50 Years Ago

  1. Science Past from the issue of November 18, 1961

    NEW EVIDENCE FOUND OF EXPANDING UNIVERSE — The universe is expanding, then collapsing again after a long time, evidence from photographs taken with the 200-inch telescope atop Mt. Palomar indicate. Dr. William A. Baum of Mt. Wilson and Palomar Observatories, Pasadena, Calif., said that present-day observations are not compatible with a steady-state universe in which […]

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  2. Science Past from the issue of November 4, 1961

    ARTIFICIAL HEART VALVE — A previously hopeless condition of the heart — a defective heart valve — can now be corrected by successful surgery, it was reported at the American Heart Association meeting in Miami Beach, Fla. Many of the 500 gravely ill patients described by three teams of surgeons who did partial or total […]

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  3. Olive oil injections aid in treating pneumonia

    Treating pneumonia with olive oil sounds strange, but the idea showed signs of early scientific savvy.

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  4. Mathematicians think of everything as rubber

    How the rubbery world of topology may help describe the universe.

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  5. Science Past from the issue of October 21, 1961

    ‘ALARM CLOCK’ BRINGS SNAKES TO SURFACE — A built-in “alarm clock” apparently helps a brightly-banded little desert snake come to the surface at night after he has buried himself to escape the day’s heat…. It had been noted that these snakes, which remain buried in the sand most of the time, appear to come to […]

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  6. Ancient Rome forbade downtown traffic in day

    Roman road congestion is as enduring as the Eternal City.

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  7. Science Past from the issue of October 7, 1961

    CHEAPER WATER FROM SEA — Lower cost conversion of undrinkable sea or brackish water to potable fresh water will come closer to practicality through use of $75,000,000 appropriated by Congress for the next six years. Lowest cost achieved so far is one dollar per thousand gallons compared with the cost from ordinary sources of 30¢ […]

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  8. Life

    Evolution should be taught to all students

    The antievolution movement in science education, which gained national attention in the 1920s, lives on in different forms.

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  9. Science Past from the issue of September 23, 1961

    ALGAE COULD PROVIDE OXYGEN FOR SPACEMAN — Minute plant life that form the common green scum found on the surface of stagnant ponds and in river beds, Chlorella algae, assisted by the sun, may provide the future man in space with the oxygen essential to maintain life. A new gas exchange device operating on the […]

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  10. Science Past from the issue of September 9, 1961

    NEW PARTICLE DISCOVERED — The discovery of a new elementary particle, omega meson, made at the University of California’s Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, and the finding of unidentified additional “particle systems” in the subatomic realm are believed to make it possible to push on in the next decade or two to a better explanation of how […]

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  11. Tech

    Einstein invents automatic camera

    Einstein invents fridges,cameras and clothing.

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  12. Science Past from the issue of August 26, 1961

    EARTH ONCE GLOWED — The earth’s surface in its early years of life may have glowed like a beautiful rainbow, shimmering with the colorful array of light emitted by primitive organisms. Light emission may have occurred soon after life appeared on earth, when the atmosphere lacked oxygen…. As small amounts of oxygen appeared in the […]

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