PEEP INTO THE FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 7 (Supplement)

PEEP INTO THE FUTURE.

VALUE OF ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS

Ultra-violet rays will have a marked influence upon our modp of living within the next generation, according tn Dr. H. C. Rentschler, Director of the Research Laboratories of the Westinghouse Lamp Company. Dr. Rentschler has been doing intensive research in this field for many years. <l The air we breathe, the food we cat, our lighting, our furniture and decorations, our very homes and conditions of living will be metamorphosed by this modern development," he states. These changes have already began to manifest themselves, as in the case of artificially conditioned air in There wfll be no sudden transformation but a gradual extension of our facilities for enjoying life a3 we become acquainted with the properties and powers of the ultra-violet rays." Let us consider 4 the home of 1950, states Dr. Rentschler in an interview published in the Scientific American. It will bo entirely different, both externally and internally, from present-day homes, just as the house of 1931 was a vast improvement over that of the preceding generation. Other materials will be used; in place of wood the framework will bo of steel, which will do away with the architect's present problem of constructing substantial walls to support the floors and roof. Now the number and size of the windows must be carefully taken into consideration, for the window casings must bo adequately reinforced. The future home will have no such problem; the architect will be able to give his imagination free rein in deciding just how much glass he wishes to use, both for decorative and utilitarian purposes. Although glass will be used freely, there will be no windows as people now know them. There will be no need for open apertures for light or ventilation—the application of the ultra-violet rays will cover these requirements. The materials used for finishing the structure will be made of specially prepared concrete or absorbent plaster, which will facilitate the heating and cooling of tho interior of the house, without regard to tho outdoor temperature. Double walls will be erected with a dead space between them, containing a good insuhting material to conserve heat and deaden noises. Thus, what has been termed the curso of " city life "—disturbing sounds—will b e almost entirely done away with, giving nerve relief. Tho elimination of windows, Dr. Rentschler says, will be a very important-factor in lowering hrat bills and in aiding general health. The present window-panes have three times as much heat conduction as wall space of tho same size, so that a great part, of our heat goes through the pane itself. Glass used for future homes will be specially treated to prevent this enormous wasto HARMLESS THUNDERSTORMS. An Italian priest, Don Marchesi, is experimenting with a scheme by which he hopes to be able to render thunderstorms harmless. What happens during a thunderstorm is that clouds carrying terrific electric charges float over the ground upon which an opposite charge collects. When a electrical pressure becomes sufficiently great, a discharge in the form of a flash of lightning takes place, either from cloud to earth or from earth to cloud. The lightning conductor collects the earth charge and takes the current through a safe path when a flash occurs, Don Marj .chesi's idea is to make conducting paths all the way from the earth to the thunderclouds. Air normally stops the passago of electricity unless the pressure is enormous. But when a beam of light, passes through air, the ray forms a conducting path. The scheme is to direct a beam of ultra-violet light on to thunderclouds and thus to conduct their charges safely to earth without any lightning flash. An English writer says: " The only weak point in tho scheme is that the energy of a lightning flash is so stupendous that tho apparatus sending out tho beam would proably be reduced to something smaller than smithereens."