From the July 16, 1932, issue
By Science News
CANADIAN RESEARCH BUILDING READY FOR USE AT OTTAWA
“In time of war, prepare for peace” is an adage worthy of being followed in economic conflict such as now grips the world. The impending dedication of Canada’s $3 million laboratory building at Ottawa for its National Research Council is a fitting reminder that research undertaken now will pay large dividends to the community when world economics evolve into a happier state. Always a good investment, research provides one safe way for the utilization of human energy and thought, when labor and brains seem to be listed among our surpluses.
DOUBLE-WEIGHT HYDROGEN FOUND IN WATER ELECTROLYSIS
A plentiful supply of newly discovered double-weight hydrogen atoms exists in the apparatus used commercially to break down water into oxygen and hydrogen gases by passing electricity through it.
This has been determined through joint research by Dr. E.W. Washburn of the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, and Dr. Harold G. Urey of the chemistry department of Columbia University, New York.
The existence of a hydrogen isotope of atomic weight two, twice the ordinary hydrogen atom of mass one, was discovered last year by joint research between the same two institutions. This was hailed as an important development bearing upon the constitution of matter and the way in which elements are distributed in nature.
COSMIC-RAY INTENSITY VARIES WITH CHANGE IN LATITUDE
Cosmic rays do not bombard Earth with equal intensity from all directions, but their strength increases with the distance north and south of Earth’s equator, Dr. A.H. Compton, Nobel prize physicist of the University of Chicago, reports in the Physical Review.
This is the first report from an extensive worldwide survey during which many physicists are making observations in remote localities. Dr. Compton transmitted his initial report from the Tasman Sea, during travel to new observing stations after research at Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia.