Science Sittings

New Zealand Tablet, 14 March 1912, Page 59

Science Siftings

By ‘ Volt.’

New Material for Safes. The Krupps of Essen, Germany, have produced for the protection of safes and vaults a new material that cannot be fused or penetrated by the oxy-acety-lene flame which the modern burglar now uses. To Combat the Dust. The highways department of the city of Leeds, England, has recently treated portions of a macadam roadway with granular calcium chloride to combat the dust. Solutions of the same had previously been tried at greater cost and without such satisfactory results. The Utilisation of Grape Pips. The utilisation of by-products is one of the most striking characteristics of modern industry. A recent example is found in Italy, where a means has been discovered to turn to account the hitherto worthless pips of the grapes used in wine-making. Oil is now extracted from them on a commercial scale by a process of direct heating. The Value of Radium, ..Radium, as is very generally known, is a scarce metal, as there is said to be only about four ounces in the world. Banks have been established in Paris and London for the purpose of lending the metal. As much as £4O have been paid for the use of 100 milligrammes for one day. ' _ ’ Boat Directed by Wireless. .There was recently exhibited on the Danube, at Vienna, . a ■ boat which is- controlled by wireless electricity from .the bank, without any person being on board. The boat carries a storage battery, which furnishes its motive power, the ‘ system,’ or invention, consisting in the adaptation of wireless electric waves of different lengths to the control of the motive power, steering-gear, and other mechanism. A New Method of fainting Ships. The newest thing in painting ships is not to paint them at all until they have been to sea. It was stated some time ago that the best method of insuring the protection of new steel vessels was to launch them without paint, and to apply a composition only after the vessel had been in the water for a month or two, and the mill scale had worn off, - A steel training ship received no paint whatever before she was launched, and after a month or two she was put in drydock and given our coats of first-class, paint. After being five years afloat, the bottom was found to be in a perfect state of preservation, with very little rust at the water line, and . only a little grass and slime covering the anti-fouling composition, which was found to be in a thoroughly sound state of preservation. Fibre for Paper-making. There is a fortune awaiting the person who succeeds in growing a grass or . other plant suitable for paper-making, and the next great step in utilising farm waste may be a change in the manufacture of paper, as the wood fibre available will probably be exhausted within a few years. Experiments by the United States Department of Agriculture have shown that almost any long fibre can be used for paper, and that such " waste materials as cotton-stalks and corn-stalks make paper of very good qualityalmost equal to linen. Bamboo, rice roots, and other plants from Japan and China are also being obtained for study in continuing the search for the paper-making materials of the near future.