Evening star., 1942-08-18
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
BU Thomas r. Henry.

| skies show that the solar system is at
least 1000 oo0.0 900 years old
These watches" are iron meteorites.
Presumably they are fragments of some
disrupted planet or comet which once
formed part of the suns family
New age determinations, which may
necessitate radical changes in current
theories as to the origin of the solar
system have been reported by Prof.
F. A. Paneth. formerly of the University
of Konigsberg, who now is at the Uni
versity of Durham in England He Is
considered the worlds foremost expert
on determining the age of rocks by meas
uring very precisely the amount of the
gas. heium, which they contain and
checking this against their uranium
content. Felium is one Of the decompo-
sition products from the explosion of
uranium atoms.
The structure of the iron meteorites.
Dr. Paneth reports to the British ASso-
citation for the Advancement of Science,
is such that all helium formed in them
from the beginning is trapped Thus,
since the breakdown rate of uranium
is known, the amount of helium gives
fair indication of the age of the body
itself.
Chemical analysis of these rocks from
the sky, however, is extremely difficult
1t has been carried out with great
NV p,Nf III
assistants, Drs. w j. Arrol and r. B.
jacob.
The greatest ages he has been able
to obtain. he says, are around 7,OO0,-
100000 years.
Buk the oldest rocks on earth upon
which it has been possible to obtain
age determinations register only between
2,00000O,0o0 and 3,000,0OO00O years This
much time has elapsed since they be-
came solid in the crust of the cooling
earth.
The current theory, DR.. Paneth ex-
plains, is that the earth was torn loose
from the sun very shortly after the sun
itself came into existence as star
A widely accepted expanded universe"
theory allows the whole Milky Way
galaxy itself only about 30OO,00 900
years.
His latest findings, DR.. Paneth says.
will force far-reaching changes in astro-
nomical theory. They show that the
earth itself is relatively young men,
Der Of the suns family.
Two developments in the field of can
Ger which may prove of far-reaching
significance, both results of American
British scientific cooperation, have been
reported recently
One is that cancer tissue has strange,
blue fiuoreScence when radiated with
ultra violet light This may be to some
extent diagnostic between benign and
malignant tumors and sheds light on the
possible cause of the latter.
The other is that the abundance of
heavy form of the element potassium is
considerably less in cancerous tissues
than in normal tissues from the same
part Of the body.
The first is reported in the official
journal of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science by DR.. H. S.
Penn Of the University of California.
One of the most active cancer-produc-
ing agents is a chemical known as
methyl cholanthrene. Chemically, it is
closely related to cholesterol, a white,
odorless higher alcohol which occurs
naturally in the body, especially in
nerve tissue. The thesis previously has
been advanced that cholesterol may un-
dergo some degeneration which changes
it into methyl cholanthrene. or a very
similar substance. But no evidence has
been produced that there is actually any
Of the virulent producing agent
In malignant tissues.
Now, DR.. Penn explains, methyl cho-
lanthrene when placed under invisible
ultra violet light emits blue glow. This
Is the phenomenon of fluorescence.
When he irradiated fats from cancer
tissue he obtained a fiuorescence of al
most precisely the same wave lengths.
1t was very strong, Non-cancerous tissue
gave only an extremely feeble ghost light
in this region of the light spectrum
The finding, he points out, lends con-
siderable weight to the thesis that the
chemical degeneration of cholesterol is
very important factor in causing cam
GERS.
A second development is reported in
the same journal by Dr. A. K. Brewer of
the United States Department of Agri-
culture and DR.. A. Laznitzki of the medi-
cal school of the University of Birminp-
ham, England.
Potassium is one of the essential
elements of life. 1t is found in everv
part Of the human body. The element is
known in two forms. One is a trife
heavier than the other and slightly
radioactive.
This heavy potassium was found bv
DR.. Brewer about seven wears ago. #
Is known to be present In bone marrow
to n somewhat greater extent than in
other organs or in potassium mineral AS
it occurs in nature
DR.. Laznitzki, who carried out the
physiological work, found that in cancer
tlssue there is considerably less of the
heavy potassium than in the tissue of a
healthy form of the same organ.
There is a decided prospect, he ex-
plains in his report, that q decrease in
heavy potassium in certain organ be-
low the normal Is an indication that an