Evening star., 1939-06-29
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

by IhOn1dS II. Henry.
New phenomena of the heavens were
reported to astronomers of the American
Association for the Advancement of Sci
ence meeting at Milwaukee last week.
A dark-veiled star, R. Coronae Borealis,
was described by Dr. John OKeefe of the
Yerkes Observatory. 1t varies in its
brightness and this has been found due
to dense cloud of carbon dust at about
eight times the radius of the star away
from it.
This cloud, DR.. O'Keefe said, seems to
be due to the condensation of carbon
gas shot at intervals from the hot star
itself. The gas freezes in the intense
cold Of space into diffuse soot-cloud.
At first it was thought that this cloud
consisted of permanent inter-stellar mat
ter, swept from time to time into cloud
in front Of the star. Study of the spec
trum, Dr. O'Keefe said, shows that it
must be formed from the star itself.
A curious type of nova, or new star,
whose brightness has nearly doubled in
the past four years, was described by
Dr. John Titus of the same observatory.
1t is located nearly in the center of a
dark area in the Milky Way. Around it
astronomers have seen forming a fan
shaped nebulae, similar to that seen in
association with other novae. This is
luminous the spectrum reveals, by re-
fected light from the star itself. Novae
ordinarily flare up suddenly instead of
becoming progressively brighter over sew
eral years.
The North Star itself is immersed in
a cloud of cosmic dust that dims its
light at least 20 per cent, it was reported
by DR.. Joel Stebbins, c. M. Huffer and
A. E Whitford of the University of Wis
consin.
The same is true, they said, for the
whole region about 500 light years from
the earth.
The brightest parts of the Milky Way,
Dr.. Etebbins said, are only about half as
bright as they would appear If they could
be seen in the clear. The dark dust
clouds which absorb the light, he said
are distributed along the plane of the
Milky Way. They are revealed by the
slight reddening in the light of white
stars, just as the sun is redeemed when
seen through greater thickness Of air
at sunset
The clouds are so thin, DR.. Stebbins
pointed out, that the loss of light in
10000 900 900 900 900 miles is slightly less
than in single mile of the earth's at
mosphere
Somehow or other the moon is af-
fecting radio signals. it was reported
by DR.. Harlan T. Stetson of the Massa-
chusettS Institute of Technology.
Recent English observations, he said,
have shown that the height of the
ionosphere, or electric roof of the sky,
increases about mile approximately an
hour before the full moon passes over
the meridian.
The effect might be attributed, DR..
Stetson said, to the tidal effect of the
satellite in the high atmosphere, SINH
lar to the tides it raises on the sea.
The effect, however, is 5000 times
greater than the air tides at the earths
surface
One suggestion, DR.. Stetson said, is
that the surface of the moon is ex-
tremely radioactive. If it were approx
imately as radioactive as the earth's
surface it would have only one-ten
thousandth the effect of sunlight in
shifting the levels of the ionosphere.
Moonlight itself could not have this
effect since it is less than five hundred
thousandths as potent as sunlight.
The most logical explanation, DR..
stetson said, is that the effect is due
to the reradiation of solar energy from
the surface of the moon and the magni-
tude seems to vary roughly with the
amount of lunar surface Illuminated.
Experimental evidence for new con-
cept OF the cause and growth of ma
lignant tumors was presented before
the association by Drs. J. E. Davis and
H. E. Schmitz OF Mercy Hospital,
Chicago.
Probing the edges of both rat and
human cancers they found pockets of
the highly poisonous gas cyanogen,
combination of carbon and nitrogen.
Derivatives of cyanogen long have been
known to occur in human excretions
but the source has remained unknown.
The probability is, the two doctors ex-
planned. that the gas is formed normally
in the process OF the breakdown of
cells but that it tends to escape almost
as soon as it appears.
For some reason tissue susceptible
to cancer is less permeable for a gas
than ordinary tissue. The result is that
the cyanogen cannot escape. If the
tissue is very resistant in forms in
pockets in the. tumor itself and more
malignant tissue develops around it.
The cancer simply grows. In less re-
sistant tissue cyanogen is able to pene-
trate into nearby tissues where it
collects in pockets. Around these new
cancerous growths develop. This, the
physicians believe, is the explanation
for the fatal spread of cancers through
out the body.