WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE DOING

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIX, Issue 14682, 13 May 1908, Page 8

WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE DOING

(By GEORGE F: COLE, in the " Workers' Magazine.")

What will be the great, discoveries of the century before us? Will they eclipse in wonderment the marvels of the past by still further controlling and harnessing nature to the needs and comfort of unsatisfied humanity? There are two problems which loom up distinctly upon the horizon of the scientific world, and upoi(i which the minds of many students of physics are concentrated. These are the possibilities of commerciallly transmitting electric power over long distances and the discovery of the secret of obtaining electricity direct from coal—either or both of which means a practical revolution in human affairs. To transmit an electric current of 50,000 volts over a copper cable one inch in diameter from Niagara, using a current density hardly sufficient to warm the conductor, the loss in transmission is about one-fifth of 1 per cent, or 1 per cent in every five miles,

and the conductor would cost froial £IOOO to £2OOO per mile, depending upon the fluctuating price of copper. Using higher voltages, electric power is transmitted by wire in California 275 m.ies, running street cars and lighting cities by it. ELECTRICITY FROM WATER TOWER. Recently it has been proposed t« generate hydraulic electric power at the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi River in Africa, and transmit it over a dietance of 745 miles for use in the gold mines of Johannesburg. In this 'case it was proposed to use copper pipes in place of cables. Tho scheme, however, fell through as a commercial proposition. Professor Steons, writing iff the "Engineering Record," says:—■ "The economical transmission largely depends upon pressure—the higher the voltage the better the service obtained from a conductor of a given cost. That 70,000 have been successfully used and experiments encourage the hope that 80,000 volts may ultimately be employed with safety." It is conceivable that a conductor may be discovered to which the free electricity of the atmosphere would be induced or drawn by the passage through samw of. an electric current, so that the greater the distance the greater tha jwwer of doing work. Like a rolling snowball, it would gather in density &» it travelled along. If the electric current can be commercially conducted over great distances, it would mean al« most a total elimination of steal* power. The total water power available fo? the production of electric energy is estimated as follows: —

At present the United States uses about 550,000 horse power. The aggregate used for electric energy in tha world is some 2,000,000 horse power, about twice the steam power used in Great Britain. POWER DIRECT FROM COAIi. The idea, of discovering a means of transforming heat into electricity directly from coal has been the dream of tho electrical alchemists for sometime. Tho thermopile was invented by Nobeli, afterward improved by Melloni, and again by Seebeck in 1821. Many attempts have been made to construct a thermo-electric combination that would give a current of electricity intense enough to bo of commercial utility, but such efforts have been only partly successful. The latest, perhaps, is Dr William W. Jacques, an. electrical expert of Boston, whose experiments in this line have been liberally aided by Mr J. D. Rockefeller. It is not unlikely, that one of the great number of scientific men who are investigating alt over the earth may seize upon this secret, which will reduce the present cost of power, light and heat at least onehalf.

The late Lord Armstrong and day proved, more than sixty years ago, that electricity could be produced from steam. Armstrong's famous hydroelectric machine, in 1841, created somewhat of a sensation at the time, but tha apparatus was of small capacity and led to no practical results. It consisted of an insulated boiler fitted with a. series of nozzles, kept cool by a stream of water, the steam from the nozzles impinging upon a conductor, armed with points for collecting the electricity. A patent has just been granted in England to a Mr H. E. Fry for a machine based upon the Armstrong principle. There are approximately 700,000,000 tons of 20001 b each of coal taken from the world's mines annually, a largo proportion of which is used for power purposes. As only one-twelfth is transformed into effective energy by the use of the steam engine, the waste of coal used in boilers is something enormous. Besides cheap power, light and heat, one of the great benefits to be derived from the discovery o( the direct process will be the banishment of the dismal and dirty smoke clouds from all largo cities. WORKING OF COAL MINES._ A means of operating coal mines that eliminates all danger of accidents and death to the workers will, without doubt, be developed and put into fores without loss of time. Improved coalcutting machinery, sprinklers to keep down the dust, and a perfected system of ventilation may be looked for. The dream of coloured photography has been realised. After years of patient perseverance by such men an Lippman of France, Mietbe of Germany, loly of Ireland, and Ivee and Macdonald* of this country, Antoine Lamiere and his sons of France have a b last given tho world the reality of practical success. Lamiere's auto cromatic plates record the most, delicate shades of colour with absolute certainty. A description and illustration of this wonderful triumph of art appeared recently in "The Sunday Tribune." Wireless telegraphy, the duplicating of photographs and drawings over the telegraph wires, and even by the Hertzian waves; the printing telegraph and many other . electrical wonders ar<s sure to reach a high state of perfection in the coming years.' PROGRESS OF AIRSHIPS. If anyone interested in aerial naviga> tion will consult the files of papers Of eighty years ago he will find the pages illustrated with every conceivable device for flying through the air. The craze of aerostation was as keen and widespread then as it is at the present time, and.it would appear that we have made but little, if any, practical progress in the art of flying since tho days of our grandfathers.. The dirigible balloon is dirigible wdien, there happens to be no wind, and the aeroplane still maintains the form of the kite. To consider the practicability of the aeroplane operating as a flying machine heavier than-air, we have only to turn to and study the only "mechanical bird" we know of, the rocket. Rocket composition will raise twice its own weight, and the volume of gas evolved by this projectile in its flight is great. Compared to its weight, it mounts upon the column of gas ejected by reaction, and using this projectile as a basis to work upon, it would seem, with the motive power and material at present to hand, that a stable machine to carry a man with safety is beyond the realms of probability at the present moment. Aerial torpedoes _may be invented to carry, by mechanical or gaseous means high explosives into the enemy's position, and probably will be used in the next war.

There are many authorities who think great improvements will be made in the range, velocity and power of fish torpedoes for naval warfare far surpassing tho old Whitehead type. And, should this be so, the huge battleships of the present day are likely to be replaced with smaller and faster ships.

Sweden . . i < . Horsepower. 2,000,009 France 10,000.000 Niagara Falls 10,000,000 Germany, Austria and Switzerland 10,000,000 Total . . . . . 32,000,000