Magazine of science

Press, 13 August 1980, Page 15

Magazine of science

' Topics covered in “8.8. C. Science Magazine” on the Concert programme at 7.30 p.m. include the possibilities of central heating by microwaves, the need for pregnant women to count their babies’ kicks, and a new study of separated identical twins. Conventional methods of heating people in rooms are extremely wasteful of energy. An American physicist has come up with an ingenious way of heating by microwave using less than a tenth of the power that goes into a one-bar electric heater. The programme checks on how such a system might work.

sjs :js A recent Danish study has shown that the more active a foetus is in the womb, the healthier the baby is; and the technique of getting pregnant women to count their babies’ kicks is now being used also in Britain. If the movements decrease or become sluggish, this can he an alarm signal and medical help can be caiied in. However, babies do spend a. great deal of time sleeping in the uterus, as they will in the cot, and it is important to distinguish the true cause of the inactivity.

Identical twins often think and behave alike, but unless ■they are brought up separately, the influence of their environment cannot be separated from that of their identical genes. An interesting study at the University of Minnesota has been designed to solve the problem of nature versus nurture by examining twins who have been separated at an early age and brought up in totally different surroundings. Some of the findings have been both dramatic and surprising.

Brandenberg concerto Herbert von Karajan conducts a series of four recordings of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in concert. In the first programme, on the Concet programme at 8 p.m., the orchestra plays the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1-in F and Beethovens Eroica Symphony.

Listening him ■■!.

Stevie Wonder Each week the Radio Orchestra performs music by composers who, in the last decade or so, have written the best-selling music. This week the orchestra has chosen songs: from the repertoire of the blind musician, Stevie Wonder. The. vocalist on this occasion is Peter Morgan. The arranger and conductor, is Carl Doy, who . also features on the piano. National programme, 8 p.m. Double bill

The National programme at 8.45 p.m. features .two plays, both written by New Zealand authors. The first is “Our Sort of Person,” written by Richard Boroman. The interview has become a key subject in the careers syllabus of the modern school. However, it is doubtful if any kind of preparation would equip one to face the type of interview which takes place in this play. Three applicants for the post of personal assistant to a senior executive find themselves involved in an intricate and cruel game. George Henare plays the role of the interviewer and the three applicants are portrayed by Richard Moss, Jacqui Dunn, and lan Mune. G. E. Royds wrote the second play, which is entitled “Roses, Roses.” Through it we see how the make-believe world of childhood can soften the realities of death and loneliness for the old and eccentric. Dulcie Smart, Anne Flannery, Peter Vere Jones, and Michael Haigh are the cast. Webern

The music of Anton We* bern, from Opus 1 through to 31, is being presented in a series of illustrated talks by Jack Speirs. In the sixth programme, on the Concert programme at 9.30 p.m. tomorrow he continues with Webern’s polyphonic ■ lied, the twelve-note technique evidenced in music • written between 1917 and 1926.