Watching the World
Refrigerated Power Lines
◆ Research is being pushed to develop refrigerated power cables. There are many advantages. Running them underground will enhance the view of the countryside, which is so often marred by power lines. By refrigerating the cables they become superconducting and are able to carry eight times as much power as cables of the same size that are now in overhead power lines. Unrefrigerated lines running underground can seldom be more than twenty miles in length because heat builds up and reduces their carrying capacity. Refrigerated cables can stretch for hundreds of miles underground but would require refrigeration stations at various intervals. It is said that the cost of such a system would be about 60 percent of what a conventional underground cable costs per mile.
Improving Diamonds
◆ It is common for gem diamonds to contain various imperfections. Until recently it was impossible to remove the material imbedded in the gems. The laser has changed this. In a recent experiment a laser was focused on an extremely small area of a diamond, and it cut a tiny hole to the imbedded imperfection, which was then removed. No change was caused in the stone’s natural reflection of light. Furthermore, the hole was so small that it could be seen only under magnification.
Strange Belts over Earth
◆ When the Apollo 16 astronauts were on the moon in April they took some photographs of the earth in ultraviolet light. Much to the surprise of scientists, these pictures revealed two glowing belts covering part of the earth. It is theorized that they are caused by electric currents flowing high above the surface of the earth.
Moon Theory Collapses
◆ Since man has been sending out spacecraft to various parts of our solar system he has had to discard one theory after another because of the information returned by these space probes. Examination of the 200 pounds of lunar rocks brought back by the recent flight of Apollo 16 has caused another theory to collapse. It had been theorized that lava flowing from the interior of the moon had filled in much of the elevated regions. But the rock samples brought back from one of these regions showed no signs of volcanic lava. The Wall Street Journal observed: “The upshot is that carefully constructed theories about the formation of the lunar highlands covering 80% of the moon’s surface must now be abandoned.”
Report from Mars
◆ The Mariner 9 spacecraft has been returning interesting reports from the planet Mars. Since it began circling the planet in November 1971, it has sent back 6,800 pictures. Some of the pictures show features on the surface of the planet that are as small as one hundred yards across. Others cover wide areas. The pictures reveal what appear to be gigantic volcanoes, canyons, areas heavily cratered by meteorites and an “ice cap” of frozen carbon dioxide at the south pole that is said to be 200 miles in diameter.
Oxygen Supply Endangered
◆ It has been estimated by one scientist that approximately 50 percent of the earth’s free oxygen is produced by the immense Amazon forest in South America. Because Brazilian and foreign developers receive sizable tax incentives for investing in the area, there is a tremendous amount of tree cutting in the forest to clear land for cattle ranches and other projects. In the past four years more than 300 cattle ranches, involving more than a million acres, have been formed in this manner. According to Warwick Esteves Kerr, the president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, the Amazon forest may be destroyed by the woodcutters within thirty-five years. Scientists fear that once the forest is cut down and the thin topsoil is washed away by tropical rains, there will be nothing but a desert left. More than that, the life-giving oxygen supply for the earth would be drastically cut.
Nitrogen Endangering Fish
◆ In 1971, approximately 90 percent of the salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River were killed because of too much nitrogen in the water. The many dams constructed on the river are the reason why the water is supersaturated with this gas. When water spills over a dam it traps air and carries it deep below the surface of the water. The greater pressure there forces nitrogen into solutions that, in some instances, measure up to 42 percent above normal. A nitrogen solution that exceeds 10 percent injures fish, and when it exceeds 25 percent it usually kills them. Natural high waterfalls also cause a supersaturation of nitrogen, but the rocky riverbed helps to dissipate the nitrogen. The dams have changed this on the Columbia River by creating a string of slack-water lakes between them. Thus the nitrogen saturation builds up from one dam to the next. Efforts are being made to correct the problem.
Fetal Death from Pesticide
◆ According to Medical World News of May 12, 1972, the widely used pesticide known as parathion has been identified as a possible cause of death or malformation of babies before birth. The finding was reported by Dr. Raymond D. Harbison, assistant professor of pharmacology and biochemistry.
Reasons to Be Trim
◆ A sixteen-year study of heart disease indicates that a man who is 25 percent overweight has a 50-percent greater chance of having heart trouble than a man who is not overweight. The danger of having a stroke, heart failure or coronary disease is greater in overweight men and women than in people who are trim.
Why Tobacco Not Banned
◆ Incriminating evidence against the smoking of tobacco continues to mount. There is little doubt in the minds of the medical profession about the health-damaging effects of smoking. So, many people wonder why such use of tobacco is not officially banned. One answer was given by a Canadian minister of health, John Munro. He said: “When we consider doing that, we have to remember that not everybody in Canada smokes and that the tobacco industry itself is a major contributor to the health of the Canadian economy.” In other words, people make money in the business, and they are not particularly worried about how others are affected. He also expressed the view that he did not think a ban would be effective.
Sick Society
◆ Commenting on the widespread use of marijuana, an editorial in the Canadian newspaper The Spectator of May 20, 1972, made the following comments about the state of human society: “Smoking marijuana, like addiction to ‘hard drugs,’ cannot be regarded as a step into a new freedom, a realization of the individual’s right to do as he pleases. A healthy, orderly society is one in which individual self-restraint is the ideal and the law is not much in evidence. It does not matter what the law says if a society is sick with decay or despair. Mankind has always craved for stimulation of the senses. Against this, the law is powerless; the only effective weapon is religion, and the generally sad state of that in our society needs no comment.”
German Nurse Shortage
◆ The German magazine Der Spiegel of March 27, 1972, reported that West Germany has a serious shortage of nurses. Some 30,000 hospital beds are empty because there are no nurses to care for the patients. It appears that interest in nursing careers has declined. Hospital officials hope that a better dividing of the work and better possibilities for advancement will help to remedy the situation.
Vasectomy’s Problems
◆ It has become the popular thing for a man to undergo a vasectomy, an operation that renders him sterile. Commenting on this fad, Dr. William A. Nolen observed: “I wonder whether we haven’t gone overboard, whether five, ten, or twenty years from now some men aren’t going to regret that they had it. I’m afraid patients and doctors often underestimate or overlook some of the possible complications associated with vasectomy, which can be serious.” One complication, according to Dr. Nolen, is that “vasectomy is rarely reversible.” Why? Well, he says that it is extremely difficult for a surgeon to line up the channel in a severed vas, which channel is only the size of the tip of a needle, and that the chance of success is slim. Another serious complication is a change that may later enter a man’s life if his wife dies and he remarries or if a child dies and he yearns for another child. Potency is still another factor. Since it is 95 percent psychological, according to this doctor, a vasectomy can affect it because of the adverse psychological effect the operation can have on a man. Another, even more important reason for thinking twice about the operation is the clear indication in the Bible that God does not approve of the mutilation of reproductive powers.
Bloodless Surgery
◆ A growing number of surgeons are trying to develop surgical methods that will eliminate blood transfusions. This movement has developed from the desire to avoid the hazards of blood transfusions. A shortage of blood donors is also a factor. Commenting on the hazards of blood transfusions, Dr. James R. Eckenhoff, dean of Northwestern University medical school, was reported by the Kansas City Star of May 24, 1972, as saying: “The transfusion itself may cause death . . . one of every 4,000 to 5,000 bottles of blood has fatal effects from blood mismatching, allergic response or contaminated blood. Even when the effect is not fatal, already sick patients sometimes are made sicker by problems caused by donor blood.” The paper also quotes Dr. Denton Cooley of Houston, Texas, as saying that “the fact is evident now that most major surgery can be done without transfusions.”
Mad Foxes and Skunks
◆ Rabies is on the rise among wild animals in the United States, and this presents an ever-growing threat to humans who might be bitten by them. In 1971 the reported cases of rabies noted among wild animals was 30 percent above that of the previous year. The Center for Disease Control is concerned that this rise in the disease may cause a rise of it among humans. Dr. Karl Kappus warned: “Healthy wild animals are going to be wary of people. Any animal like a skunk or a fox that comes up to people with a grin on its face is likely to be infected.” He also cautioned pet owners to be wary of highly variable behavior in their pets.
Terrified Teacher
◆ A teacher in a primary school in Birmingham, England, has decided to retire seven years early because she is terrified of becoming a victim of violence from ten-year-old pupils. She has been a teacher for thirty years. She said: “I am not the first to resign, or by any means the last. . . . I have had to endure constant insults and obscenities.”
Clergy in Politics
◆ A report, presented to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland urged clergymen to give more place in their sermons to political issues. It also urged them to be more involved in political activities. How contrary this is to the example set by Jesus Christ, who did not become involved in worldly politics and who said that his followers “are no part of the world.”—John 17:14.
Catholic Protests in Italy
◆ Italian bishops are expressing concern about the increasing protests by priests and laymen in Italy. A manifesto was recently issued by thirty-three Italian theologians criticizing the leadership of the Catholic church. They had appealed to priests and laymen to proceed with church reforms even if they contradict the pope and the bishops.