Word: photonics
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...discoveries so far would seem to indicate that the long-hoped for decomposition of the atom is not an impossibility," stated Jabez C. Street, instructor in Physics and director of this research, when asked to comment on the possibilities of the work. "Since the photon leaves no track, it loses none of its energy in passing through the air. It there fore has much more energy with which to disintegrate the nuclei than the electron. As a result of this fact, it has a high efficiency in bombarding nuclei. It remains therefore only to discover the practical application of this...
...matter and light, only to discover that their movements are unpredictable. This "complexity of small-scale events," leads Dr. Compton toward resolving the dilemma of freedom v. law, which is "as essential to the welfare of science as it is to the growth of religion." If a little photon of light can move capriciously, so can man by exercise of will. Thus Dr. Compton sees "the whole great drama of evolution as moving toward the goal of personality, the making of persons, with free, intelligent wills, capable of learning nature's laws, of glimpsing God's purpose...
...Millikan's persistent view after 15 years is that cosmic rays are photons, or particles of light. He believes they originate from the creation of matter between the stars. But where they originate was not the nub of last week's symposium. What they are was the point. Dr. Compton declared again that they were electrons (and/or photons) coming to earth from beyond the atmosphere, or originating at the top of the atmosphere. When a photon hits an atom in the atmosphere, the atom emits an electron. When an electron hits an atom, the atom emits a photon...
When a smallest thing is discovered it must be observed more than once to be believed. In February, Cambridge University's Dr. James Chadwick proclaimed the existence of the neutron, new smallest thing (TIME, March 7). With the proton (positive electricity), electron (negative electricity) and photon (light particle), this made four smallest things. But the neutron is elusive, hard to find. It contains no detectable electric charge. It leaves no marks in the form of ionized or electrified particles when it passes through a gas. Having no charge, it is not repelled by charged atoms. Hence...