The daily Alaskan., 1913-01-30
WHERE ENERGY COMES FROM,
 OR MAY, IN THE FUTURE

Although man has harnessed the Niagara and Is able to retail energy at a cost of one-fourth cent per unit the vpst energy of rugged na- ture has never been found avail able An enormous amount of energy is unreachable, Indeed, na- ture seems to exhibit a pestiferous resistance to human aspirations, aa far as potential energy is concerned. If lO-hp. hours is raised to the 23d power, you may fl you have mathematical mind, realize the amount of energy stored up In the rotation of the earth Even a Tar greater amount of energy is helu within the earth's orbital move ment.
 Hence if 1t were only possible to increase the length of a day to the extent of five minutes by decreas- ing the rate of rotation of the earth. 1000 .OOO, ,OOO h.p. for TO- 900 years would be liberated. un- fortunately, however, you cannot tan those sources of energy. ln- deed. the consequences might be awkward if you were free to do so.
 The energy received from Che sun is more open to capture, and it there were no absorption in the at mosphere. the power received per acre normal to the rays would be about 1000 hp. The power is ac- mallv much loss because of rain- fall. cloudiuess, and other obvious reasons. It is better to use the suns energy for growing vegetable matter. which might be used as source of alcohol. artificial coal, or other fuel than to employ 1t with sa-aaIled sur-motors and ether d. rect means
 Energy iu man depends upon Che relative advantages of the various classes of food. or these cheese IS tbe greatest source of vital energy and thus verities the long practice of it's victualary consumption by the peasants of Europe and Asia. when you stop to consider the amount Of heat given off by individuals Of the human species 1t is most surprising to hear that mans efficiency is as high as 20 per cent Of his mtaken energizing dietary.
 Besides those discussed, other tu- ture sources Of energy are the wind and the tides. Unluckily the wind' like the sun in cloudy weather, IS an exceedingly variable factor. The tides. too, are as source of ener- rv of much greater importance in the popular mind than in engineer ing circles. An experiment is now being tried by the Prusstan govern ment on the German coast, under tbe supervision of a Hamburg en- ginear. and 75OO h.p. is there avail able to give energy at 1 or 9 cts. urit Thus the tides are far from promising, when it is seen that steam. internal combustion and other engines yield energy so much more cheaply.
 Energy stored up m reservoirs by jumping water cannot be very cheap because of the size of the land as we'll as the cost of pump ing The idea of securing the nec- essary fall by sinking shafts, or by using diused mines for reservoirs has never been practically adopted.
 The. history of the discovery or radioactive bodies since BecQuerel in 1896, and NJ. and Madame Curie in 1900 isolated radium are now well known. The energy given off by radium has been a problem to practical everyday life as well as to engineers ever since its iso- Iatiou by Madame Curic Although so little radium has been obtained if appears to be preva,0nt in the earth's crust. and the energy avail able on that account is undoubtedly enormous. The evolution or life history of a particle of THdium gives you a glimpse into the possibility ot using atomic energy. .t may well be possible to secure he energy associated with atoms by suojectng them to suitable electrical impulses just as large mechanical efforts are obtained by subieCting bodies to mechanical changes applied in ac- cordance with their periods of yi- bration. Time will certainly show in the near future number Of simple ways of using these handy sources Of nergy.-Nining and r, .-...s... vrT.-1E