Evening star., 1939-06-24
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

~ AsSrtNc &t' ACNdVs
For the past Is years the total energy
from the sun, heat and light, has aver
aged more than 3 per cent higher than
normal over the surface Of the United
States.
This was revealed to the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science, meeting at Milwaukee this week,
by DR.. Irving F. Hand, in charge of solar
radiation measurements of the United
States Weather Bureau. It represents
the composite from four Government
stations and fifteen private cooperating
stations, DR.. Hand said.
This increase in the heat from the
sun, DR.. Hand said, Is undoubtedly q
very important factor in the higher free
air temperatures over the United States
In the same period. Some outstanding
diherences have been noted. In both
1882 and 1888 the radiation was nearly
five per cent above normal For indi-
vidual months it has been nine and ten
per cent
While DR.. Hand believes that the
phenomenon probably has been universal
in the Northern Hemisphere, no compar-
able figures are available from other
countries. The Weather Bureau meas
urements, he pointed out, are quite diff
ferent from the solar radiation measure
ments reported elsewhere which deter
mine the minute variations in heat out
put OF the sun itself. His own work is
concerned only with the actual amount
OF sun heat which reaches the surface
through the 60-mile- thick blanket of at
mosphere and dust, and which conse-
quently affects temperature directly.
Under certain conditions the sun itself
might actually be cooler while the earth s
surface showed an increase.
Generally. DR.. Hand said the increases
In solar radiation have been associated
with minimum number of sunspots,
titanic tempests in the suns atmosphere
Part OF the increase, he believes, is
due to the fact that there have been no
great discharges of dust and smoke into
the nigh atmosphere, such as came from
the eruption of Mount Katmai in Alaska
IuCdSuTaOlV
cools down the earth.
The Weather Bureau measurements
DR.. Hand said, show clearly for a few
days the effects of duststorms and forest
fres which prevent some OF the heat of
the sun from getting through.
Human beings have lived in North
America between $4,000 and 25,oOO years.
This can be established by definite
geological evidence, Drs. Kirk BRYAN
and Louis L. Ray of Harvard University
told the association.
They have been able to date the
Llndenmeier site in Northeastern Colo
rado, excavated by the Smithsonian In
stltution during the past five years, as
equivalent in age to the third Wisconsin
glacial substage, at the end of glacial
advance which, it is shown by other geo.
logical evidence, occurred 25, 900 years ago.
At this site, believed to be a hunting
blvouac of ancient Indianlike people.
DR. Frank H. Roberts, jr of the Bureau
OF Ethnology has found large number
OF peculiar shaped stone points associat-
eo with bones Of an extinct variety of
bison and other creatures long since
vanished from North America. Else
Where similar stone points, probably
spear heads, have been found associated
with mammoth bones. Presumably the
so-called Folsom man trailed the bison
nerds as they browsed in the lush pas
lures which Uero IN ho fo,,pd l..
IN the wake of the retreating glaciers.
DR. Roberts has returned to Colorado
and expects to complete his excavations
there this summer. Folsom and Fol-
somlike artifacts are found scattered over
most OF the United States, but every
where else the finds are on the surface
ana the individual objects are widely
scattered. Thus it is impossible to fix
them IN any geological setting by which
an approximate date can be given to
them. Presumably they were lost or dis
carded by wandering hunters. At the
Lindenmeier site however, there is no
oouot but that considerable number
OF these mysterious human beings
camped for extended periods, season
after season.
Nothing now known of human crafts
manshlp can be definitely stated to ex-
ceed the Folsom artifacts in ANTIQUITY
although number of claims have been
mace and 1t is entirely possible the
Folsom man was preceded on the CONT
nent by people of similar blood.