The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-04
News And Comment

which come from somewhere outside the earth"
 Maybe Signals From Mars
 The discovery of these tremendous ly long waves by the father of wire less telegraphy has opened up another field of speculation and research, and has again centered attention upon the planet Mars. It may be that from the investigations that will be made by scientists in various parts of the world, that We will subsequently, ob- tain an entirely new source of energy or at least a new conception of the mystery beyond the veil of space.
 In any case the discovery talu. on a new importance this month be- cause of the peculiar coincidence that the planet Mars will be in it's nearest position to the earth This will give a wonderful opportunity for research work that will not occur again in many years.
 Marconi is fully alive to the pos sibilities of this unique situation, and intends to follow up his investiga- tions during the period that Mars is in it's closest position to the earth. In this connection he said few days ago in an interview with The Daily Mail" of London.
 q shall be in America next month and shall certainly listen in for these mysterious sounds. They have not been reported for some time,''
 Many Experiments Can Re Made
 Of the many experiments that can be made with these mysterious waves are the following: Celebration of their wave length and determination of their frequency. Experimentation with direction finding apparatus to ascertain the direction from which they emanate. Measurement of the audibility strength. as compared with other long wave signals. and deter imitation as to whether they are con- tinuous waves or damped.
 A solution of the mystery surround ing them may open up quite 6 lot of important information regarding other phenomena which has puzzled us for many years. For instance. there may be relationship between these waves and the phenomena of the aurora borealis, or northern lights; and also there may be a connection with those. peculiar earth currents which completely disrupt many of the international and local telegraph circuits with periodic disturbances which occur regularly every II years.
 It has been thought for good many years that these earth currents were caused by spots on the sun. There is. of course, a possibility that the long waves received by Marcont may also be radiations from the tre- mendous electrical disturbances which are known to occur in con- junction with the phenomenon of sun spots.
 Unquestionably we have in these long waves a new member in the large series of etheric vibrations, which include visible and invisible light, radiant heat X-rays and wire less waves. What new possibilities will they open up to man?
 X-rays gave us the power to see through many opaque objects, and their close relative "radium emana- tion" has taught us an entirely new conception of the ultimate consti- tuition of all matter. Heat waves have given us power; invisible light waves may soon be used to advantage by us and radio waves have given us instantaneous communication over vast distances. The last time Sir Oliver Lodge was in this country was practically the same time that Marconi announced his discovery. l was assigned to ask the former flis opinion of the announcement. | did so, and the eminent Scotch scientist replied:
 T believe that Marconi has got a bee in his bonnet"
 Has he? That is what many scien- lists said about flying at the conclu- sion of the disastrous experiment on the Potomac of Langley's cumbersome aerodrome, or first heavier than air machine. Yet flying is highly sue cessful today.
 From the outline sketched in this story it will be seen how gret are the possibilities of speculation that have been opened up by Marconi's dis covery. What advantages will the genius of man obtain when he has solved the riddle that shrouds the source and nature of these waves from "somewhere in the universe? ?"
 MENRE,R SHIP CAMpArcN