Evening star., 1948-11-17
Stars, Men and Atoms
New Light Used to Study
Insides of Molecules
Duke University Scientists Report
On Work With Radiation Waves
Bv Thomas r. Henry

By Thomas r. Henry
A new kind Of '1ight"-radio waves less
than quarter of an inch long-is being used
to Study the insides Of molecules.
These radiation waves, several thousand
times longer than those Of visible light and
several-fold longer than the longest infra-red
heat light" waves, are absorbed and reflected
by the atoms making up molecules.
The work Is being carried out by Dr.. Walter
Gordy and his assistants at Duke University
and by Dr. Hertha spooner German-born
woman physicist. Usual radio waves are half
mile or more in length. Development Of radar
during the war brought into use the so-called
micro-waves two or three inches long. The
Duke experimenters' have turned to the region
Of the spectrum where the radiations are less
than half this length. Instruments have been
developed for generating, detecting and measur.
ing these waves.
Findings Announced
Among the findings Just announced is that
the average moecule in a gas, where there Is
almost complete freedom Of motion, rotates
at rate of about 1000, 600 900 times a second
These rotation periods are so exact that there
has been serious consideration Of using them
as basic measure of time, instead of the
somewhat erratic rotation of the earth.
"Micro-wave light" DR.. Gordy explains,
'is used indirectly to look at molecules, but
not in exactly the same manner as 1t Is used
in radar to look at ships at sea. We learn
the rate at which free or isolated molecules
can turn over and over and in some cases
the rate at which they can turn inside out.
BY isolated molecules we mean those that do
not have more than 100, 900 900 900 900 neigh
bors within half an inch.
I'VE already have learned the shapes and
sizes of more than dozen molecules. For
example, we have found that the distance
between the carbon atom and the chlorine
atom in methyl chlorine is precisely .000,000,-
A5220 inch. This is the type of knowledge
that determines the physical, chemical and
biological properties of the moecule The diff
ference between q cancer cell and a normal
one, for example, is simply . difference Ia
molecular structure"
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A meeting place of two ancient cultures
prehistoric, partly subterranean Eskimo viii
lage on the desolate shore of Frobisher Bay.
Bafin Land, was excavated this summer by
DR.. Henry B. Collins, Smithsonian Institution
archeologist.
The village consisted Of one-room houses
with walls of stone and whalebone and whale
bone roofs. They were erected in excavations
2 to feet deep in the permanently frozen soil
and were entered by subterranean passageways.
Through the long Arctic winter the ancient
inhabitants must have lived completely buried
under the drifting snow.
The artifacts consisted mostly Of arrowheads,
harpoon heads and skin scrapers. They were
made of stone, ivory, bone and antlers
BY far the largest number were large and
somewhat crudely fashioned implements. They
are characteristic Of the so-called Thule cul-
ture which, with some variations from place
to place, was the prehistoric Eskimo culture
Of much of Greenland, the Canadian Arctic
and Alaska. 1t was the culture of the great
migratory period of the Eskimo race which
carried 1t entirely across the northern fringe
of the North American continent Many Of
its traits are still preserved.
Migration 1000 Years Ago.
This great migration hardly can have taken
place much more than thousand years ago.
Mixed with these Thule artifacts at Frobisher
Bay, however, were a lot of small, very deli
cately carved implements. These belong to a
mysterious earlier culture Of the so-called
Dorset people. They were undoubtedly Eski-
mos, probably of a quite conventional type.
They preceded the Thule migrants and their
handicraft shows some resemblance to the
earliest Eskimo artifacts found in Alaska
presumably the work of migrants from Siberia,
the probable Eskimo homeland
There is no way of dating this village with
much precision, DR.. Collins says 1t is almost
certain, however, that it preceded the voyage
of Martin Frobisher late in the 18th century.
At that time the explorer found the Bafin
Island Esklmos already using iron. No trace
of metal was found in the village
A