Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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and in transportation, has been dis- played in the light of peace, atomic energy is being used to Wage a war in the field of medicine. According to Dr. Arthur H. Compton, it is possible to produce some 450 radio-active ele- ments from nuclear fission. Ulti- mately, these 450 isotopes will be used invarious fields of commercial chem- istry and medical research. By replacing the normal atoms of a substance with radio-active atoms of the same element, the action of chemicals in the body can be traced. Radio-active isotopes are used in ex- periments to trace substances in the human body, and to observe the ac- tions of vitamins, proteins, and other products in the body. From these radio-active tracer atoms' injected into the body, new facts about heart disease and cancer can be learned. Although no cure for cancer has been discovered through the use of radio- active substances, problems on how cancer develops can be studied and perhaps eventually solved. Radio-ac- tive phosphorous has been used in studying leukemia, a disease which produces an excess of white corpus- cles. Radio-active iodine has been very useful in the treatment of goitre and thyroid tumors. With the aid of radio-active iodine, researchers have discovered that three fourths of the iodine in the body goes to the thyroid gland, thus they know that the iodine is instrumental in the treatment of the disease. Radio-active carbon is perhaps the most useful of the radio- active elements because of its pro- longed radio-activity. Isotopes of carbon have been used to study can- cer, diabetes, and to trace carbon de- position in teeth and bones. The gam- ma rays also make excellent X-rays, but because of the intense heat, they cannot be used on human beings. At this time, the tremendous problem that remains is determining the quan- tity and kind of materials which when deposited in certain tissues provide a safe dosage of radioactivity. Until this problem is solved, there is no curative use of radio isotopes. Not only are there experiments being conducted by hospitals and re- search centers but by private individu- als who can obtain radio-active iso- topes by buying them from a catalogue put out by the Oak Ridge, Tennessee laboratory if they are legitimate re- search scientists. This system in- creases the number of experiments not only in medical fields but in other fields as Well. Although radio isotopes cannot cure diseases they can be used for agricultural purposes, and perhaps they can clear up a few biological questions which have been unanswered for years. Radio-active isotopes of an ele- ment canbe used to learn more about animal and plant life. So far, there is no evidence that atomic energy or radio-active substances will increase the rate or amount of plant growth, but biologists are using radio-active isotopes to study plant metabolism a.nd photo-synthesis. Using carbon tracer atoms, they can study the cre- ation of plant food and the storing of solar energy in the plant which could mean that with sufficient knowledge, the artificial creation of food and the harnessing of the sun's energy might be accomplished. Employing different 7

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is its future in engineering and trans- portation. Radio-active materials, or isotopes, which are elements of a sub- stance which have absorbed neutrons from reacting uranium, have been used in many phases of engineering. Radio-active materials are being used to estimate the amount of petro- leum present in a drilled well. The radio-active substance is drilled into the ground, then with the aid of an in- strument called a Geiger counter, the amount, the location, and the move- ments of underground liquids can be discovered. Radio-active isotopes have been introduced into metal parts in order to study and measure the amount of wear in ball -bearings, pistons, and sliding parts, with the conclusion, that better alloys which will resist certain types of wear can be produced. Radio-active materials have been used for safety methods in plants and factories. Radio-active substances are blown into the air and are used to study the harmful effects which the dusts of the factory have on the work- ers. By this method experimenters can determine the types of industrial wastes which are harmful to the body, and also those which cause tubercu- losis. An irradiated antimony rod has been used as a cheap X-ray to detect flaws in metals and metal parts. Al- though the radio-active rod is able to retain its radio-activity for only a short time, it is cheap and easily re- placed. As for the utilization of nuclear fission in transportation, its future looks dark and mmyielding. Atomic- powered vehicles cannot be expected 6 for a long time, because of the problem involved in surrounding an engine with a shield of lead or concrete. Automobile engines have to be com- pact, and an automobile with an atomic engine, would have to be of tremen- dous size to support the weight of such ashield. The same goes for the rail- way engine. The entire railway net- work of the country would have to change completely in order to support the weight and bulk of an atomic -pow- ered train. In preparation for atomic -jet pro- pulsion, the Army Air Force, the Na- tional Aeronautics Commission, and ten aviation companies have combined and have worked the mathematics for an atomic-powered airplane engine, but as yet, no drafting has been started on a motor design. In regard to atomic -powered en- gines, scientists are confronted at every t1u'n with the problem of size and weight because of the now-present necessity of a protective shield, but the scientists have one aspect in their favor--the fact that sea-water is an excellent shield for deadly gamma rays. Engineers hope that they will be able to design a ship, powered by nuclear fission, which will trail the engine under the surface. The power would turn an ordinary steam turbine which would provide power for the propeller, and the whole problem of the deadly rays would be eliminated by the presence of the surrounding sea water. Transportation from nu- clear fission, therefore, has its possi- bilities, but as yet not too many prob- abilities. Although the use of atomic energy in power production, in engineering,

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isotopes, biologists can determine at what stage of growth the plant needs fertilizer, which may in turn lead to improved fertilizers and insecticides. Also, by giving radio-active plants to animals and injecting radio isotopes into cows, the scientists will be able to trace the complete dairy and meat cycle, and the effects of these prod- ucts whether beneficial or otherwise to the human body can be studied and determined. Agriculture as Well as industry, transportation, and medicine is going to produce some strange but beneficial results through the use of atomic energy and radio-active ma- terials. Although the majority of these peacetime potentialities are written for the future or are in the stage of experimentation, still if only half of these potentialities become realities, the people of the world can be assured of afull and abundant life and can look to the United States as a leader. And as for the United States, it will re- ceive many times over the original two billion dollars invested in the atomic bomb. OUR BROTHERS' KEEPERS By Mary Ellen Boylan Onahillside above the little Swiss village of Trogen, living in Specially prepared houses, are 112 children. When you see them studying, playing, or working, you think that they are just ordinary European children. But at night they scream in their sleep. Why? Because they are war or- phans. They range in age between four and fourteen, but they're just 8 beginning to have a normal child- hood. Little Andre now is playing glee- fully and enjoying himself. When he was eight years old, he was living with the Partisans and helping blow up bridges. Edward, who is playing ball with a little Austrian boy, was found wounded and half -smothered in a mass grave of seventy machine-gunned Poles. This boy's mother had saved his life byfalling on top of him. When he first met the Austrian, he said to the woman-in-charge, 'He talks Ger- man. Don't we have to fight him ?' Each child clings to a doll or a Teddy bear. He never leaves it, no matter where he goes. Each child has a memory of unforgettable horror. One child was fommd unconscious under a dead horse. In the rubble of an abandoned factory a girl of four was found half -starved. A French boy ac- tually saw his father decapitated by the Nazis. That's why these children scream at night. That's why when one tells them to draw a house or any building, they usually show it after a bombing. These children are the fortunate ones among Europe's 20,000,000 war orphans. They can remain in this little village until they are yotmg men and women, trained in some profes- sion, educated, healthy in mind and body. Their fortune is brought about by the Swiss youth organization, Pro Juventute, and to the good will and generosity of the Swiss people. Inthis little village called Kinder- dori Pestalozzi, the children help pro- vide food by farming the fields . These youngsters even aided in the construc -