Word: vapor
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...number of doomsday arguments have been raised against the Concorde, as well as against the ill-fated Boeing SST that was scrapped in 1971. There were prophecies that supersonic aircraft would emit such great quantities of water vapor that a permanent cloud barrier would shut out the sun; this "greenhouse" effect would dangerously raise the earth's surface temperature. There were also predictions of skin cancer epidemics: nitrogen oxides released by the SSTs would destroy the ozone layer that partly shields the earth against the sun's lethal ultraviolet radiation. Then too, the SST's fumes were...
...descended the steep stairway into what to all external appearances looked like your typical crackpot scientist's basement laboratory. There were the obligatory vapor-emitting test-tubes, cages full of mice, and banks of multi-colored lights rhythmically beating on and off. Something seemed amiss, however. The mice weren't soiling the copies of Padan Aram that had been placed in their cages. No, it looked to me as though they were reading them...
...starting line. Temperatures were in the low 20s, balmy by St. Paul standards, but at the 80-m.p.h. speeds the racers would soon be traveling, the wind-chill factor would make it seem like -20°. Some of the drivers fashioned long tape-and-rubber noses to keep the vapor of their breath from fogging their goggles. Others applied wide strips of tape to their faces to ward off frostbite. Then, setting off in waves of ten, three minutes apart, they were on their...
...Cheryl waited she pulled her atomizer and liberally applied the vapor to her atmosphere. "Eau du gorille," she smiled. "Gotta keep myself natural." Chloe arrived presently with the book and Cheryl grabbed it, digits atremble. She beamed ably, "Blue Skies, No Candy." She looked up at her chained Kong. "Heavy, huh? Oh bummer, I lost my place. Here we are. Chapter One. 'Am I rushing things...beginning the scene in bed? I cannot resist. Bed is where I'm making it these days, friends, and sometimes it seems I'm only limping along elsewhere. Of course no one would ever...
With failure following failure the doctors have now turned to toxicological testing. For that they use a gas chromatograph, which heats a specimen until it vaporizes. When a bright light is shone through the vapor and passed through a prism, it yields a distinctive spectrum. Yet further tests will be run with an atomic spectrometer, which searches for deadly heavy metals like mercury and lead. A shotgun approach like this, says Sencer, should disclose whether "there are chemicals you would not expect to find in human tissue." If such chemicals can be found, the detectives may have their solution...