Science Siftings

New Zealand Tablet, 29 August 1912, Page 59

Science Siftings

By * Volt.’

Brightness of the Midnight Sky,

Professors Newcomb, Yntema, Fabry, Abbott and others have independently measured photometrically the intrinsic brightness of the midnight sky and found it to be of a degree greater than can be accounted for by the stars alone. The variability of this illumination night after night precludes a possible explanation in the nebulae or other constant sources. Nor is a cause to be sought for outside the atmosphere, since the brightness increases as the horizon is approached.

Photographing Wireless Waves.

Photographing wireless messages has become a possibility by the aid of a powerful light thrown on the vibrations of a wire which is finer than human hair. Wireless messages can be transferred to a sensitive film passing through a machine like the narrow strip of paper in a ticker machine', and a photographic presentment of the message results. Signor Marconi has been working on this development for several years. The other day his instrument was put to- a test and its practical value demonstrated. :

Insect Life on High Altitudes.

The researches inaugurated on Mont Blanc, to ascertain the possibility of insect life at high altitudes and aerial dust deposits on the glaciers, have been brought to a close, and the results.are astonishing. It is stated that during the year 1911 white butterflies and wasps were seen hovering about the summit of the mountain and showed absolutely no signs of being inconvenienced by the extreme cold or the ratified atmosphere. In all probability they had been driven upward by strong air currents, which also would account for the vast amount of dust in these high regions, which is continually settling upon the Alpine glaciers.

A Remarkable Canal.

Between Worsley and St. Helens, in the north of England, is the most remarkable canal in the world. It is underground *from end to end, and is sixteen miles long. In Lancashire the coal mines are very extensive, half the country being undermined, and many years ago the Duke of Bridgewater’s managers thought they could save money by transporting the coal underground instead of on the surface. The canal was constructed, and the mines connected and drained at the same time. Ordinary canal boats are used, but the power is furnished by men. On the roof of the tunnel arch are cross pieces, and the men do the work of propulsion by lying on their backs on the coal and pushing with their feet against the cross-bars on the roof.

Aeroplane Gun Riddles Targets.

Sweeping the field at College Park in a speeding aeroplane, Captain Charles Deforest Chandler, of the United States army the other day poured a stream of shot from the army’s remarkable new aeroplane gun into such objects as struck his fancy. He riddled a target 3 x 15 yards, punctured a piece of cheese cloth with skill and accuracy, and sent splashes of water up from a pool into which he directed his deadly fire. And all the while the aeroplane carrying him ■was being sent along by Lieutenant Thomas Dewitt at the rate of from fifty to sixty miles an hour. The sensational shooting was a continuance of the test begun with a new aeroplane gun invented by Lieutenant-C nisi I. .N. Lewis. Colonel Lewis and his brother officers in the army are convinced that the United States has the first practicable aeroplane gun in use, and a weapon that has revolutionised, the value of aircraft in offensive warfare.