50 Years Ago

Science Past from the issue of December 31, 1960

“TAKING IT EASY” IS BAD FOR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES — Physicians should not always tell worried, nervous business executives to “take it easy,” [said] Dr. Gerald Gordon…. If the emotions were not released, they would be turned inward and result in “suicide through stress diseases like heart disorders,” [he] said…. The basic emotions of pain, hunger, […]

Science Past from the issue of December 17, 1960

HEAVY SHIELD UNNECESSARY — Heavy shielding as protection for an astronaut against space radiations may not be necessary, at least for trips of less than 50 hours and at distances not greater than 618 miles from earth…. [B]iological specimens were encased in different types of metal to test their effectiveness as shielding materials. Some specimens […]

Science Past from the Dember 3, 1960 issue

ASTHMA CLUE FROM HORSES — Research into the deaths of thoroughbred horses, especially foals, has produced an entirely new approach to the treatment of asthma, hay fever and skin troubles in human beings…. During the course of the investigation on horses, a substance was found in certain white cells in the horses’ blood that played […]

Science Past from the issue of November 19, 1960

MERCURY CAPSULE FAILS — Failure of the test shot of the Mercury space capsule and its pilot escape system will not “necessarily” delay putting a man in space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported. NASA has scheduled a manned rocket launch for 1961. The Mercury spacecraft, designed to take an astronaut safely into outer […]

Science Past from the issue of November 5, 1960

“BUMPERS” FOR SPACE SHIPS — Sound-proofed “meteor bumpers” for space ships are needed to provide important psychological and physical protection for astronauts traveling through fast moving concentrations of space dust as they leave the earth, Dr. Fred L. Whipple, director, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a professor of astronomy at Harvard University, reported. The sound of […]

Science Past from the issue of October 22, 1960

WORLD TV VIA SATELLITES SET AT $170,000,000 — Fifty improved courier-type communications satellites would provide world-wide telephone and television facilities for a mere $170,000,000: $100,000,000 for the satellites and $70,000,000 for the ground stations. These are the figures the American Telephone and Telegraph Company estimated for the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C. Without the […]

Science Past from October 8, 1960 issue

DO SEA SERPENTS EXIST? — The flurry of interest in sea monsters gained new impetus in September 1959, when Dr. Anton Brunn of Denmark described captured larval eels six feet long.… [T]he unusually large size of the larvae suggested that the parents must be of huge size. The adult eels, perhaps 30 to 50 feet […]

Science Past from the issue of September 24, 1960

SCLEROSIS AND COSMIC RAYS — Radiation bombarding the earth from space may be a factor in the occurrence of multiple sclerosis, the Harvard University neurologist Dr. John S. Barlow believes.… Dr. Barlow’s statistical study of the distribution of multiple sclerosis shows that the frequencies of occurrence of the disease vary systematically with geomagnetic latitude. The […]

Science Past from September 10, 1960 issue

PRIMARY CLUE TO MATTER — The shortest lifetime of an elementary particle — only a quarter of a millionth of a billionth of a second — gives a primary clue to the structure of matter…. [S]cientists have known for about ten years of the neutral pi-meson and have been trying to pin down its lifetime. […]

Science Past from the issue of August 27, 1960

CAT PHOBIA TREATMENT — [A] patient was cured of cat phobia by forcing herself to handle velvet until she got used to it. The patient, a 37-year-old married woman …  had had a fear of cats as long as she could remember…. The therapist began … [with] what she felt was the least objectionable idea […]

Science Past | FROM THE ISSUE OF AUGUST 13, 1960

SCIENTISTS CALCULATE HOW MAN MAY FLY LIKE BIRD — Man may some day be able to fly by flapping a set of artificial wings, two Chilean scientists assert…. A 154-pound man equipped with 66 pounds of flight accessories would need wings about 10 feet long with a flight surface of 60 square feet. To maintain […]

Science Past  from the issue of July 30, 1960

LIP-SMACKING GRASSHOPPER — A grasshopper with a talent for lip-smacking has turned out to be quite an unusual insect. Paratylotropidia brunneri Scudder is the first insect known to communicate over fairly long distances by producing an audible sound from the mouth — literally smacking its lips…. Produced at the rate of six or seven per […]