Science & Invention.

Lake County Press, Issue 2300, 25 November 1909, Page 7

Science & Invention.

Seeds two thousand years old have been known to sprout. The deepest hole in the earth ever dug is in the coal fields of Paruscho•vitz, Upper Silesia. It extends to a depth of 0,570 feet, or about a mile and a quarter. REMEASURINC THE SUN'S DISTANCE. For a long time astronomers have been trying to measure accurately the distance from the earth to the sun. Once ascertaiur ] this would serve as a measure in ;xploring the starry realms. In method of direct measurement the :entre of the sun is sighted at two points as far apart as possible. This gives the base and two angles of a triangle; the apex of which is the centre of the sun, and it is only a simple calculation in trignometry to obtain the third angle and the height. But this process is very inexact, for in such a vast distance an infinitesimal error in measuring one of the angles would produce an enormous error in the result. In 1898 Professor Witt discovered the planet Eros, which at certain times is only a few million miles from us. Fifty-eight astronomers at once took concerted measurements and the Abbe Moreux has just published the first results of this gigantic work, which represents about 35,000 observations through the telescope and 40,000 with a camera. The distance from the earth to the sun : s proved by the time of these observations to be 92,876,795 miles, with a possible error of about 56,000 miles, which errorj comments the reverend astronomer, is insignificant, for it is ust in the proportion of one ; n 1,660. HOW DEEP DIVING WILL BE DONE IN THE FUTURE. That which makes deep-sea diving dangerous is, not so much a question of furnishing the diver with air, but the difficulty of protecting him from the weight of the overlying water. Each foot of descent increases the pressure on every square inch of his body by nearly half a pound. A depth of 100 feet develops a crushing pressure per square inch of 43 pounds, or a total of as many tons on the entire body of the diver. Naturally, such being the conditions, the diver's profession is not overcrowded. Few men can stand the strain of 100-foot submergence, and many dare not venture belowJso or 60 leet. As occasion often arises when it is imperative that work be done at greater depths than these, efforts have been made of late to provide clivers with metal suits which will completely protect them from dangerlous water pressures.

An entirely new method of conducting work in the deep sea was recently patented. The advantages obtained by this method are that the diver is protected in every way, and is at the same time in free communication with the surface. He breathes air under normai pressure, and is free to ascend or descend at any time without having- to give a signal to operators above. Furthermore, his connection with the surface is not maintained by means of a slender tube and line, but by a large vertical standpipe, which he may climb at will.

As clearly indicated, the new apparatus comprises a caisson, or operating chamber, fitted at the top with a large collapsible tube or shaft, which extends to a float or barge at the surface of the water. The shaft is made up of a series of sections terminating in flanged rings, whereby the sections may be bolted together. Each section consists of a flexible covering stretched over a series of metal rings of 1-shape cross section. By means of the chain-raising apparatus connected with the top of the operatingchamber, the apparatus may be lifted up to the surface, collapsing the vertical shaft and permitting the operating chamber to rise into a housing in the barge. As the apparatus is raised the sections are unbolted and stowed away.

The operating- chamber is entirely sealed, except for its connection with the tube. No air pumps are necessary, as free communication with the outside air is had through the open vertical tube. The chamber is provided with glass-covered windows, through which the surroundings may be examined. The side walls of the chamber are formed with protruding parts, which are furnished with windows on all sides, and serve as helmets for the operators. Armholes in these protruding parts are fitted with sleeves of flexible material.

In use the operators climb down the vertical shaft, using the stiffening rings as a step ladder, and when in the operating chamber they can by means of the sleeves reach out and conduct the ordinary operations of the diver, while fully protected within the operating chamber. Articles that are to be lifted' to the surface mav be attached to grappling irons let down from the barge. To facilitate the work, electric lights may be lowered into the water outside of the operating chamber. When it is desired to move to a new spo|, the chamber is lifted sufficiently to clear the bottom, and the barge may then be towed to the proper position.