SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15766, 14 November 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

DENATURED ELECTRICITY •'• ' 1 An interesting method of preventing th* £ improper use of electric current has h devised by an Italian engineer The ""' tico of making especially low rates L current to be used in electric power heating and cooking devices is becoming ffio 3 and more general, but with the ordinal constant potential current it is difficult I '* detect the use of lighting devices on ci , ;'•■ cults intended only for power and heating purposes. This engineer advocates the „*! ' of special circuits on which the current' subject to extreme fluctuation of V olta'« at rapidly recurring intervals, which would make it practically impossible to use lamps, because of the flicker in th lights. As the current is not entirely i/ terrupted and tlw norma! voltage i« -.L .' !• . i , , , •"•''*,'• is almost immediately restored, th, ~r „ ,.c r operati of power or heating apparatus is not in terfered with and the rightful i we 0 f th' circuits for their respective purposes is J i [iu. poses is a<s sured.

PROTECTING CROPS- FROM HAIL A new devi.e for prole i < ■' ~.,,,..- » hail has been installed 1,-, ' "i:. M £ r ,? m in the Department of Aid.- l,c', }, : "~' and a model of it was ncei.tiv exl'ib'- a at Lyons- Exposition. It c..asi«ts"of a series of tall posts arranged in a cirrI * 'around a central post. Ail t!. c posts a J tipped with clusters of i ghtning *J? grounded with metal tapes: The out " posts are connected with e;i h other ard with the central post bv metal cablebearing rows of unrieht metal points Th' total number of three noints or terrain,,! is 12.000.and the whole "net work cov™S area of over 9500 square vards Thelaborate device is supposed to protect thcrops growing beneath it. from the 'all '} hailstones on the altogether fallacious a. sumption that a hailstorm is the result of the electrification of the atmosphere Th same idea has led to the ere. tio'n ail over France of tall lightning-rod*, known Is •electric -Niagaras." whir are intended to draw the electric charge f rom £ clouds and thereby prevent the formation of hailstones.

WORLD'S LARGE TELESCOPES. '

In a recent number of the Observatory Mr. HP. Hollia gives a. interesting list of large refractors and reflectors, either under construction or alreadv set up'in 0 b servatories. The largest working objective is that of the Ycrkes Observatory in Win consin, U.S.A. Of the refractors under construction, the following mav be mentioned : A 32in for the Nicola'ieff Observatory, Russia ; a 26in for the Union Observatory, Johannesburg; three 24in for the following observatories : Argentine National Observatory, Cordoba, Chili National Observatory, Santiago, and the Detroit Observatory, -Mich, U.S.A., and a 20in for the Chabot Observatory, Oakland Cal. The Earl of Ross' 72in reflector' holds the field for the largest reflector (metallic speculum), while Dr. Common's 60in (silver on glass), now at the Harvard Observatory, U.S.A., comes second. Of the reflectors under construction, two giants are in hand, namely, one of lOOin, for the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory and one of 22in tor the Dominion Observatory, Canada. Others under construction are a 40in for the Simeis Observatory, Crimea, and two of 30in, one for the Helwan Observatory, Egypt, and the other for Mr. D'Esterre's Obsevatory, Surrey, England. It is investing to note that "the number of instruments in each list is about the same, namely, 38 refractors and 40 reflectors.

NORTH POLAR EXPEDITION. • A press despatch reported the arrival at Archangel of the surviving members of the expedition which left Russia in the autumn of 1912, under Captain Sedov, in the hopo of reaching the North Pole by way of Franz Josef La.nd. The survivors report the death of their leader from illness, while attempting to sledge north from Franz Josef Land. This exnedition -was' financed chiefly by the well-known St. Petersburg newspaper, the Ncvoya Vremja, and was generally believed to" be badlv equipped when it started north. The undertaking was not favoured by the Russian Government. Sedov's previous Arcticexperience had included an expedition to the mouth of the Kolyma, in 1909, and on.; to Nova Zembla in 1910, but the impression prevailed when he left Russia on his final journey that neither he nor his men had sufficient skill, training or equipment to give hope of valuable results from their expedition. The winter of 1912-13 was spent at the Pankratiev Islands, off the north-west coast of Nova Zembla. The following summer, eight of the 22 members of the expedition were obliged to return to Russia on account of illness. The others were supposed to have sailed for Franz Josef Land, but as no further tidings were received of them the Russian authorities recently sent an expedition in search of j them on the steamer Hertha.

THE FALL OF MAN. According to a. translation of a'recently deciphered inscription on one of the Sttmerian tablets. Professor Langdon, of Jesus College, Oxford, says the deluge preceded the fall of man. The tablet, which has been almost, completely restored, contains six finely written columns of about 240 lines, most of which are intact. It begins by describing the land of primeval bliss, which it locates at Dilmun, an island in the Persian Gulf. "In this paradise dwelled mankind, whom Xintud, the creatress, with the help of Enlil had created. After the Deluge, this King is called Tagtug, the Divine. And this Tagtug lives in a garden, is himself a gardener, and the wise Enki reveals unto him wisdom. The Greek historians, too, preserve this legend in the story of Oannes, who rose from the Persian Gulf to teach men wisdom in primeval times. And so Tagtug, as in the Hebrew history of Noah, plants a garden, names the trees and plants, and is permitted to eat of all but the cassia tree, an herb of healing par excellence. Of this plant Tagtug was not to eat, for thereby he would attain eternal life. Mankind until this time possessed extreme longevity, but not immortality. Tagtug. on his own initiative, takes and eats. He is cursed by Nintud ind hecomes a prey to disease and ordinary mortality. Thus in the original Sumerain story Noah, the survivor of the flood, is the one who eats from the ties cf lifeNo .woman is concerned in this disobedience which resulted in our loss of perfect health, peace and countless years."

RECONSTRUCTION OF KIEL CANAL

I In 1895, after eight years of hard work, the. great canal running from the mouth of the Elbe, in the North Sea, to the Fjord of Kiel, in the Baltic, a distance of about 60 miles, was thrown open to commerce. It had a norma: width of (Z't at the bottom and 220 ft at the water level, with a depth of 29}l"t. Although a sealevel canai, twin locks were built at eacn end, those at the western entrance to take care of the largo fide variations, and those at the eastern end to take care of variations of water level., in the P ra J:"' callv titleless Baltic, duo to gales. The locks were 492! lone, 82ft wide, and 32ft deep. The locks at Kiel remained open most of the time, v bile those at the mouth of the Elbe, did not need to be used at certain tides. The canal proved wonderfully valuable to commerce, because it saved the lons, hazardous trip around the stormv coasts of Denmark. But its strategic value to the German Navy was of even greater importance, as has been, demonstrated in the present war. Although the locks, when built, were large enough to take 'almost all vessels, they were outgrown in time, even by warships, and finally it was decked to reconstruct the canal making it broader and providing locks that could take the largest vessel afloat, with plenty of room to spare. This work was completed in time to be of incalculable value to Germany in the present war. The normal width of the canal is now 335 ft at the surface aatt 144 ft at the bottom, with a depth of 36ft New twin locks have been built alongside the old ones at each end. They have ?-tt available length of 1032.6 ft and width ot 147.6 ft. Intermediate gates may be used to cut off a charber 328 ft long. The locks at Panama, it will be recalled, are only 1000 ft long by llOit wide.