Evening star., 1955-01-12
Rudiometric Sextunt
Trucks Automatically
Used in Rudio-Astronomy
And Cannot Be Jommed
By Thomos Z. Henry

And Cannot Be Jummed
BY Thomos R. Henry
Development OF 'radiometric sex
tant', which. within certain limitations.
can track automatically sun and moon
under any weather conditions has Just
been described by the Once Of Naval
Research.
This Is the first practical application
In q man-made gadget Of the new
science Of dio-astronomy. It consists
of q highly directional antenna and
very sensitive receiving equipment to-
pick UP the continuous radiowave emis-
sion of the two heavenly bodies. Il
receives and handles automatically the
so-called noise energy" which remains
constant at certain wave lengths regard
less Of other conditions on the solar
surface which may cause enormous Inc
creases In radiowave emission.
s'The sextant" says an ONR descrip-
tion, is of simple construction and can
be very sturdy. It is easily and quickly
tional antenna and operation on very
high frequency it is not likely to be
disturbed by local or man-made, static.
Its accuracy Is comparable to that Of an
optical sextant and can be used to track
radiation reflected from the moon.
Successful Tests.
"The Navy has been conducting tests
on use Of the sextant for navigation Of
surface ships. 1t has operated success
fully under all weather conditions"
1.-THE present sextant," it Is pointed
out, cannot be used to track on stars.
The ultimate aim is to track on either
sun or stars. The difhculty in designing
such all-purpose equipment is in the
antenna. It would have to be large to
be powerful enough to pick up galactic
radio signals ttransiniSSionS from the
general star held), which are several
orders of magnitude weaker than solar
noise. Such equipment could replace all
current navigational equipment. 1t is
not subject to jamming as are naviga-
tional systems dependent on man-made
radiations."
Possibility of radioactive contamina-
ton Of plants and animals used for
human food-one Of the predicted
dangers of the promised atomic age
concerning which relatively little now
is known--is being investigated inten-
sively by General Electric Co. scientists
at, Atomic Energy Commission es-
tablishment at Hanford, Wash.
Eight to ten fish week from 100
mile stretch of the Columbia River,
likely to be frequented by sportsmen.
are analyzed Algae and piankton.
lowest forms of river life upon which
the fish feed, are collected regularly.
Insect larvae are dredged from the
river bottom and kept in the laboratory
until they develop into full-fiedged
insects.
In the laboratory organisms are
reared in varying concentrations Of re-
actor waste products to determine their
uptake Of radioactivity. Groups Of
salmon have been Matched in the lab-
oratory and then marked before being
set free to migrate to the Pacific Ocean.
After four years the adult fish will be
restudied when they return to inland
ponds to spawn.
Special experiments are being carried
out with sheep, kept in ideal living
conditions and fed carefully balanced
diets, They are separated into isolated
groups so that effects of radioactive
diet fed to individual animals can be
compared with non-contaminated diets.
Extreme attention to the comfort
and well-being Of the sheep is designed
to remove any doubt that other factors
besides radioactivity are causing symp-
toms. Blood samples are taken at
regular intervals to keep track Of the
red and white corpuscle counts, the
chemical constituents Of the blood, and
the numbers and kinds Of bacteria
present. Wool samples are studied to
see If there is change in the fiber
length. strength and content.
Beans are grown, under controlled
conditions. They are fed nutrient
fluids in which radioactive isotopes
are placed, while light conditions,
humidity and temperature are SO well
regulated that the plants produce the
same number Of blossoms after 25 days.
Ten days later they all bear the same
amount Of fruit.
The indications to date are quite
encouraging, the General Electric
scientists say. The amount OF contami-
nation In the river, or discharged into
the atmosphere from smokestacks, is
well under amounts necessary to do
immediate harm.