SCIENCE and INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16621, 18 August 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

SCIENCE and INVENTIONS.

ELECTRIC PROD FOR CATTLE. An electrically-charged rod for driving cattle is being introduced upon some of the ranches in Western Texas,' according to recent reports. It is understood that the rod or prod consists bf four small dry cells, a step-up induction coil, a push button, and suitable electrodes for apply, ing the high-tension current to the animal. or driving cattle into dipping vats, branding pens, and other enclosures the electric prod is said to be specially suited.

WHICH ARE THE NEAREST STARS?

Revolutionary investigations are disturbing the science of astronomy. It has become understood, for instance, that the brightest star is not necessarily the nearest. Professor E. E. Barnard's recent discovery of the new " runaway" star in the constellation of Ophiuchus, with a proper motion of 10 seconds of are a year or three seconds greater than that of the long famous Groombridge, 1830, has brought to notice observations showing that this tenth magnitude star near the celestial equator may be not so far aw a v as even Alpha Centauri, the brilliant southern star. This little star is really w; if Sfc kno , wn ' its absolute luminosity tho, = h en calculated at only, one threethousandth of that of our sun. Determinvn'r°J\ the parallax of the faint star vary from ha a second to a second the West record 4 favouring the latter, and th« d ? e , aT \ V 6 taken ' the distance is about the 4.3 light-years of Alpha Centauri.

AUCKLAND MOUNTED RIFLES IN EGYPT AND THE FEDERAL STEAMER CUMBERLAND BEACHED OFF THE AUSTRALIAN COAST BEFORE SHE FINALLY SANK LAST WEEK. The top picture shows the Auckland Mounted Rifles Band playing while our boys march out of El Ariah. The second picture is the Federal steamer Cumberland as she appeared when beached near Gabo Island, off the Australian coast, after an explosion in the hold. A mysterious explosion occurred on the Cumberland on the morning of July 6. The vessel developed a dangerous list, but although she had a gaping wound in her side she was kept afloat by the watertight bulkheads. Finally she was beached, as seen in the photograph, near Gabo Island. A cable message from Sydney, under date August 13, states that the Cumberland, after being temporarily patched, was floated off, and was being towed to Twofold Bay, when she encountered a heavy sea and sank off Green Cape in 35 fathoms of water. The crew were rescued by accompanying vessels. \y T Hall photo

QUICK HELM AND THE SUBMARINE The ship that is quick on her helm has a much better chance to evade a torpedo than the one which has a large turning radius. Warships have been designed with thus fact in view—not only, is the helm made of large area but the deadwood is cut away much more than it is in merchant ships. It is quite possible to reduce the dead wood of a merchant ship considerably, particularly at tho stern, without sacrificing any of the cargocarrying capacity. The wake of a torpedo can be seen at a considerable distance in a smooth sea, and there will be times when the difference between a short and a long turning radius will , mean the difference between being sent to the bottom and evading the torpedo altogether. During one of the fignts at the mouth of the Elbe, off Heligoland, some sixty ships of the British and German fleets, all carrying torpedoes and using them freely, were engaged for about six hours' time without a single hit being recorded. All of these were fast ships capable of quick manoeuvring. 33,000 WAR INVENTIONS.

Since August, 1915, there have been some 33,000 inventions and ideas for inventions considered for the army alone, apart from the many hundreds of idea for destroying submarines, and sweeping up mines which the navy has received. Every one of the 33,000 has received consideration, and, as showing the value of this plan, one may instance the case of a man from the antipodes. He came all the way to London to lay a plan before the authorities. It was taken to "M.1.D.," and the experts there promptly recognised that it was' only a variant of an apparatus which was already working, and working very satisfactorily. It might have seemed that there was an end to the scheme, but one of the experts discovered in the suggestion a germ which even the inventor had overlooked. That germ solved a problem over which the experts had been puzzling for a long time in regard to a totally different appliance. The inventor had his recompense for his long trip. The Munitions Inventions Department does not merely accept ideas from inventors. It collaborates with them in perfecting their schemes. There is a drawing office and a workshop at hand, the whole resources of which are at the inventor's disposal if the first examination of . the proposal shows it to have some promise. Many ideas, of course, come from men with practical experience of warfare on the various fronts. These are, naturally, most carefully considered, and there is a special department, known as the patents and rewards section, which safeguards the interests of service men whose ideas are adopted, and also protects generally the claims of patentees. All this work has gone on quietly and without any fuss for nearly two years. The Department came into existence at about the same time as the Naval Board of Inventions and Research, and there is a free interchange of ideas between the two. Any suggestions laid before "M.1.D." which seems likely to be of use to Lord Fisher's board are sent on at once, •