Word: argonant
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...activities of the sun. Has it suddenly flared up during the past few billion years? Have its fires ever diminished? By studying the microscopic tracks left by the bombardment of cosmic rays in each layer of the core, and by looking for traces of an element like argon-which is blown from the sun to the moon in the stream of particles known as the solar wind-scientists may eventually get their answers...
Equally remarkable light-pieces were developed by Newton Harrison (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Rockne Krebs (Hewlett-Packard Co.). Harrison's room is dark, and in it stand five tall plastic cylinders. They are filled with helium, argon and other gases. When an electric current passes through the cylinders, the ionized gas lights up-rose-white, orange, deep blues, greens and purples. By controlling the gas flow, Harrison produces extraordinary changes of form in the light-bubbles, disks, even artificial lightning. The effect is solemn and exquisitely meditative; it is also wholly pictorial, without a hint of gimmickry. The room...
...limestone-a rough gold-plated copper surface that has a special affinity for EGDN. As the molecules adhere to it, their concentration increases. The special surface is then heated to 176° to 194° F., causing it to release its cargo of molecules. Conveyed by an inert gas, argon, into a tube made of pure gold, the molecules are concentrated even further. Finally, the telltale vapors are swept into the chromatograph itself. Adjusted to respond only to their known flow-rate, the detector's built-in electronic signaling mechanism quickly touches off an alarm. The system...
...biosphere (see chart, page 59) is an extraordinarily thin global envelope that sustains the only known life in the universe. At least 400 million years ago, some primeval accident allowed plant life to enrich the atmosphere to a life-supporting mixture of 20% oxygen, plus nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide and water vapor. With uncanny precision, the mixture was then maintained by plants, animals and bacteria, which used and returned the gases at equal rates. The result is a closed system, a balanced cycle in which nothing is wasted and everything counts...
Edward L. Fireman, lecturer on astronomy, has started analyzing a 54-gram sample from the Lost City meteorite.By measuring two isotopes of the element Argon in this sample, he will determine how long the meteorite has been exposed to the sun's radiation. Exposure ages for this type of meteorite commonly range from 25,000 to 400 million years...