Science Finds Treasure In Dustbins

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28434, 14 November 1957, Page 20

Science Finds Treasure In Dustbins

[By

ERNEST CHISHOLM THOMSON]

LONDON. Scientists can afford a wry smile over the discovery that there is not. after all, £250.000 worth of treasure under the Governor’s House at the 1000-years-old Tower of London. Geiger counters and other technical devices gave dubious readings last May when digging started for the alleged hoard of Sir John Barkstcad. the Tower’s 17-century Lieutenant, and the excavations have now seen that pessimism justified. It may be otherwise with "treasure” concealed in dustbins. A typical domestic dustbin, crammed with garbage and ashes, impressed me most at the "Atom 1957” exhibition presented by the "Sunday Times” in London’s fashionable Park Lane. Framed against an illuminated city scene, the dustbin stood for the scientist’s dream of being able to convert anything entirely into energy. Ashes from a home grate, when he masters the secret, could produce enough electricity to supply the United Kingdom for a year. Isotopes for 52 Countries How near we may be to this atomic age. when neutrons and protons will dance in- complete submission to man’s tune, was more than hinted at in vivid displays unravelling some of the i puzzles that bewilder the ordinary man. Ironically, though we [in Britain have in Calder Hall the world’s first full-scale atomic I power station actually feeding j electric power into the national network, not one man in 20 I could tell you how it works. I A visit to the exhibition was lan eye-opener. Here were brilliantly illuminated models of the Calder Hall and Dounreay power stations. They explained how the i fission reactors split the nuclei of uranium, and the almost frightening chain reaction that follows to produce the heat that drives the turbines. The "waste matter” of atomic power stations —better known as radio-isotopes—supplied most of the human touches in this technical display. Britain leads the world in their production and last year sold £514.0 q 0 worth — more" than half going to 52 countries overseas, including Canada and the United States of America. They are invaluable in chemistry, biology and industry and have special applications in medical research, diagnosis and treatment. We saw how a hairless gooseberry was produced by subjecting the fruit to rays, and were able to watch the path of radioactive fertilisers in plants—a valuable clue in the development of effective chemical manures. With a geiger counter we could hunt for radioactive "treasure” on a map of London, or "Find the Lady" in a batch of playing cards. Optically, the most dramatic exhibit showed a hospital patient alone on the operating table; then, by a trick-mirror effect, the : radio-isotope apparatus suddenly appeared from nowhere to locate [ and treat a tumour. 1 This "eye-opener” technique never fails to win an audience. iOne of the strongest appeals to ithe optic nerves in the United : Kingdom this month has been • the page-high newspaper adveritisement of Britain's General

Electric Company with pictures of Niagara, proclaiming that its Canadian organisation has been awarded the contract for illuminating the falls. Nature's most tremendous spectacle, we are told, is to be adorned by a varying kaleidoscope of light of changing hues—a magnificent contract won against keen American competition. As the company points out, these dramatic effects will enchant tourists -from all over the world and provide a lasting tribute to British lighting skill and enterprise. There is great interest in London this month in 8.E.5.1., the bus electronic scanning .installation. London Transport claims it could revolutionise the control of buses in congested cities. It utilises one of the most cunning optical tricks yet tried. Electronic cameras are being placed at a number of scanning points along the route. Each bus is fitted with a small panel of reflectors, and as it passes the scanning point an impulse is conveyed from the panel in the form of a code showing the running number of the bus. The system makes it possible to trace the progress of buses from one section to another, enabling inspectors to tell when and where the buses are running in bunches. Bus route 74, on which the first tests are being made, runs close to the world-famous Madam Tussaud's 150-years-old waxworks exhibition at Baker street. A startling copper dome has recently reared its head over Madame Tussaud’s and is soon to house one of the optical marvels of the Metropolis—a £lO.OOO planetarium. Visitors from all over the world will be able to watch the gyrations of the stars and planets. That the planetarium should arrive during the International Geophysical Year is particularly appropriate. Composed of 29,000 separate parts, the planetarium will hold 543 people for each 40min ute session of observation. They can see the night sky in both hemispheres and as it appeared at different periods of history—as when Columbus first set foot in North America and Galileo looked through his telescope 350 years ago. (U.K. Information Service.)