I/EC POINTING
Forecast THE E D I T O R I A L
FINGER
Big Time Plastics in Detroit Plastics manufacturers are watching the Detroit trend : from curved windshields, to wrap-around windshields. When the trend swings around to wrap-around tops—and it will, designers say— plastics will probably get the nod. It's a tough nut to crack but one well worth going after. So far, no one has a clear plastic good enough, but at least one chemical company in New Jersey has come close enough to be granted an audience by top Detroit designers. T h e plastic is based on an acrylic resin monomer.
Less Guesswork More accurate cost estimating will be the result of a new approach to handling cost data—the use of statistical analysis (page 55 A). With this method, factors related to costs—such as site development, painting, and contractor's fees— are grouped and then coded. By proper evaluation using statistical techniques and taking into account the variable affecting each factor, estimates of the actual cost can be made with a fairly high degree of accuracy.
School TV T h e use of closed circuit television is catching on to help make up for swelling student populations on campuses. Some of the colleges now using T V for classroom instruction are: Penn State, Cornell, Harvard, Boston, Case Institute, and Michigan State. Most large schools that d o not already have it are considering it. There may be some snags in the future, though. For instance, it has been found that the majority of students do not like such classes as algebra or chemistry on T V . On the other hand, history, philosophy, and economics are good T V courses.
Geiger Counter—Out of Style? T h e use of chemical "tracer" methods for locating uranium may soon relegate the famous Geiger counter to a minor role. For example, selenium is often found near uranium ores and being rela-
AT T O M O R R O W ' S
PROGRESS
tively easy to detect chemically, can be used as a strong hint that uranium may be close by. Some of the more promising methods being used are paper chromatography, gas chromatography, colorimetry, and spectrography.
Short Cut The design of commercial reactors is a complicated business, and is usually based on laboratory and pilot-plant data. However, William F. Stevens, Northwestern Technological Institute, Evanston, 111., thinks that it may be possible to design a commercial reactor directly, after a complete kinetic study of the reaction has been made and the rate equation determined (page 591). An important development which will speed the direct scale-up: use of computers to carry out the involved calculations.
Hot After-Shave Lotion? Look for wider application of nuclear processes to the manufacture of commercial products. Some items: Schenley Industries, Inc., maker of pharmaceuticals, alcoholic beverages, toiletries, and dyes, has just bought stock in Radiation Applications, Inc. This company's foams systems division is working on separation processes for use in nuclear, metallurgical, and pharmaceutical fields. Davison Chemical's Erwin, Tenn., plant has started making nuclear reactor feed materials but uses by-products from the processes for making such products as high temperature refractories and alloys.
Clean Bill of Health for TEL Tetraethyllead (TEL) has been given a clean bill of health as far as being a contributing factor in the formation of smog (673). The finger was first pointed at T E L because the exhaust products from it and the scavengers (ethylene dichloride and ethylene dibromide) added to gasoline are solids of 0.01 to several millimeters in diameter. However, tests conducted at the Midwest Research Institute show no evidence of these exhaust products being a significant source of smog. VOL. 50, NO. 4
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APRIL 1958
23 A
