SCIENCE OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

SCIENCE OF THE DAY.

CONVICT'S AID TO "SCIENCE.

A convict, who was once sentenced to tho electric chair for murder, but is now ser* g u life term at Sing Sing State lVson, has made a notable contribution to science. He swallowed a thin rubber tube, two tiny cameras, and a quartz glass containing a light of 6000 caudle power, llius permitting photographs of his stomach to be taken. Nearly 100 physicians and surgeons assisted at the experiment, which was made in the interests of cancer research. 'J ho convict was chosen because ho had recently been operated on for gastric ulcer, and it was decided to ascertain how the part operated on was healing. The man said ho felt no ill-effects of swallowing tin appa.alus. The invention of a Vienna specialist, the camera consists dl a rubber tube about five-eighths of an inch in diameter. Near the end is attached one of iho cylinder-shaped cameras equipped with lens and film. The camera is less than 2in. long and in diameter. Just above the first camera the rubber tube is perforated with fine' holes. In that section of the tube, inclosed in quart/, glass, is a filament which furnished the 6000-candlc-power light. Above the light is another tiny camera. Each camera photographs eight different parts of the stomach. FIGHTING A METAL MENACE. Ceaseless experiments by British motorcar manufacturers to discover a process for making all metal in their cars rustproof, because of the deterioration caused by rust after sale, are only a small aspect of the world-wide fight against the rust peril. Sir Robert Had field, probably the greatest steel expert in the world, said two years ago that the world loses £500.000.000 yearly owing to the corrosion of steel. Experts aim at rustproof metals, but until the latter are available the war must proceed on its present lines, consisting chiefly of painting. The struggle is deadly, and although many people believe that. by painting with good anti-corrosive paints, metal. structures last indefinitely, that is not always the case, as the Eiffel Tower proves. Three coats of a special mixture, of red lead and linseed oil and a final coat nf thick paint were given to every portion in 1889. but only two years afterwards rust was eating through that covering. Unless science finds a perfect anti-rust material the Eiffel Tower will rot away. Another fierce fight has been needed to keep the mighty Forth Bridge from rusting away, and thirty painters arc continu-

ously coating it with preservatives. Fifty tons of paint arc used in covering the mile and a half long bridge. Three years arc taken to finish this huge task, which must then he started over again. But this ceaseless work has heen rewarded by the perfect condition of the bridge to-day, for after forty-six years of continuous exposure to the elements it is still the only bridge in the world over which express trains can thunder at sixty miles an hour. KILLING GERMS BY WIRELESS. Thirty mice infected with tuberculosis germs were recently exposed to powerful wireless waves of less than three metres. Half of them were cured. " cry Short wireless waves ma> have new value in the treatment of disease," says Dr. Esau, a German professor. Care has to tie taken in fbe treatment of human beings because of the heating of the blood, or " artificial fever," is produced liy tho rays. Dr. Esau, says he. has also succeeded in telephoning on these short waves, ard has transmitted signals fifteen miles on power equal to that of a torch battery. " RUBBER " FROM WEEDS. It, was recently stated that in connection with tho celebration of his eightysecond birthday, Mr. Thomas A. Edison would announce a substitute for rubber. It is stated that lie long ago found that there could be no substitute for the rubber tree as the source of rubber, but lie has discovered a weed—after experimenting with 15,000 varieties—which will produce a latex or fluid from which a workable substitute for rubber can be extracted. The weed can be mowed like wheat, it is asserted, and does not require planting anew every year, being a perennial. Mr. Edison has of late been engaged in experiments with the object of making a machine which will separate the rubber substitute from other components of the fluid, but he has so far not been successful in this direction.