50 Years Ago

Science Past from the issue of June 20, 1959

Mechanical cow eats grass — A mechanical “cow” has just started work at the British Agricultural Research Council’s experimental station at Rothamsted, near London. Its function is to extract protein from leaves or grass or any suitable vegetation…. Grass or other vegetation is fed into the machine from a normal elevator. After being chopped, the […]

Science Past from the issue of June 6, 1959

Space Flight Succeeds — Two little monkeys, one clad in a space suit and the other lying in a special capsule with her knees drawn up under her, were blasted 300 miles into space on Thursday, May 28, from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has revealed. Drama of the experiment was […]

Science Past from the issue of May 23, 1959

NUCLEAR-POWERED BLIMP — America’s first nuclear-powered aircraft could very well be a huge blimp, about three times the size of those now being used by the U.S. Navy for submarine and plane spotting…. The blimp’s length would be 540 feet, making it possible to locate the atomic reactor far enough away from the craft’s control […]

Science Past from the issue of May 9, 1959

Forecast 25% increase in air’s carbon dioxide — A 25% increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere during the 150-year period ending in 2000 A.D. has been forecast. Dr. Bert Bolin of the University of Stockholm in Sweden told the National Academy of Sciences meeting in Washington that the burning of […]

Science Past from the issue of April 25, 1959

“Go-getter” type is heart attack candidate — The American “go-getter” type is a prime candidate for a heart attack. There appears to be a strong link between the behavior of a man with regard to his business and social activities and his chances of being a victim of a heart attack, two San Francisco specialists […]

Science Past for April 11, 2009

Science Past | from the issue of April 11, 1959 Scientists urged to dig for specimens of Peking Man — Give up the loss of the bones of ancient Peking Man, one of man’s earliest ancestors, as a “perfect crime,” and start digging for new specimens of this Pleistocene forebear. This is the advice to […]

Science Past for March 28, 1959

[Patients] to run own wing in hospital — A new wing which is being added to an English mental hospital will be run entirely by the patients. Doctors and nurses will enter it only by invitation. Administration will be by a committee of patients, which will have a room for meetings…. Patients will themselves decide […]

Science Past for February 28, 1959

WEATHER SATELLITE ORBITING — The United States has launched into orbit the first baby weather station in space. It was hurled into its earth-circling path at 10:55 a.m. Feb. 17, and its predicted lifetime is several decades. The batteries powering the radio transmitting weather information, however, have only a two-week lifetime. The 20-inch, 21.5-pound satellite […]

Science Past for February 14, 1959

POLAR ICE CORES REVEAL TRAPPED “ANCIENT AIR” —  Bubbles of “ancient air” trapped in polar ice may reveal whether the modern industrial world is polluting the atmosphere with carbon dioxide. The air bubbles were found in cores drilled at depths down to 1,345 feet in the Greenland and Antarctic ice caps. The ice originated as snows […]

Science Past for January 31, 1959

SEA VOICE MAY WARN REDS OF COMING STORMS — By listening to the sea’s voice, Russian scientists say they may be able to detect approaching storms. A Scientific Information Report circulated by the Central Intelligence Agency carries an abstract from an “unevaluated” paper prepared by Ya. Petrov, a Russian scientist. [He] says … V. V. […]

Science Past for January 17, 1959

PROPOSE CRATER THEORY — Huge bubbles of gas bursting through the moon’s surface may be the cause of lunar craters. Two British scientists proposed in a new “blowhole theory” that gases trapped under the surface when suddenly set free would form craters resembling those observed on the moon. Among other current theories are those attributing […]

Science Past for December 20, 1958

Poison ivy pills— A poison ivy pill can offer season-long immunity against America’s common summer skin rash.… The standard dosage that will develop immunity includes one tablet every other day for the first two weeks. This is then followed by one tablet daily for the next two weeks. Then two tablets taken daily for the […]