SCIENCE and INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16467, 17 February 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE and INVENTIONS.

HAZY SUN RINGS. Hazy sun rings around t-ho 6un, noticed in the high Alps since the middle of July, havo suggested to Dr. Julius Maurer, of the Swiss meteorological service, that two years of gunfiro may have accumulated in tho upper atmosphere a dust cloud much like that from a violent volcanic eruption. Similar effect® in 1883-87 followed the explosivo eruption of Krakitoa, in 1902-03 that of Pelee, and in 1912 that of Katmai, but no eruption to account for the present appoarance of dust has been reported. A NEW SUGAR FLOUR. Th now sugar flour of northern Franco is made by pouring fresh beet pulp into the top of a tower of warm air, where it passes through a series of gratings rotating pno abovo another, • and is delivered into air gradually increasing in temperature,up to about 250deg. F. The product weighs about 25 per cent, of the weight of tho beets. " The' flour, containing the sugar of the beets in unconcentrated form, is adapted for a variety of purposes, such as making certain kinds of bread, preparing food ion form stock, and use in certain brewing processes. CORK WATERPROOFS. A novel cork lining for waterproof garments, produced by a French process, is claimed to bo as flexible as thin leather, and it may be folded harm. After the cork is sliced into uniformly thin sheets, tho flexibility is obtained by chemical treatment removing all resinous matter. '• By, means of a special cement, the cork is' attached to one side of any suitable cloth, or, for greater strength, the may be used between two layers of cloth. While the material is very light, the special advantage of the, cork raincoat is said to be its porous quality, giving ventilation while shedding rain. JUTLAND BATTLE REPAIRS. According to the leading technical journals, within 10 days after the Jutland battle,' the most seriously damaged of the British ships was ready to take its place in the 'The great,majority of the phips wero repaired, had, refilled their magazines and .replenished their stores, within 24 hours after returning to port. This is. explained, largely, by the fact that before the ships reached their base, there was full knowledge at the Admiralty as 4 " to tho extent of damage done and exact details as to plates to be renewed and the new parts of . machinery to be replaced. GOAL 'IN THE ARCTIC REGION. Bear Island, lying about 300 miles south of Spitzbergen, in the Arctic Ocean, promises to become an important source of coal, and has the advantage over Spitz bergen that cargoes may be despatched throughout the year. An extensive coalfield was worked there last summer. It is reported that the Norwegian Government intends to establish a wireless and meteorological station in the island, as it has done in Spitzbergen. Bear Island lies at a meeting-point between a cold ocean current from tho north-east and tho Gulf Stream Drift, and is usually shrouded in fog. The highest point is Mount Misery (1759 ft). Countless seafowl inI habit tho rock shores and the " bird rock," on the south side of the island, is said to bo the largest colony of its kind in the Arctic regions. RUSSIAN GRAPHITE. The important graphite, mines of Turukhansk wero opened up some years ago, and promise to afford a great yield. It may be remarked that the world's annual production of graphite iB some 165,000 long tons by recent figures; about oneiuorth.of this comes from Ceylon and onethird from Austria, with the remainder j from Italy, France, and other countries. Russia has two main graphite region the first; one being situated m Siberia in the Tunkin mountains, near Irkutsk, while the .second is, the one above-mentioned. The first region, containing what were called the Aliberoff mines, gave an excellent graphite-for . lead pencils, but these mines ' are no longer .worked. ■ On . the i other hand, the Turukhansk mines .have scarcely - begun working, and arc said to he rich enough not only, to supply Russia, but also to allow exportation. "They were first brought to notico in 1859 and 1862, then commenced to be worked in 1907. Purified graphite from these mines analyses 98 per cent.' carbon, showing its high grade, and it comes ; near the noted Siberian Quality, being much better than foreign, graphite in.general. Geological exploration carried out by the operating company shows a stratum of graphite of no less than 15ft thickness and covering 450 square yards surface, and the total amount is estimated at 600,000 tons. The depth is about 100 ft. Transportation of the material is cheaply carried out by river route to Krasnoiarsk, then by rail to the leading centres, affording an important source of this substance for crucibles and for metallurgical purposes, as well as for lead pencils. DIAGNOSING AUTO TROUBLES. With the rapid growth of the service end of the automobile industry the development of specialists has begun to rival the medical profession. In the larger repair stations are men who do nothing but adjust valve tappets; others will bo kept busy on carbureter work, and the replacing of gears will be the main duty of a third group. These lines are all extremely necessary, but the man who can drive a car around the block and tell exactly what iB the trouble with it is in a class by himself. He iB the examining physician of the repair clinic, and like his more professional brother his work is well spiced with variety. " I always look for the simplest thing first," said one of these testers. "The average repair man will try all the hard ways he knows to get a machine in shape, and in a largo number of cases he will stumble on some simple little thing that is the key to the whole situation." He went on to say that earlier in .his career he had spent half a day on a car trying to find out why it would run well for a quarter of a mile and then ski". It "seemed like a stoppage in the gasoline pipe and the line from the tank to the carbureter was removed and thoroughly cleaned. The carbureter was taken off and found to be quite clear of dirt, yet when the machine was again driven it stopped after travelling smoothly for a couple of blocks. After wasting a half day the cause of the trouble 'was discovered in the shape of a stop cock in the pipe line from the gas tank. The . handle of the cock was horizontal when in the open position, and the jar of the machine had partially closed it so that gasoline could only flow very slowly. The bowl of the carbureter would fill up while the car was standing, and as soon as the gasoline in the float chamber was exhausted the engine stopped. Many people have the bad habit of adjusting their brakes without the uso of a jack. Without raising a wheel from the ground it is almost impossible to determine whether the brake is set up tightly enough to drag when the pedal or lever is fully released. Frequently this difficulty leads to the taking of the car to a service station with the complaint that the motor will not pull, and refuses to climb ordinary grades on high gear. Sometimes the service people get a car in this condition, and find that the owner has tried to compensate for his brake drag by changing his carbureter to give a •richer mixture. Recently an owner tele phoned to ft service station for an expert, saying that his car absolutely refused tc start after the most patient efforts. The owner had tried priming, and hot watei in the radiator, but not a single explosion was forthcoming. One look, however, was sufficient' for the expert. A bright new coat of aluminium paint covered the en gine from the tops of the spark plugs tc the crank case, and served to short-circuil the' ignition apparatus most effectively "He even painted the porcelain on th< rln"S," laughed the service iran, and ii took me two hours to clear the genera and starting motor. A few experience! of that kind make un realise that it iB i pretty broad claim to call a motor-cai i fool proof."