Word: cosmically
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Mesons are subnuclear particles formed when cosmic rays from outer space hit the atmosphere. In mass, mesons are intermediate between electrons and protons. In charge, they can be either positive or negative. The positive mesons disintegrate after a millionth of a second or so, turning mostly into energy (a gamma...
Tracked to the Grave. The two Russians studied microscopic tracks of free silver which mesons had made on photographic films (probably exposed at high altitudes, where cosmic ray effects are strongest). Their authorized, translated report is far from clear, but apparently they found what they were looking for in the sensitive emulsion: groups of short lines arranged like a star or a chicken-track. Each of these, they said, was an X which marked the spot where a negative meson had murdered an atomic nucleus...
...present the only source of mesons is cosmic rays, which rain alike on the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. But the new-type atom-smashers, now building on many a U.S. campus, may produce more of them soon...
Baltimore fans cheered; next day the fans cheered again when Arcaro rode Cosmic Missile to win the $15,000-added Marguerite Stakes. Then Arcaro returned to the irreverent New York tracks, where he is booed whether he wins or loses. Booing Arcaro is part of the fun of attending horse races in New York. Fans holler out cracks about his oversized ears and long nose ("Banana Nose!" they shout). Says he: "The damn fools don't know what they're booing about ... of course I don't like it-I'm human...
Every human being is constantly subjected to bombardment by gamma rays (X rays) from natural sources such as cosmic rays. These do no visible damage, for the body is accustomed to the low normal "level of radiation." But when a gamma ray hits the nucleus of a spermatozoon or ovum (the reproductive cells which unite to form a new individual), it may damage one of the thousands of "genes" which carry hereditary characteristics from one generation to the next. This may produce a "mutation." The child may differ slightly or radically from its parents, or the difference may lie concealed...