Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28
SCIENCE PROGRESS
ADVANCES WORLD.
Way Has Beer Paved for
Many Miracles Yet
to Come.

TO Come.
The American Association for the
Advancement of Science will assemble
here Monday at the end of a year
which has been marked by very nota-
Bile progress toward a better and hap
pier world
The frontiers Of the unknown have
been pushed back by intrepid pioneers
exploring in a realm OF fantastic
darkness. 1t has not been year of
miracles but OF foundation laying,
which makes miracles possible.
No small part of thi@ work has
been done in the Government labora-
tories at Washington. Some of the
foremost scientific workers in the
world, men with iron nerves, great
physical strength and rare mental
tiles are located here. The United
States as whole has led the world
in scientific research. The Old World,
dizzy after the blood-letting of war.
has been at a great disadvantage.
The great German universities. for
nnerly the headquarters of the scien-
tifIc world. are pathetic ghosts or
their old selves. Hungry men are
brdvely struggling amid rapidly gath
cring dust to preserve what they have
rather than gather IN any thlnS new
Russia Probably BIuffng.
Russia is probably bluffing at scien-
tifc progress. Her universities are
Impoverished. Her finest intellect has
persisted In the sad experiment OF
communism. Whether the reported
efforts to advance. such as preten-
tious expedition for the exploration
OF the Iittle-known Arctic island or
Nova Zembla, are sincere or merely
propaganda it is impossible to deter
mine.
England and France have made
some progress, but scientists OF both
nations have been hard hit by the
war. There is no longer the COM
Portable, secure atmosphere which IS
almost essential to scientific work.
Men cannot measure into millionths
OF an inch when they are worried
about what the next morning viii
bring forth.
America, particularly through men
IN Washington, has carried the
heaviest load and secured the lions
share Of the glory. Such institutions
as the Smithsonian, the Bureau OF
Standards the Department OF Agri-
culture and the Geological Survey
have accomplished wonders.
Notable Advances In Astronomy.
Perhaps the most notable advance
OF the year has been in the oldest OF
sciences-astronom OF all fields OF
research experts here say. this re-
mains the most replete with mysteries
and the most potential in further
discoveries. Public attention was To-
cused sharply upon astronomical re-
search last Summer by the observa-
t!onal opportunities afforded during
the close opposition OF the planet
Mars. Not only did the photographs
and heat measurements taken at that
time result in a considerable advance
In the scientific knowledge Of the
neighbor world, but astronomers were
placed IN slightly better position
to answer the question which most
agitates the man outside the obser-
vatory-that concerning the posi-
oility of Intelligent life on that Arctic
globe 35,000,00o miles away in space.
New light has been shed on the
temperatures Of Mars during the
daytime at period Of the plane
tary year comparable to May on
earth. From the observations taken
this Summer II has been shown that
under these conditions, so far as ac-
tual atmospheric heat is concerned,
Mars is as capable Of supporting life
the earth. A man set down on the
neighboring planet at noon with a
supply of artificial air probably could
live until night.
Possibility of any actual comm uni
cation with Mars by any means now
available to man Is secuted by Wash
ington scientists. But it is held that
II observations should show that the
planet has conditions reasonably IA
vorable to life, the logical conclusion
is that life exists-even though It be
a low order of life. Mars has passed
through a cosmic history very similar
to that Of the earth, and similar con-
ditions produce similar results-such
as the generation of life.
The possibility Of life on planets
remains, and probably always will re-
main a field Of interesting conjecture
incapable of definite proof or disproof
But the astrophysical department of
The Smithsonian, under Dr. Abbot's
direction, has arrived this year more
closely than ever before at what may
be very direct contribution of
astronomy to everyday life. This is
IN the correlation Of the radiation of
the sun to weather on earth--in other
words. a method of long-distance
weather forecasting. Meteorological
science at, present has excellent
meLnodS OF forecaSting weather for
definite areas for q few hours, even
for few days. In advance. Beyond
that everything is guesswork But
Or. Abbot and his associates have
worked for years to prove or disprove
the theory that by the sun radiation
method accurate predictions could be
made for longer time. The system
Is used by the government forecasters
Of the Argentine Republic but the
American Government never has felt
that 1t, was on a sufficiently depend
able basis for official use Smith
sonian scientists feel that there is an
unquestfonable relation between solar
radiation and weather, but the laws
governing It are very complex and
can be established only after a long
routine Of experiments.
Lcns-Distnnce ForecastinS.
This year H c. Clayton. associated
for some time with the work in Argen-
tina, has made regular predictions of
the temperature of New York City for
each month. His broader prognostica-
tons of variations from the mean nor
NAL have proved fairly accurate. These
results will be published within the
next few months.
Work Of Carnegie Institution astrono-
mers has established at Mount Wilson
Calf, that the spiral nebulae in the
heavens, which have long been a mys.
terry to science. are in fast island
unfverseS in space at a distance of q
million light years or more from the
earth--that is, the stars We see, the