Evening star., 1950-01-02
New Ceramic Material
May Be Useful In Jets
"Stupalith" Ignores Physical Law
And Contracts When Heated
By Thomas x. Henry

| By Thomas K. Henry
A revolutionary ceramic material which
| contracts when heated and expands when
| cooled-contrary to the general physical
law-now is being produced for the Air
| Forces.
Engineers now are evaluating it's use for
parts OF jet and rocket engines which are
subjected to great temperature changes.
With variations in the formula, both ex-
pansion and contraction can be reduced
essentially to zero under any heating con-
ditions.
The material known as "stupalith,' is
basically a combination of lithium, alum
mum and silica. 1t can be formed and
shaped by conventional methods of press
ing and casting. Extreme precision can be
attained by machining or grinding.
Because it is very strong and can with
stand heat shock of at least 1000 degrees
Fahrenheit, Air Force engineers believe the
new substance will be of great value not
only in jet engine parts but also to house del
icate electronic instruments on rockets and
other airborne missiles.
When fabricated into gas turbine blades
the new ceramic has performed very well.
1t is white and glass-like in appearance.
Unlike most metals which conduct heat
rapidly and attain uniformity of temperature
quickly, most currently used ceramics are
poor heat conductors. The pronounced dif-
ferences in temperature cause cracking. This
does not occur in the new material, because
OF its low expansion properties.
A non-freezable rubber is being developed
for the Army by the Firestone Tire k
Rubber Co.
Ordinary rubber is somewhat amorphous
material with properties of both a solid and
a 81 E1oh hiatt
and when it is dropped or struck will crack
and shatter like glass.
The new material, in which the molecules
are rearranged remains soft and pliable
down to Us degrees and may go much lower.
1t may be of great value for Arctic war.
fare implements
Two distinct viruses may be involved In
1nfective hepatitis, the jaundice which ran
riot among American troops in Europe dur
ing the war and which has remained one
OF medicines most battling problems
This was stressed before the American
Medical Association by DR.. Joseph Stokes
of Philadelphia
The Importance Of the malady lies first
in the fact that it is due to fllterable viruses,
most minute of living organisms which al
ways are threatening to mutate into far
more serious diseases. The hepatitis per se
ran to between 100000 and 100000 in the
various war theaters, usually caused about
two months of disability and in almost every
case removed soldier permanently from
heavy duty.
Apparently, DR.. Stokes said, it Is confined
to human beings. No experimental animal
has been found to which it can be trans
mitted. Cultivation in incubating eggs, now
the common method of producing a vaccine,
still Is in an experimental stage Only
human volunteers, soldiers and institution
inmates. can be used in experiments
The fact that there are two forms Of the
disease is increasingly apparent, DR.. Stokes
said. One requires from 20 to 80 days for
incubation after the primary infection. 1t
rarely occurs after lapse of 40 days. The
other requires from go to 140 days. The
latter was most prevalent in the Army. It
seems almost certain that attack by one
form does not immunize against the other
form.
It was believed that the infection was
passed on by blood plasma transfusions and.
possibly, by hypodermic needles. Plasma it
now appears can be disinfected by radiation
with ultraviolet light. No way has been
found, however, of disinfecting whole blood
used in transfusions. Experiments are
underway with the use of nitrogen mustard
gas for this purpose.
There is some evidence that, as is the
case with typhoid fever, there are carriers
of the virus One Philadelphia bartender,
for example had most probably given the
malady to four persons in four years through
the medium Of blood transfusions
AS yet no successful treatment has been
found. All the sulfa drugs and penicillin
have proven useless. There has been some
apparent success with the new aureomycin.
The older the victim the more serious the
disease is likely to prove. There appears to
be some immunity passed on the infants by
mothers. as may be the case in mumps and
measles which cisanpears with childhood