Evening star., 1951-04-06
Earth S Surface Pictured
By Cumeros on Rockets
Upper Air Research Photos
Studied at Laboratory Here
By Thomus R. Henry

Photographs Of the earth's surface
from an altitude Of 70 miles have been
taken by cameras attached to rockets
fired from the Army's White Sands
proving grounds In New Mexico.
These pictures. by far the highest ever
taken. are being studied at the Johns
Hopkins University Laboratory Of Ap-
piled Physics here. They were made
possible by new techniques developed
at this laboratory. which has q leading
role IN upper-air research.
The pictures show an area Of 750 miles
in radius. This stretches north and
south from Central Montana nearly to
Mexico City and from the Pacific nearly
to the Mississippi. They were taken
almost directly above White Sands.
Show Curvature of Earth.
For the entire area the curvature of the
earth is shown clearly. For large sec
ton below White Sands. considerable
detail is revealed-for example, the
tracks Of the Sante Fe Railroad and the
runways at Alamogordo airfield in New
Mexico. It is possible to detect some
geological details. An ancient lava bed
just north of White Sands is depicted
clearly. The lava formation stands out
black against the desert whiteness. The
extent Of these beds would be quite diff
ficult to determine by a ground survey
party. Various mountain ranges are
shown clearly and can be identified.
The Johns Hopkins physicists are spe-
cializing in the information that can be
obtained from high-altitude rockets
equipped with measuring instruments.
The results particularly are significant
from the use of ,cosmic-ray telescope
device with which the intensity Of this
bombardment of the earth's high atmos-
phere can be determined. Measurements
have been carried out on trips to the
mid-Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska and
Peru, as well as at various places In the
United States.
The intensity is shown to increase
enormously with distance from the mag.
netic equator.
Cotton is being genetically rebuilt.
Production, partly through the use
OF the drug colchicine. Of new species
with stronger fibers, resistance to the
pink boil worm which Is one Of the
major cotton peests, better frost resist
ance, and several other desirable traits
has just been reported to the American
Genetic Association here.
The work is reported from the Texas
Agricultural Experiment Station by Drs.
Meta S. Brown and Margaret Y. Mcneil.
It is triple cross between American
wild cotton, a variety of cultivated cot
ton, and Asiatic cotton. This could not
have been accomplished without treat
ment with colchicine of the original
cross between American and Asiatic
wild cotton. The resulting hybrid would
ordinarily have been sterile and the
second cross with American cultivated
cotton could not have been made.
Qualities Transmitted.
The qualities Of the new triple hybrid
are transmitted to its descendants in ac-
cordance with ordinary genetic laws.
Thus new kind Of plant has been
produced which promises to be quite
superior to any of it's ancestors. The
work appears to- be one of the major
accomplishments to date of man-manip-
ulated heredity with drug which was
an old European gout remedy.
Work with colchicine has been in prog.
ress for nearly 20 years. Relatively few
of the new species produced have been
of great economic Importance. Many
have been interesting freaks.
Ordinarily. it would be expected. new
species within plants would arise very
rarely. They would be due to mutations
arising in nature, would have struggle
to survive. and in all probability would
pass unnoticed.
Still other species are being created.
but thus far it has been impossible to
cross them. The new cotton still IL
confined to the experiment. station
growth.