, it Avas disclosed at a conversazione held at the Royal Society, last night, has recently been rewarded by the invention of an entirely new type of electrical compass for marine and air use, which is lighter than any existing instrument and cannot swing; a mechanical radio-direction-finder which is claimed to be more sturdy and foolproof than any yet available; and a a deaf-aid which, it is believed, will restore normal hearing within at least the range of a conversation group in all cases of deafness due to middle-ear trouble. The new compass, which comes from the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, is based on the fact that a beam of electrons moving in a vacuum is inevitably deflected to the east by the earth's magnetic field. The whole arrangement being electrical, it is possible to arrange that any deflection from a set magnetic course is immediately indicated by the flashing" of a red or green light. This is the way in which the ne v compass will probably be used, while its lightness and the rapidity with which it can be read will, it is hoped, render it specially suitable for aircraft. It is described as extraordinarily sensitive. The other two inventions mentioned are exhibited by the Director of Scientific Research, the Admiralty, the deaf-aid being, it is understood, a development from other work of definitely naval value. This is the first occasion that the Admiralty has exhibited its research achievements. The deaf-aid consists of a microphone, a small but heavy wooden box, and a vibrating wire encased in a tube. Sound passes to the ear through the bones of the head, the flat end of the tube being either gripped between the teeth or held against the mastoid bone behind the ear. The special efficiency of the present apparatus is due, it is suggested, to the fact that vibrations produced are of the kind of which the ear normally makes use. Among other man-made wonders in one of the; most remarkable exhibitions the Royal' Society has yet staged where a model showing the formation of the Aurora Borealis, the production of artificial clouds, and a demonstration of Cambridge atom-splitting.