Arizona republican., 1920-02-10
SIGNALS TO OTHER WORLDS

Some of these explanations are mere theory, but Dr. Campbell of Lick ob seryatory made two convincing tests to prove the absolute dryness of Mars. The general idea was that in the spec trum the vapor of the earths at mosphere shows dark lines. Dr. Camp bell went up on Mt. Whitney and found that there was not enough water vapor on Mars to produce any effect on the spectrum.
 Dr. Abbott has weighed all this and other data relative to Mars, and states that the only reasonable conclusion is that Mars is a cold and barren world.
 Venus, on the other hand, may be regarded as favorable place for hab- itation, he thinks. Venus is a young planet just coming into it's own, and if there is anything in the belief that worlds were made to live in, Venus should be tenanted. The only trouble in building theories to fit Venus is that the planet is always enveloped in a mass of clouds, so that even though it is closer to us than Mars, yet it's surface is not so distinct.
 While we cannot get a definite view of this mysterious and neglected plan ct, we know that it is only 200 miles less in diameter than the earth, and that it's temperature is similar to our tropics The cloud blankets reflect about 70 per cent of the suns heat and cool the atmosphere. which otherwise would be much too hot for life The clouds indicate water vapor, ana there fore both air. and water conditions are favorable. As these are the two main requisites of habitable world, Venus is coming to be regarded as the possi- ble younger sister of our comparative ly middle aged earth.
 None of these other planets. except Mars, is thought by astronomers to have any possibilities of life. The sun was once believed to be gaseous ana fiery only in an outer rim. Within this, the story ran, was a world pro tected by heavy clouds. and therefore cool enough to support a human or der. Science has since decided that the sun is gaseous throughout The heat also has been calculated, and is certainly sufficiently intense to wither the mytholdgical salamander even if he were screened by clouds.
 The moon, as well as the sun. was once pronounced populated ball. The moon dwellers were supposed to live inside the crust. but this attractive theory died an early death from lack of any proofs, and the moon is now re- garded as dry and desolate globe.
 As for the other worlds Mercury. like the sun, is too hot for life to exist there, and Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter are far from the sun and get too little heat and light to be con- venient dwelling places
 The belief that all of these worlds are uninhabited is of course based on the assumption that all forms of life are dependent on air, water and a cer- tain range of temperature. We have never in this world met a salamander nor any other animal that could live in fire. and therefore we do not be- lieve that such creatures exist in other planets. Scientists say that the same materials occur in all the planets of our solar system. and that life, if it existed. would be governed by the laws with which we are familiar
 Still, it is not so many years since science agreed that no creatures could possibly live at the bottom of the ocean because of the great pressure We have since found that certain fish are peculiarly adapted to just such condi- tions. Some fish, for instance. in Lake Baikal, will explode the instant they are brought up from the depths
 The chances are all against it, but our learned men may yet find these other worlds peopled with beings even more grotesque than MT. H. G. Wells fanciful Martians. or the dwellers re- puted to live inside the moon.