The Chemical World This Week RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
MARCH
1,
1965
CONCENTRATES
• A compound containing the carbon-phosphorus bond, 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid, has been found in a number of marine invertebrates. Working at Woods Hole Océanographie Institution, Dr. Louis D. Quin of Duke University (Durham, N.C.) has isolated the phosphonic acid from hydrolyzates of several fractions obtained from sea anemones and mollusks [Biochemistry, 4, 324 (1965)]. Naturally occurring compounds containing the C—Ρ bond have been found only in the past few years. But finding such a compound in sea animals will stimulate research on phosphorus metabolism in lower ani mals, the Duke chemist believes. In sea ane mones, 2-aminoethylphosphonic acid is present in saponifiable lipid and insoluble protein, his studies indicate. Dinitrophenylation studies on partially degraded protein show that the com pound's amino group is not free in the anemone's polypeptide. Thus phosphonic acid is bonded through the amino group or through both amino and phosphoric groups, Dr. Quin says.
an average burn-up of more than 8000 megawatt days per ton. A range of modified fuel elements, typical of those which might be used in a com mercial reactor, have been tested with equally favorable results. At present, a quarter of the reactor core is being loaded with improved rods which are longer and thicker (and less expensive to make) than the original standard rods. • Shorter wave lengths and rare-earth emis sions at room temperature are two new laser developments. Laser oscillation in a neon gas discharge has been observed at 2358 Α., the shortest laser wave length reported so far. Scientists at Bell Telephone Laboratories at Whippany, N.J., have also recorded 50 distinct laser emission lines in the ultraviolet region using neon, oxygen, argon, kiypton, or xenon. Dr. P. K. Chee and Dr. H. G. Cooper of Bell labs used short bursts (from 10 to 2000 amperes) to excite ionized atoms in a 4-mm.-bore laser tube mounted in a resonant cavity with confocal aluminized mirrors. Most of the observed oscillations originate from mul tiply-ionized atoms.
^ Pilot plant tests of a Bureau of Mines proc ess for recovering copper from low-grade com plex ores are under way at Colorado School of Mines Research Foundation (Golden). The direct-firing process is designed to recover cop per and associated metals from nonmetallic oxide and sulfide minerals that can't be processed con ventionally. Lean ores (95% or more quartzite, limestone, sandstone, or limonite rock) are crushed and mixed with some salt and coke. After half an hour at 830° C , the oxides and sul fides are reduced to metal, which migrates (seg regates) into thin forms or flakes. These are then processed by conventional flotation. The tests are being made to obtain design data for a projected $16 million plant to be built in Mauri tania (in northwest Africa). Bechtel Corp. is consulting engineer on the Mauritanian project (scheduled for completion in 1966). The plant could add up to 10,000 tons of copper and 30,000 ounces of by-product gold to the Free World's annual output.
A room temperature glass laser that uses two rare earth ions, erbium (Er+ 3 ) and ytter bium ( Y b + 3 ) , as active components in a glass matrix has been successfully operated by Dr. Elias Snitzer and Dr. Richard Woodcock of American Optical Co., Southbridge, Mass. f Appl Phys. Letters, 6, 19 (1965)]. When the laser operates, ytterbium ions within the glass absorb the activating light. The excitation is transferred to the erbium ions, which then emit laser radia tion in the infrared at 1.54 microns. The system's excited state lifetime is 0.014 second. This is six times longer than the lifetime for the ruby laser and 20 times as long as that for the previous highpower glass laser, which uses neodymium. The longer lifetime permits increased energy storage, which is important for making high-power lasers needed for biological applications, and for weld ing and cutting refractory metals.
• England's prototype advanced gas-cooled reactor has just completed two years of oper ation. During this time, the reactor (operated by the Atomic Energy Authority at Windscale) produced electricity for the national network and operated 85% of the time. The reactor's 30,000 individual ceramic fuel rods have been free from failure, and the standard fuel rods have reached
• New Jersey's research and development industry favors two-year community colleges and chemistry courses as part of the training of technicians. In a survey (by Gallup & Robin son) for the New Jersey Council for Research and Development, 145 of 183 participating com panies say they would benefit from such a pro gram in their respective counties. MAR.
1, 196 5 C & E N
33
