Evening star., 1942-02-17
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas X. Henri.

BY 1HOnIQS N. dCuTV.
What might be the most destructive
war weapon yet known has been IN
vented in Russia.
It is an apparatus for making q con-
tinuous supply of liquid oxygen which
weighs less than a pound and may be
carried in an airplane.
About four years ago some extremely
destructive bombs were dropped in Spain.
They allegedly shattered the countryside
within half-mile radius. They were
currently reported to be liquid oxygen
bombs of German manufacture. A din
Guilty with the theory. quickly pointed
out by explosives specialists, was that
this substance was extremely volatile
and that very bulky, stationary ma
chinery was required to produce 1t. It
would be Of no value in warfare, 1t was
claimed. unless factories could be set up
on the front lines.
At that time Constantin Oumansh
Soviet Ambassador to Washington, re-
marked that he had heard whispered
about Moscow a report that some Russian
scientist had an efiicient liquid oxygen
making apparatus no bigger than q
matchbox. Mr.. Oumanski, however, was
unable to obtain any further details.
Now, 1t appears, the rumors he heard
were only slightly exaggerated The
whole story is revealed In the Chemical
Trade Journal Of London. organ Of the
British chemical industry, by Prof. N. N.
Semyonov. member Of the Soviet Acad-
emy Of Sciences.
He attributes the discovery to Prof
P. L. Kapitsa, director of the Institute
Of Physical Research of the U. s. s. r.,
and says that 1t resulted from studies
on the fundamental constitution Of mat
ter which are far removed at present
from any practical application.
He was investigating the strange prop
critics Of liquid helium. The sun gas"
can be turned into q liquid only at
extremely great pressures-or vice versa,
extremely low temperatures. These 20
very close to $50 F., the obsolute zero
at which all molecular motion stops, 20
that 1t cannot possibly be any colder
1t is difficult to get adequate supplies
Of this remarkable liquid Prof. Kapitsa
first tried to build apparatus which
would yield larger amounts and sue
ceeded in obtaining enough to investigate
its fundamental properties. Among
these. he found. is "superiquidity" 1t
is about 100000 times more liquid
than water. The size Of the opening in
4 container through which a given
amount Of this substance would flow in
q second was 50 small that 1t would re-
quire several thousand years for the
same amount Of water under the same
pressure to trickle through.
He developed his apparatus to the
point where 1t would produce four quarts
Of liquid helium an hour. and he was able
to distribute supplies to all the Russian
physical laboratories. Then 1t occurred
to him that the discovery might be
even more applicable to the hquincation
OF air and Of oxygen. 1t is, he says, a
device for cooling a gas without using
high pressures The cooling necessary
for air liquification, for example. can be
accomplished with pressures Of from
four to six atmospheres. instead OF ap-
proximately 200 atmospheres necessary
in other processes.
The chief part Of the apparatus, says
Prof. Semyonov, is very small turbine
very delicately put together. The tol-
erance between the rotor of this turbine
and its casing is only about tenth of a
millimeter 1t makes 10000 revolutions
q minute and weighs less than a half
pound.
With this, it is reported, Prof Kapitsa
Is able to produce 80 Kilograms Of LIQUID
air or liquid oxygen In an hour. Such
production In the past would have re-
quired machine weighing several tons.
A model Of the new apparatus made
for industrial use, 1t is reported. now
has been running constantly for 400
hours and shows no signs of wear.
The apparatus obviously could not be
reconstructed from the meager details
given. Up to the present there have
been no authenticated reports Of the
use Of liquid oxygen bombs In the present
war and the dificulty Of conserving them
long enough to get over an objective is
one Of the reasons given
Whether the Red armies have tried to
capitalize in any way on Prof. Kapitsas
discovery Is unknown and 1t doubtless
would require considerable adaptation