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Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 48, 25 February 1921, Page 8

In attempting to communicate with Mars thero are several factors that must b<\ taken into consideration. Henry Meier of Oentro College summed these up at a recent meeting of the Kentucky Academy o£ Science. He said that in the first place &c probably low temperature, rarefied atmosphere- and absence of water on Mare are against the existence there of beings similar to ourselves. In .the _ next place, signalling by light must bo given up, for the reason that all the earth's atmosphere would absorb 40 per cent, of the light sent out, and the distance is so great that an area of light ten miles square on the earth would, 'if seen from Mars through a telescope magnifying 500 times, appear .like an area one inch square viewed at a distance of 500 ft. In considering signals by radio it has been computed that it would require a current of a million amperes at the sending station to obtain ono ampere at a receiving station on Mars. And Mr. Meier remarked that the powerful electric current sent put by the sun would probably overwhelm the weak waves sent from the earth.