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14. FRONTIER RESEARCH IDEAS

At least part of the reason people are drawn to careers in science is the now nearly unique opportunity to explore un­mapped territory where anything may happen.

Apparently the human spirit, especially the young human spirit, harbors a great longing to venture into mystery, to struggle with it and to emerge with sketch maps and a pocket­ful of samples.

A special light glows in a scientist's face when you ask him to suggest expeditions into areas of the unknown that have been glimpsed, flagged by pioneers or deduced by someone with an especially far-reaching mind.

He may, for example, propose the question of how physics, mathematics, biophysics and, perhaps, biochemistry can be brought together to explain the mysteriously orderly processes that develop, maintain and reproduce living matter.

Or he may suggest investigating the possibility that a unified theory of liquids can be evolved through research in liquid state physics and the use of electronic computers.

Or: What size city and what population density will insure human "quality" and the privacy that seems essential to creativity?

How is the delicate balance of growth and death of tissue cells maintained? How is the necessary death of cells brought about at precisely the "right" time?

What guides migrating birds? Do they respond to polarized light, as bees and ants do? If not, to what do they respond?

Is there a relationship between exceptional human percep­tions and the radar of bats, the homing instinct of pigeons?

How does "reinforced learning," the new education method, teach so rapidly?

Why are trees round in form rather than square? Is there any  significance in the thickness  of the  leaves  of plants?

What will happen tomorrow—or in the next generation— in physical, geometrical and electron optics; in photometry; in the measurement of physical, magnetic and other properties of solid state thin films; in the fields of digital memories and logic, transistor circuitry, magnetics, microminiaturization of circuits and components, electrical wave filters, information theory?

Student-scientists still in high school are unwilling to wait 182 for a distant day and a Ph.D. degree to begin exploring such exciting questions. Many want very much to join the search immediately, and some of them have.

Given a moderate amount of professional guidance, it should be possible for you, too, to learn enough background facts to scout out at least a small corner of new territory.

Whether or not you actually make any discoveries is rela­tively unimportant, say senior scientists. Much more important is that indescribable thrill of finding truth for yourself. And once you experience that, it is not likely that you will ever forget it.

The following collection of interesting questions, inven­tions, discoveries and suggestions has been assembled to stimu­late your imagination or pique your curiosity enough to start the wheels grinding. A great many of these are drawn from reports of current work discussed in newspapers and science publications such as Science News Letter, Science, Scientific American, etc. Other ideas can be found in Thousands of Science Projects, published by Science Service, which lists the winning projects from the Science Talent Searches, Na­tional Science Fairs and affiliated science fairs. Still other ideas can be found in the publications listed in the final chapter of this book.

Aeronautics and Space Sciences

A man-made "nose," more powerful than the human nose, is needed for sensing danger odors in military aircraft. Odor-detecting agents of the past, when used in experiments, have proved toxic to crews.

An automatic aileron trim control has been developed for keeping small private planes on course in bad weather.

A navigational "brain" has been devised to help control the flight of high-speed planes through intricate flight patterns.

A navigational push button that remembers the way home has been developed.

Progress continues on production of a chemical-fuel-burning bomber designed to reach 2200 miles per hour and altitudes of nearly 100,000 feet and to make round-trip transcontinental runs without refueling.

A new paint with only a small chance of detection by radar has been developed.

A midget low-cost wind tunnel has been built to determine air flow up to three times the speed of sound.

How is the FAA planning to conduct its survey of jet fatigue effects on crews?

Ion propulsion, electrostatic acceleration of charged par­ticles of colloid size and plasma acceleration are among the forms of propulsion devices being developed for space vehicles. These devices, along with containment (in the hope of controlling the energy of nuclear fusion) and flow modifi­cation, form the three fields of magnetofluidmechanics, the new science which will undoubtedly have practical applica­tions soon.

Some important problems in aeronautics include: convert­ing heat directly into electricity; getting more power per pound of fuel; propulsion in space-plasma jets, ion and photon rockets; finding lightweight, long-duration systems to provide electrical power in space without nuclear radiation; finding ways to protect man against radiation in space; study of cosmic rays; study of properties of intermediate isotopes for use in lightweight shielding.

Theories concerning the gravity fields of stars may provide new understanding of the nature of atomic nuclei.

Application of quantum-mechanics concepts to real chemi­cal systems may help explain the internal structure and pro­perties of materials.

What are some of the methods in use for air traffic control? Can you design new ones?

What are some of the fuels in use for jets today? What new ones are in the experimental stage?

What qualities are looked for in basic materials needed for construction of nuclear propulsion systems, space vehicles, missiles, rocket motors, naval vessels and electronic devices?

Why is the Army's new Flying Duck of importance?

Why is it so difficult to detect, ahead of explosion, any bombs planted aboard commercial aircraft? Can you de­vise a method of detection?

What effect does weightlessness have on algae?

Investigate the details and significance of the experiment known as the Moon Garden.

What is the purpose of a radioactive-cobalt chamber?

What is the gas cushion technique for safely landing in­struments on the lunar surface?

What are the principles and uses of the Mighty Mouse?

How does a liquid propellant rocket differ from a solid propellant rocket? What are the advantages of each? What future developments can you predict?

What are some of the proposed and already employed uses of rockets? What other uses might be developed?

What are some of the disadvantages of chemical rockets? Can these be overcome?

What is being done internationally about space laws dealing with frequencies for space transmissions?

What is the purpose of a space helmet? Can you suggest improved designs of such space equipment?

Archaeology

Discuss the social life and customs of the Brazilian Indians known as the Botocudos.

Explore the difference in meaning of the words archaeology and anthropology.

Investigate two new dating methods for determining the age of objects: recording the electron glow of dishes and pot­tery when heated; measuring moisture layers in objects made of volcanic glass.

What is known of the primitive tree-dwelling people who now inhabit only the Indian Archipelago and parts of Malaysia?

Why was the finding of the tomb of Tutankhamen, an Egyptian king, of such great importance?

What were some of the important archaeological dis­coveries made in the first half of the nineteenth century?

Astronomy

Where is the largest solar telescope located in the U.S.? How large is its mirror?

What are the chief colors shown among stars and what do they indicate?

What are meteorites and some of the theories of their origin?

What are tektites?

How much is known about the comet Burnham, dicovered December 30, 1959?

What is the scientific origin of the ancient belief of seeing blood on the moon?

What is the ionosphere and what practical purposes has it served?

Are asteroids produced by the disruption of an old planet that formerly moved around the sun between the orbits of

Mars and Jupiter? Or  are they  formed from  debris left over when main planets came into being?

Biological Sciences

General

What are the chemical "time clocks" of cells?

Studies of the action of lithosperm by means of extracts from a dried preparation of the plant show a decided effect on the secretion of sex hormones in animals. No research has yet been done in human biology.

At Louisiana State University a two-year research program has been financed for search of microbes that will refine oil. It is believed that just as the human body acts as a catalyst to change the chemical structure of foods, microorganisms should exist that can change hydrocarbon-like structures to purify petroleum fractions.

Present knowledge of the universe indicates that some form of life exists outside the earth, very likely on Mars. Biologists are urged to design equipment and develop systems that will automatically make comparisons of life on earth with that on other planets, even if man should not be present to make the tests.

What tests do scientists make for cellulose to determine whether a tiny living thing is plant or animal?

Will the study of slime molds yield clues to the formation of various kinds of cells and the process of cell differentia­tion in plants and animals?

What is the importance of photosynthesis to the balanced
aquarium?

Botany

What causes leaves of deciduous trees to change color and drop off?

Study the effects of the compaction of soil on plants.

Investigate the effect of gibberellin on conifers. Studies in­dicate very little effect, possibly because of an internal surplus of the compound or true indifference to it. Additional work that needs to be done includes:

1. Determining the effects of gibberellin on inherently small conifers such as the MacNab cypress, bristle cone pine, one seed juniper, Canadian yew.
   
2. Testing the effect of gibberellin on long leaf pine during its early dwarf (grass) stage.
   

An experiment with spinach leaves and vitamin K shows that this vitamin may play the role of a "neutral corner" for hydrogen atoms separated from water. This study provides another step in the understanding of photosynthesis.

That ethyl alcohol stimulates growth in algae and seedlings has already been reported by researchers. Further studies are being made about the use of alcohol that has accumulated under airless or anaerobic conditions, and what takes place in the plant that makes such alcohol possible in air.

Do botanists hold the key to solving the problem of feeding the world's constantly increasing population? The use of foods like seaweed and algae has not proved sufficient to solve this problem. Botanical research is needed to increase agricul­tural productivity along the lines of breeding and selecting better plants and improved plant nutrition and protection.

The U. S. Government needs someone to devise an econom­ical method for harvesting algae. For use as animal fodder, fertilizer and food for human consumption, these plants would have to be gathered out of water and concentrated, which is an expensive process.

The rate of plant growth may be controlled in the future by filtering sunlight, according to the experiments of two scientists on the one-celled plant, chlorella. Other scientists are studying plants growing under red and blue artificial light and the afterglow resulting from radiation by these lights used separately or together.

Investigate the curious world of plant galls, such as the goldenrod bunch gall, the willow pine cone gall, the flower gall on ash trees, spruce cone gall on Norway spruce, the poplar vagabond gall, black knot on plum and cherry trees, the oak hedgehog gall, the spiny witch hazel gall.

Will there soon be lawns that need no mowing and dwarf trees that yield normal-sized fruit? Gibberellin has been proved to promote plant growth, and research is under way for discovery of an antigibberellin to suppress growth with­out affecting the yield of normal crops.

Can sick plants, like animals, be treated with "pills" to combat disease caused by fungi? Antibiotics, fungicides, growth and antigrowth compounds are being studied with the hope of introducing substances into plants that will cure diseases already existent—an improvement over preventive sprays and treatments now used before a disease develops.

Three plant-growth regulating compounds have been tested and found movable throughout the plant and exuded from plant roots. Research is now being conducted with hope that a chemical to protect plants against diseases, in­sects or nematodes will be discovered that will also prove mobile within plants.

By the use of ordinary hypodermic syringes, scientists have injected radioactive carbon, C-14, into two-year-old pine trees for one of the first controlled studies of cellulose growth in living trees. While the research is still in its pre­liminary stages, first results indicate a strong possibility for higher yields of cellulose per tree, plus improved quality from these "hot" trees. If this proves to be the case, the tire and cellophane industries may be helped toward greater production, efficiency and lowered costs.

Experiments are being carried out for further proof that certain chemicals, such as riboflavin, adenine and gibberellic acid produce heat resistance in plants. Further research may enable food crops to be grown in desert areas and increase yields in cultivated areas already existing.

An Indian scientist reported at the Ninth International Botanical Congress on a thirty-day experiment with native climbing plants that had been subjected to recorded flute music. Height, average number of leaves, length and breadth of leaves and number of roots showed increases of twenty-five to fifty percent over growth of plants in a control group. A student at a Kansas City junior high school, trying a similar growth experiment with jazz, Dixieland, classical, and sound-effects recordings, discovered that plants re­sponded best to the sound-effects record.

Why should peas planted directly in moist soil produce a higher percentage of healthy plants than pea seedlings soaked in water prior to planting?

Plants, when injected with human red blood cells, have reacted like people, producing serum containing antibodies. Such is the report of a Yugoslav medical researcher. If true, one practical application might be the use of this serum as a typing serum for testing human blood.

It has recently been discovered that turbulence, or rapid and irregular movement of the air or water, is probably responsible for higher photosynthetic rates in nature. Ex­periments with bottled water plants and similar plants grow­ing in a channel under natural conditions have proved that the latter plants showed twice as much photosynthetic ac­tivity.

The genes of corn plants have been found to break the old genetic laws. Recent experiments show that the red color in the husks, stems and other parts of corn plants is con­trolled by the "converter" gene and the partner gene it af­fects, so that only weak red color appears in successive generations. The gene for intense red is permanently con­verted to weak red.

Both Western and Russian scientists are working on the inheritance of environmental effects on plants. A Russian botanist has soaked the seeds of several kinds of plants in water, dried them and produced plants with considerable drought resistance. His claim that several successive gen­erations remain drought resistant was not supported with evidence.

An antiseptic varnish, containing 0.25% phenyl mercury nitrate, may soon be available for combatting fungus growth in trees. Experiments showed that the varnish alone, or when combined with several common fungicides, was not sufficient.

A "vaccine" is being sought that will prove toxic to the parasitic dwarf mistletoe, but not to the ponderosa pine on which it grows. Effects of research are being tested by atomic energy tools, including radioautographs.

The initial acceleration of a dwarf mistletoe seed shot out of its pod is thousands of times faster than that of a man-made rocket.

The aster yellow virus, which affects asters, lettuce, spin­ach and carrots, is carried from sick to healthy plants by the corn leafhopper. This insect, when it sucks up the virus, is able to eat and thrive on foods that normally would have poisoned it—asters and carrots. A new field of research into the possible beneficial effects of plant viruses may therefore open up.

The growing world population and present wear and tear on farm land probably make it necessary to develop tropical areas into major producers of food. Many plants suitable for farming in temperate zones are not suitable for the rainy tropics, because the natural vegetation of the tropics is so different. While fertilizers are being used, important sub­stances, such as phosphorus and potassium, are in short supply and make indefinite experimentation in the tropics difficult.

Experiments with a "mechanical cow" that extracts fifty percent of the protein from leaves or grass are being made by the British Agricultural Research Council, with the idea of combatting malnutrition in undeveloped countries. After filtering, the protein is separated from the juice thus ob­tained. Juiceless choppings and waste juice are being fed to pigs, and in small-scale experiments they are thriving on the new diet.

Experiments have shown that some unknown globulins in skim milk halt the destructive effects of a plant virus in tobacco, pepper and tomato plants. Further research may show that this milk substance will be useful in controlling animal virus diseases.

Derived seaweed products, chiefly colloids, already have much use as thickeners and agents in a variety of manufac­tures, such as icings, chocolate and cosmetic creams. The demand for natural products of seaweed is growing rapidly, for animal foods and fertilizers. Experiments with kelp meal, manufactured only in Norway, are still going on in this country because of the high protein, vitamin and mineral content of this meal.

Entomology

Why is it necessary to establish a program for eradication of the imported fire ant? Studies are being conducted at the Harvard University Biological Laboratories on the odor trail produced by this ant. The nature of the odor trail and the way it is laid down need to be studied.

Is the foreign fly, Musca autumnalis, to become as much of a menace to cattle as the Japanese beetle has proved to gardeners and farmers? A United States Department of Agriculture researcher reports that the fly, first reported in Long Island, New York, in 1953, has become So wide­spread a pest that it is impractical to attempt any eradica­tion program. However, entomologists all over the country are alert to its danger.

The use of modern organic insecticides against the boll weevil, boll worm and cotton flea hopper is making possi­ble the production of forty-two percent more cotton every year.

Recent investigations show that DDT, the effective insec­ticide, hates water. It concentrates on the upper water sur­face very rapidly and clings to walls and bottoms of containers of various materials, so that within twenty-four hours more than half the DDT evaporates. Studies are in progress to see whether changes in application methods may lead to more effective results.

Experiments have shown that heat from radio-frequency electric fields kills in seconds the insects destructive to stored wheat and wheat shorts, without damaging the wheat. Agri­cultural scientists are working to make the radio-frequency method commercially practical.

Zoology

What are the differences between centipedes and milli­pedes as to structure and life habits?

What causes the schooling behavior of fish?

Study six species of birds, formerly common in the Uni­ted States, that have become nearly extinct. Study six mam­mals that are likewise endangered.

What are the chief North American flyways?

Because of the nine nerve cells which spiny lobster hearts contain, experiments with them may illustrate the effect that certain drugs could have on human nerve cells. A clue to the release mechanisms of certain hormones in man might also be furnished through a simultaneous study of the lob­ster's pericardial organ.

Hundreds of recordings of bird songs, chiefly those of song sparrows, indicate that heredity is the basis for many features of songs, but that birds also imitate other birds' songs and thus add to their repertoire.

Salt scattered on highways in the winter has been known to cause a strange malady, when eaten, which has led to the death of rabbits and some birds. The malady was traced to its source and the same symptoms have been induced in laboratory experiments.

The "wise old owl" is rather a dumb bird as birds go; crows have been known to exhibit more seeming intelligence and are credited with high IQ's. Yet what looks like intelli­gent action may possibly be blind luck, as in the case of English birds that opened the caps of milk bottles to take their morning sip of milk. It would be interesting to find out if one bird mastered the trick and then taught it to another.

Two scientists of the British Museum of Natural History, London, report on seasonal studies of the skull of the com­mon shrew which indicate that the brain case depths increase from January to July and decrease for the rest of the year.

Greater variations are found with shrews living in colder winter temperatures. Similar studies of shrews from differ­ent parts of North America would prove of interest, accord­ing to these scientists.

Luciferin, a light-emitting compound found in fireflies and other creatures that glow in the dark, has recently been re­moved from a fish. Now that relationships have been estab­lished between the luminescent systems of different organisms, studies of the effects of drugs, heat and cold, and antibiotics on organisms will be possible with the use of extracts of luminescence.

Experiments on a captured whippoorwill show that air temperatures from 35.6° F. to 66° produce torpor, during which state body and air temperatures are relatively the same. When both temperatures were raised to about 59° F., the bird awoke. Shivering, increased respiration, a rise in body temper­ature to a normal of about 100°, and a rise in oxygen con­sumption were then observed. Scientists are interested in the processes of hibernation and related "slowdowns," because they provide new information on the metabolism of living organ­isms.

It has been reported that the amount of wave action, even when there is no change in the salt content of the water, affects fauna along the coast. In sheltered spots and in calm waters the fauna are far more rich and varied.

Can the three ways in which birds scratch their heads (di­rect; indirect, with leg over draped wing; and perch scratch­ing) be used as a means of classification? What is the biologi­cal function and motivation of head scratching in birds?

How does the dolphin get a free ride swimming near a ship's bow? How can the dolphin swim several times faster than predicted from drag and muscle power?

Chemistry

How do catalysts work?

Investigate soluble compounds that are in use for secret writing.

Study substances found in water which may make it dangerous for drinking purposes.

Investigate chemistry in relation to the behavior of viruses. Viruses usually breed true, but occasionally a new strain appears and becomes dangerous. How can this be com-batted?

The U. S. Department of Agriculture has developed a new chemical treatment for cotton, based on use of water soluble acid colloid of methylolmelamine. This forms resin which penetrates the outer portion of the fiber cell and renders the material more resistant to rot and weather. The treatment, as proved by other research, can be used with some fabric coloring pigments to increase cotton's resistance to sunshine.

Experiments with catalysts of an organometallic sort, mainly combinations of aluminum, carbon and hydrogen containing compounds, and titanium and chlorine, are being conducted, chiefly in Germany and Italy These new catalysts may make possible increased mileage for tires, prevention of automobile engine knocks and a variety of other chemical reactions.

Radiation chemistry experiments are being undertaken to show what useful by-product material may be produced. The plastics field is one in which there is already promise of success.

Experiment with making natural dyes from items like onion skins, crab apple bark, sassafras roots, wild clover, blueberries, wild plum roots, broom sedge, red maple bark, spinach, beets and yucca roots.

Experiment with perfumes made from spices, flavorings and other ordinary household ingredients.

A foaming additive for concrete mixes has been developed from fish scales mixed with special chemicals, adding poly-glycols for stability. It can be pumped vertically and hori­zontally; it repels moisture, insulates well, is fast drying.

Investigate ways of breaking down gases from automobile exhausts, reducing smog and the effects of exhaust fumes on human beings.

Study and explain the rainbow of colors seen in the soap bubbles in the dishpan or laundry tub. What interesting ques­tions occur to you concerning the behavior of bubbles?

Investigate applications of colloid chemistry in the fields of catalysis, pigments and soils.

Nuclear magnetic resonance makes possible a greater knowledge of the more complex forms of phosphorus. Re­search on new phosphorus compounds is being undertaken in commercial laboratories and may result in greater use of such compounds.

Basic research in the chemistry and metallurgy of materials at high temperatures is much needed.

What causes decay in paper and what is being done about it?

Engineering and Technology

Devise a simple and inexpensive method of measuring radioactivity of milk and other food products.

Study five materials which are used for the making of paper.

Explain the process known in tannery wet-work as bating and show why it is necessary.

What are the advantages of stainless steel for tanker con­struction? What other materials or types of construction might prove practical?

Flexible plastic strips containing a magnetized metallic powder are being utilized to insulate refrigerator doors and to keep them shut. Possibilities for other commercial uses of these magnets seem almost unlimited.

A push-button type combination microscope and camera has already seen practical use in the field of medical research for studying cancer cells, and in geology for studying fine details of earth formations and fossils. Are there other fields in which this instrument may do practical service?

"Saw kerf chips" are a modified type of sawdust produced by a new saw blade with less teeth and a larger bite. This new type of sawdust has already been used successfully in manufacturing pulp and paper, but tests are being made for wider application of the process.

The first organic solar battery has been developed at the University of California. Such batteries may, in the future, prove important in space flight, for satellites and for spe­cialized uses on earth, but their development is still at an early  experimental  stage.

Besides the Reynolds Aluminum submarine, designed at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, scien­tists there are attempting to develop design concepts for the deep-diving submarine of the future. The best geometric shapes, materials and combinations of materials are being sought to enable a submarine to withstand intense pressures encountered at great depths while still allowing it to remain buoyant.

A revolutionary new scheme for transmitting intelligence is wanted which is not dependent on any method used today, such as electrical impulses, electromagnetic waves or sound waves. The messages sent out must be detectable only by the desired receiver and impossible for an enemy to inter­cept.

The government wants a means for erasing from fields of snow all telltale signs that any object, from a staff car to a whole army, has passed. Enemy photorecon planes can detect recent disturbances in a field of snow by comparing photo­graphs.

The Army wants a cheap additive which will transform sur­face soil into hard pavement. It would be used to solidify byroads, bridge approaches, sandy beaches and missile launch­ing sites, where rocket blasts cause temporary dust storms. This discovery must be easy to mix and apply to wet or dry soils without complicated, heavy equipment. Also, another branch of the Army wants an invention to soften hard ground.

The government urgently needs: a silencer for rocket propulsion; a nonmagnetic hand compass; a universal light-aircraft landing gear, good for land, water and snow; an aspirin-size pill usable as fuel for a long haul.

The armed services want a device for spotting mines from airplanes. The detector should be responsive to the explosive itself and not solely to metals, since mines have also been en­cased in plastic, wood and other materials.

Enumerate some of the advantages of multifuel diesel engines.

Why is it necessary to make the pistons in the front wheel cylinders of an automobile larger than those in the rear wheels?

A new device for testing fibers is the ballistic test. How does it work and what is its purpose?

In what fields of industry have rare earth alloys proved useful? What other uses might be developed? Explore the use of radioisotopes in manufacturing processes.

How might internal air conditioning and illumination be affected by the new air wall construction?

Dielectric heating is a new method of using high voltage through nonconductive surfaces to produce heat. This new use of high voltage is fast but too costly for commercial use as yet.

Research has been undertaken on the production of syn­thetic quartz by a process known as hydrothermal crystal­lization. Since the synthetic stones produced are of excellent quality,  it is possible  that large-scale  domestic  production of a synthetic quartz may end this country's dependence on Brazil for a supply of natural quartz.

An antimetabolite compound has been discovered which promises lifelong immunity for fabrics against textile-de­stroying insects. It can be used to impregnate fabrics during the dye-vat process or be applied in an aqueous solution to existing fabrics in the home.

A system known as APT (Automatically Programed Tool) has been developed for computers to give orders to automatic machines. A human operator can communicate descriptions of required parts and how they should be cut directly to an electronic computer. Improvement and expansion of the sys­tem will be under the direction of the Aircraft Industries Association.

Fires and flashovers may be prevented in electrical sys­tems by application of a coat of a new greaselike silicone compound. This same compound, when mixed with graphite, almost eliminates dirt and corrosion from 300-volt direct crane rails and trolleys.

Geography and Geology

What are the four main types of fossils? Which might you expect to find in your area? Where?

How do caves originate? What valuable investigations do speleologists carry out?

Describe the difference in formation of continental and oceanic islands.

Study four different kinds of rocks and discuss differences between them.

Why is the sea becoming more salty?

How do glaciers destroy rocks? What is the result?

Describe sea life during the Cambrian period. How does this knowledge relate to modern science?

After examination of a map of Alaska, can you tell whether the coast is a rising or a sinking coast? What is the cause and significance of such coastal change?

What is the history of the formation of the Appalachian Mountains of today?

What are the various causes of the formation of lakes?

What explorations were made in Africa by the British in the nineteenth century?

Why are sheet floods damaging?

Describe the geysers of the North Island of New Zealand.

What is known about the bed cracks of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans?

What causes a seemingly extinct volcano to erupt?

Geophysics

What are the coastal warning displays for the following: (a) small-craft warning, (b) gale warning, (c) whole-gale warning, (d) hurricane warning? What factors cause each of these weather conditions?

How do scientists undertake the study of climate as it was in ages past?

What is the rainiest place in the world and what is its an­nual average rainfall? Why?

What devices are most in use today for weather forecasting? What new ones are being developed?

Why are the results of rain making from clouds seeded with dry ice or bombarded with silver iodide not always successful?

Look into the effects of climate on health, including such factors as ultraviolet and other irradiation, air and water temperatures, humidity, precipitation and wind. It has been reported recently that small ionized air molecules influence biological behavior.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is experimenting in the Southwest with possible ways of recovering water normally lost in flash floods. Suggestions include small storage reser­voirs, storage of water underground and improved vegetation so as to increase the rate of water infiltration into the soil.

Because the earth's rotation is gradually slowing down, the twenty-four-hour day is two hundredths of a second longer than it was two thousand years ago. The reason for the earth's slowing down is still a mystery.

A method of deciding when and where a storm is forming has been evolved through the application of automatic com­puting methods; further research extending to other impor­tant parts of the earth sciences is needed.

The Committee on Oceanography of the National Acad­emy of Sciences-National Research Council warns that failure to double the intensity of deep-sea research within the next ten years will lead to serious economic, political and military hazards. Such intensification could be accom­plished by expansion of the government's support of the marine sciences' basic research activity. This research might include studies of the oceans' mineral and food resources, more accurate prediction and possible control of climate, and improvement of military defenses against attacks by missile-launching  submarines.

Can lightning be controlled? The U.S. Weather Bureau and the U. S. Forest Service are conducting experiments by dis­tributing silver iodide from airplanes directly into cloud bases. This may stop or prevent storms. Scientists are also studying thunderheads by radar and testing a simple light­ning-stroke counter.

Inventions

The National Inventors Council, serving as a liaison be­tween the civilian inventor and the military, has listed twenty-eight new problems in its Supplement to Technical Problems Affecting National Defense. Inventors having solu­tions to any of these problems are asked to write up their ideas and send them to the Council, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Wash. 25, D.C. Among the solutions wanted are the follow­ing: a Buck Rogers rocket device that can be worn by man to shoot him across rugged land, or to serve as a parachute in airplane trouble; a method for keeping bread from hardening; ways to stabilize muddy soils; a device for measuring the height of large water waves; a better fungicide for clothing; in­sect repellents that can be impregnated in clothing; a reliable long-life cathode tube.

Mathematics

How does the algebraic concept of group help to unify

different branches of mathematics.

Explain the words factor and factoring.

Traditional Euclidian geometry is often attacked today because of its logical imperfections. Why is this so?

What contribution did Dedekind make to the problem of irrational  numbers?

Who was the inventor of the computing machine that served as the starting point in the development of mechanical calculation, and in what century did he live?

Why do scientists consider the metric system simpler and more convenient to use than the English system of measure­ment?

Is every even number, other than 2, the sum of two primes or the sum of a prime and the unit?

Find general rules for flexing patterns in flexagons, rela­tions between the geometrical form of the strip of paper folded and the ways in which the Hexagon flexes.

Investigate prime numbers, which occur frequently in pairs, as P and P+2. Is there an infinite number of such pairs, or is there a largest pair of prime numbers with this property?

Can you discover a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem? If n is an integer greater than 2, there do not exist integers x, y, z, all different from zero, such that xn—yn=zn. (Fermat wrote that he had discovered a truly remarkable proof, but it has never been rediscovered.)

Prove that the area of a Pythagorean triangle is never equal to a square number.

Demonstrate the impossibility of proving Euclid's paral­lel postulate.

What is the theory of congruences and how important are its uses?

What is a repeating or recurring decimal? Illustrate.

What is the importance of the "random walk" theory, and how can it be applied practically to scientific and technologi­cal problems?

What has been David Hubert's contribution to the "new mathematics"?

What kinds of arguments are there in mathematics?

What are the meanings of dispersion and measure of dis­persion in statistics?

What is the importance of the concept of size (that is, of something being "greater than" another thing) in mathe­matics? What kinds of mathematics can one do without using this idea?

What are the known methods of computing the actual values of π π;of e (base of natural logarithms)? Can you think of easier ways? (Note: Measuring things, in a physical science, is cheating here, and bound to be in error, since no physical measurement is exact.)

Computer  Science

What ways can you think of for linking together digital computers and analog computers? What applications can you find for systems in which an analog computer performs continuous "computations" which may stray farther and farther from the right results, but receives periodic exact values from a digital computer and resets itself to agree with these accurate values? What advantages would such a system have over a more complex, more accurate pure analog system?

How would you build a device which could examine a photograph and print out a list of the objects appearing in that  photograph?

(A simpler problem: Can you design a machine which can take, as input, a picture of a geometrical figure—tri­angle, square, circle, etc.—and give as output some signal indicating which kind of figure appears in the picture? Try to develop one for which size, position and orientation do not matter.)

One very important problem is that of locating a desired piece of information in a vast library full of books and magazines. This becomes difficult because a fact may appear not in a book on the subject itself, but in one on a related subject.

Investigate the usefulness of the ideas of set theory, topology and symbolic logic in tracing down facts in an organized library. Would computers be useful here?

Try to develop a device (or a program for a digital com­puter) which will take a collection of English words and combine them to form grammatical sentences. The ultimate purpose is to develop a machine which, given a dictionary, will generate only grammatical sentences, one after another, and which will generate any grammatical sentence you choose if you let it run long enough.

Logic

What does the logician mean by the word paradox? Find examples. (At a more advanced level: What revisions in logical systems have been proposed to avoid the various paradoxes? How do the paradoxes, and the logical systems which avoid them, affect the validity of proofs of mathe­matical theorems?)

Medicine

Cooperative research effort on the part of life scientists and electronic engineers could develop the new field of medical electronics to the point where it contributes as much to a comprehension of life processes and medicine as electronics already contributes to the fields of physical research and industrial practice.

Analyze royal jelly, the food fed by bees to future queens of hives. (An antibiotic has been found in the jelly.)

Successful skin transplants with young tadpoles have been accomplished, and further research, supported by the Na­tional Institutes of Health, is being carried on with the idea of obtaining better skin grafts in humans.

A glue which is a plastic polyurethane foam has been used successfully in treating leg fractures in 250 trial patients. The foam is poured on broken ends of the bone, the glue stiffens and the patient is able to walk in three days. Dis­tribution of the glue for general use will not be made until further clinical trials prove its utility.

The spectroscope has many possibilities, as yet little ex­plored, in the fields of cell processes and human disease.

Treatment of arthritis and other diseases of the connec­tive tissue in man may be aided by experimentation with tadpoles raised in water containing chemical compounds that cause tumors and lesions.

The "shotgun" program to discover a drug to cure cancer, as well as basic studies into the nature of the disease, have as yet failed to solve most of its problems. For instance, why do supposedly successful treatments not guarantee against a flare-up of the disease, and why do some people have the power to resist the disease? Many scientific and medical men believe that the answer lies somewhere in the laws that govern cell growth.

How may we be protected against contamination from radioactive fall-out? This is not only a problem for the future, for high contamination levels in wheat and milk have been found. It is possible that the Public Health Service may be given responsibility for setting and enforcing radia­tion safety standards, as this agency is already involved in maintaining a national surveillance network of water, air and milk, and it has a program for educating the public concerning the problem of radiation.

Can a lamp improve human health and moods? The Westinghouse Electric Corporation has come up with a lamp producing negative air ions, which is being tested for installation into air conditioners and heating systems, with the purpose of bringing relief to asthma, hay fever and sinus sufferers, depressed persons and possibly victims of other diseases.
Work with fragments of the mitochondrial membrane from cell protoplasm convinces scientists that this mem­brane plays an essential role in the exchange of electrons needed for energy storage and release. Further research is being conducted to determine the exact structure of the mitochondrial membrane parts and how they function.

A serious public health problem is presented with the in­creasing use of detergents by the housewife, since they make a complete circle from the kitchen sink back to the sink via the water tap. Filter and other water purification means do not remove them, and there is need for gaining data on a long-term basis as to their physiological effect A simple test for their detection in household water is to watch for foam­ing at the tap.

Medicine today is still in a relatively primitive stage, with respect to outdated tools in a doctor's black bag, nondis-covery of the reasons why certain drugs work and lack of information about the molecular structure of body cells. New discoveries and the devising of new instruments are needed in combatting many diseases and in preventing them from recurring.

The plumlike fruit of the gingko tree has for centuries been thought to have a curative effect on cancer. The Na­tional Cancer Institute has scheduled this fruit, along with hundreds of other plant forms, for intensive laboratory tests in order to discover any scientific basis for the supposed cures.

A recent study shows that the reaction to mosquito bites is an allergic one and not the result of the insect's injecting poison that irritates the skin. The allergenic substance, limited to the head-thorax region of the mosquito, is com­plex; there is evidence against its being a single, simple chemical compound.

Electronic devices applied to the field of medicine have already proved of inestimable aid in diagnosis, treatment and surgery. In use at the present time are devices that make blood counts, record brain waves, detect cysts, radio information from the stomach, watch chemicals do work in human cells and substitute for heart, lung and kidney functions. There are endless possibilities for future research work, such as electronic substitutes functioning on a perma­nent basis to replace defective organs, and various devices for the blind.

According to a Russian scientist who tested dogs, increase in the amount and acidity of gastric juice in the stomach of the dog may be caused by sound waves too high to be heard by the human ear.

What is the role of RNA (ribonucleic acid) in skin grafts?

What are the advantages and disadvantages in using cadaver blood in transfusions?

What are some of the important facts and questions con­tained in Problems in the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Hazard from Use of Food Additives, issued by the Food Protection Committee of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council?

Dentistry

Of what use are human wisdom teeth?

Using modern biological laboratory techniques such as the electron microscope and tooth-and-bone-seeking radio-isotopes, answers are being sought to such vital questions as: How do teeth and bones develop? How does saliva affect teeth? How do germs and teeth give clues to bodily health and biological aging? How do certain rare food elements affect oral conditions? (See Science, 130:  1681, 1960.)

Can you help to find a very much better substitute for so-called silicate fillings for front teeth? The present silicate material is comparatively brittle and soluble, does not make a real bond with the tooth, requires the sacrifice of a too-large area of healthy tooth to provide anchorage of the filling, must be replaced in less than five years. (See Science, 130:  1681, 1960.)

Information is needed on the causes of gingivitis and pyorrhea, common in later life as a cause of inflamed gums, loose teeth, destruction of jawbone. (See Science, 130: 1681, 1960.)

Twenty years of experimentation have shown the influ­ence of heredity in tooth decay of rats, and investigation now centers on discovering the hereditary process in man which relates to cavities.

Studies reported by a Texas dentist indicate that people in the habit of grinding their teeth while under emotional stress can so damage their gums as to lead to a loss of teeth. Damage to the teeth does not occur during the chewing habits and a broad group of habits such as pipe smoking or process but is the result of habit neuroses, occupational opening bottle caps with the teeth.

Results of experiments over a two-year period with apple-eating children convinced a British dentist that the apple eaters presented only half the amount of tooth decay and one third the number of gum disorders of the control group. The fruit was served in unpeeled slices after each meal and following snacks.

Follow up the findings that phosphorus in Texas corn and milk prevent tooth decay. Relate to fluorine in water, etc.

Experimentation with hamsters fed on Texan corn and milk has proved that the extra phosphorus thus supplied led to forty percent less tooth decay. Use of four times the amount of phosphorus has resulted in a hundred percent effectiveness  in  the  teeth   of  hamsters.

After stimulation, how long does it take the human eye to start activities leading to muscle response?

Mineral Industries and Mineralogy

Trace the uses of asphalt from ancient times to the present day.

What are the chief sources of the earth's marble, and for what is it used chiefly today?

Describe present conditions of the diamond mining in­dustry in the Union of South Africa.

Trace the history of the uses of petroleum from ancient times to the present.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using steel for building purposes?

Discuss the locations of the world's best coal supplies.

Patents

Ifyou have invented something, how and why do you go about getting a patent for it?

Investigate a window that traps radiation for purposes ofheating or power generation. The window may be adjusted to follow the course of the sun, but this may also be accomplished in a stationary position by a series of lenses that focus the rays in the trap. Patent 2,888,007.

Consider a device for reducing ghost images on television screens. This device is situated between the transmitter and receiver and would intercept the delay signal.  Patent 2,888,515.

A daylight-controlled on-off switch  for headlights  saves the driver from switching automobile headlights on and off. Patent 2,888,611.

Photography

Of what materials are good photographic filters made? What others might prove effective?

What is the purpose of an exposure meter and how do you use it? Can you improve on the design and simplicity of use?

Is it necessary to have a 3-D camera to take stereo pictures?

Physics

How in modern life is the primitive method of friction and a spark used to produce fire?

What acoustical problems are evident in a theatre that is only half full, in comparison with one enjoying a capacity audience? How might these problems be solved?

Look into the new tunnel diode which may ultimately re­place the transistor in tiny radios and computers. (It is being produced in limited quantities  for research.)

Look into the use of an electron beam for magnetic writing which has proved successful and especially suited for elec­tronic computers.

Investigate photogrammetric charting methods that can pro­duce exact reproductions of cultural and historical objects, as proved by demonstrations at the Ethnological Museum of Sweden.

Explain the lack of agreement between the observed and predicted position of Jupiter, which suggests that Newton's theory of gravitation, used to predict planet motion, may be wrong.

What new applications can you think of using semi-con­ductor-like materials being developed in solid state physics research? (Luminescent and photoconductive materials are being used in models of picture-thin television sets and luminescent walls for rooms. Transistors already are in use in hearing aids, tiny radios, etc.)

Work continues on developing electronic systems for in­creasing the sensitivity of telescopes.

A computer-linked system for measuring star positions is under development.

Work is being done on interpreting radio signals from sun, moon and certain planets, from more distant objects in the Milky Way and from star systems beyond the Milky Way.

Through "particle physics," a search is being made for the order that pervades the physical world; but in spite of the mass of findings, no obvious conclusions have been reached.

A new theory has been evolved which states that the secret of the structure of liquids is organized irregularity. An at­tempt has been made to demonstrate this in a physical model and to explain this model in mathematical terms. The conclu­sion drawn is that the basic property of a liquid, its fluidity, can be most easily understood in terms of the packing of irregular polyhedra, as in a foam. By experiments the com­monly accepted view that a gas and a liquid form a single fluid phase has been contradicted; they are distant states of matter. If these theories prove to be realistic, there may be practical applications in the fields of refrigeration, gas-liquid separation and the flow of liquids.

A flat loudspeaker with a thin membrane having an electric circuit printed on it has been developed in Israel. This mem­brane, which replaces the paper core, vibrates to and fro in a magnetic field created by thin strips of powerful ferrite magnets.

An electronic music synthesizer has been installed at Co­lumbia University for a program of composition and research in electronic music. The machine is a system of electronic circuits that can generate all of the characteristics of any audible tone and can produce sounds like those of any known instrument.

Measurement of waves that cause a one-inch electric spark has been made possible by use of an "electric eye" and new ultra-fast measuring equipment.

Scientists are trying to find a method of establishing the age of military and other supplies, particularly those in storage, by measuring the amount of radiation from known radioactive materials in the items.

How can radioactive fall-out from atom bomb tests be used to expose new sources of drinking water?

What are the principles involved in heat transfer?

How may workmen in industrial plants be protected from radiant heat?

Define the term vacuum-distillation camera and explain its value.

Where is the ground concentration of strontium 90 fall-out from nuclear explosions higher—at the base of slopes or on hilltop areas?

What controls pitch in music?

What is hydraulic paradox and how can it function in measuring?
The armed services want a device that can be built into a man's suit to distribute heat over his body in subzero weather. The device must operate without a restricting power source and must operate eight hours without refueling; it must per­mit rapid discarding, must not hamper agility, must be reasonably lightweight and fully reliable.

Biophysics

Studies of the human brain may show scientists the way to build better computers, just as studies of the beetle's eye have provided a wiring diagram for a new type of absolute air­speed indicator, and experiments in training octopuses have led to the development of a machine with a capacity, ap­proaching that of the octopus, to perceive and remember shapes.

Psychology

Investigate humor as a safety valve for hospital patients. Anxiety, submission to hospital authority, gripes about food, etc., have been found to yield to humor, especially when supplied by the patients themselves.

Explore recent research in the field of mind-body reactions, such as learning to avoid annoying noises; the effect of deaf­ness on people taking the Rorschach test of personality; the perception of depth on the part of creeping babies; the future space traveler's ability to hear, no matter what his position in his capsule; a remedy for the deterioration of efficiency in a lookout by means of artificial signals; the faster beat of the human heart caused by electric shock and a buzzer.

Investigate the possibilities of teaching Interlingua, the international language, in junior high school as a useful intro­duction to other languages. (This is being done in Dighton, Kansas.)

Study behavior in social groups through participant ob­servation.

What is consciousness, and what are the reasons for its existence?

What accounts for man's agelong concern with the super­natural?

An experiment has been made with ciphers which fall into three major classifications: concealment, transposition and substitution. These methods can be combined in a cipher, making the cryptographer's task even more difficult.

A Canadian physician reports that colds provide some people with a harmless emotional outlet which should not be repressed or worse psychic harm might result.

What makes a young engineer successful? Studies involving about 1200 engineers showed that the ability to form 3-dimensional special images and a knowledge of advanced engineering were important factors.

Have the skills developed by the armed forces during the compulsory military training period proved of later use to the youth involved?

Under what circumstances could a person's vocabulary deteriorate?

In the field of psychology, what is a functionalist?

What other qualities are needed besides high intelligence test scores for students to achieve success?

What is the Draw-A-Man test and how is it used?

How can you improve your speed in reading?

Do dogs have a sense of humor?

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