Americans Given

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31656, 17 April 1968, Page 6

Americans Given

(from LtA fITZGtKALD In Nev York I

Americans were given a “sneak preview” earlier this year of how man will live and work in tiie twenty-first century—which, they were reminded, is only a tittle more than three decades away. Throughout the world, at universities and research centres, in government and industry, scientists are inventing the machines of the future.

Some of their preliminary results were on view in a show arranged in New York by the Union Carbide Corporation with 18 other companies pooling examples of their ideas on the shape of things to come. Starting with a full-scale working mode) of the Apollo lunar module which it is hoped will soon land two astronauts on a 24-hour visit to the moon, the exhibits reflect scientific miracles of the present as well as those being brought to fruition in the not-too-distant future. Technologies covering space, medicine, transportation, education, oceanography and home life in the year 2000 are explained in models and Illustrations. Experts are at band to discuss social, economic and industrial possibilities well on into the twentyfirst century. Battery Car On the wide Part Avenue sidewalk in front of the Union Carbide skyscraper. New York City’s versatile Traffic Commissioner (Dr Henry A. Barnes) was given a driving lesson in what may be the vehicle of the future—the Alden StaRR car. Its developers, the Alden Self-Transit Systems Corporation. claim the car eould be the key to unsnarling much of today’s urban traffic congestion as well as to safety. In addition, it creates no smog and less noise than the conventional car. Why? The self-transit rail and road vehicle which looks a bit like a bulbous, super-mini-car, can weave through city traffic on battery power and, once out of town can transfer to automatic guideways for safe, highspeed travel. To underscore the feasibility of fuel-cell power as a source of light-weight, compact energy, Union Carbide scientists also gave a demonstration of a fuel-cell motorcycle outside the building. The motor-cycle does 25 miles an hour and is practically noiseless and exhaustfree. It operates on Hydrazine fuel (used in the space programme as a rocket propellant) and oxygen from the air. Two other automotive contenders for a place in the future are shown in 3/8 scale models by the Ford Motor Company. Atomic Power The Ford Nucleon would be powered by atomic energy and is based on the assumption that the bulkiness and weight of present nuclear reactors and attendant shielding will some day be reduced. 1 The Fora Seattleite features four steerable front wheels, interchangeable power packages and an interior that contains such advanced ideas as a travel programming computer, variable density glass, jalousie rear windows, and fingertip steering. Cars of the future are joined by other futuristic modes of transportation in the exhibition halls. Water Vehicles Water travellers might find Bell Aerosystems Company’s air cushion vehicles (A.C.V.S) waiting in port The size of Bell-built A.C.V.S have ranged from two small 18ft machines to the U.S. Navy’s 65ft, 27-ton hydro-skimmer, largest and most powerful A.C.V. built to date in the United States.

Ben is also presenting designs for water-going vehicles that can cruise at 80 knots —more than four times as fast as present ocean freighters. The air traveller will have some treats and new conveniences in store for him, too. According to the Bell people, the vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft (V/STOL) is a pioneering concept that hopefully may solve the problem of airport congestion. Air cushion landing gear (ACLG), another development from Bell, could some-; day do away with costly, hard-surfaced aircraft runways. It uses the air cushion principle that substitutes a doughnut-shaped “bag” of air for aircraft wheels or pontoons. How revellers will be able to leave Paris at noon and arrive in New York two hours before noon the same day is brought out by General Electric. Supersonic Transport Such a high-speed journey would be achieved by means of the projected jumbo U.S. SST supersonic transports propelled by four General Electric GE4s, powerful turbojet engines measuring 25ft in length and six feet in diameter. The 60,000 pound thrust of each engine would propel the SST at a speed of 1800 m.p.h. or nearly three times the speed of sound. The sun appears to move at about 1000 m.p.h., so travellers would realise one of mankind’s ancient dreams—outracing the sun.

Ocean Secrets The secrets of the oceans will be probed through techniques being developed by Ocean Systems, Inc., an affiliate of Union Carbide and General Precision Equipment Corporation. An advanced diving system, shown in the exhibit, consisting of a submersible decompression chamber and a deck decompression chamber, will probably be used. The submersible decompression chamber is basically a pressurised underwater “elevator” from which divers can exit to work or explore the ocean floor. If they choose, they can remain inside the chamber and observe the sea around them. The longest, deepest world’s record saturation dive of 636 ft was achieved in this chamber off the coast of Louisiana recently. Inhabitants of an underwater experimental station, or the crew of a submarine, will use a pioneering concept demonstrated by General Electric, the artificial “gill.” Tue gill is a special holefree silicone rubber membrane that extracts air from the surrounding water, while resisting the passage of the liquid. The G.E. demonstration model shows a hamster penned in a submerged plastic tank around which is stretched the gill. Since sea water is essentially saturated with air to a depth of many hundreds of feet, an artificial “gill” could be the source of air for underwater inhabitants. Future Farms Concepts of future food production for feeding the growing world population are projected by Sperry Rand’s New Holland division. Envisioned is a farm under glass In which tomorrow’s fanner and his computer may plan “ideal” weather for the entire crop-growing season, producing high yields in the shortest possible time. With a controlled underTlass environment, every farmer could plan on as many growing seasons as he desires, keeping his land in production 12 months a year, no matter where he is located.

The farmer of the future will also look to the sea as a source of food. The concept of what an undersea farm might look like is seen tn the Sperry Rand display of a “herd” of penned fish and special equipment for harvest'ng nourishing undersea plant life. In the outer space department the interior of the N.A.S.A./Grumman Apollo lunar module, including a functioning control panel, is available for inspection through a closed circuit television get-up engineered by General Electric. Communications Sperry Rand is showing a space age communications system for the Apollo project in the form of a communications lifeline that will be the only link between the Astronauts and the earth-based control stations. The network Is brought to life on an animated map which shows how computers handle critical information from the spacecraft. The exhibit explains the functions of earth stations and how they will support space travellers to the moon and beyond. Two experimental heartassist devices that are expected to save countless lives in the 21st century, if not sooner, are on display. One, an auxiliary left ventricle, was developed by

Avco Corporation and a team of doctors at Maimonldes Medical Center under the leadership of heart transplant surgeon. Dr Adrian Kantrowitz. The ventricle is a permanent. implantable, externally controlled pump that can assist. certain chronically diseased hearts. The other, Avco’s intra-aortic pump or “balloon” pump, is a temporary assistance device for giving emergency aid to heart failure victims.