Talk Without Bubbles
M&T
Watercom is a new device that will en able a diver to talk to other divers be neath the surface of the water within a range of 100 yards. The device is being shown this week by Bendix Corp. at the New York Boat Show at the Coliseum. The system includes an electronic transmitter that attaches to the diver's air tank, a special mouth mask that al lows the diver to move his lips freely and enunciate his words, and a throat microphone. The receiver is the hu man ear. Elimination of the bit-type mouth piece, the company says, is an added safety device because in cold water there is a tendency for a diver's lip to become desensitized, allowing the bit to slip from his mouth. We wonder if a submerged and unsuspecting diver, upon hearing a voice, would be able to hold anything in his mouth anyway.
powered by an Exide lead-acid indus trial battery (two are 72 volts, two are 84 volts). All four have 18-h.p. motors giving a top speed of 33 miles per hour. Delco lead-acid automotive batteries power the 3V2-h-P- motors of the three-wheelers (top speed is 15 miles per hour). Batteries in both types of experimental vehicles have lasted about two years. The department is now in the proc ess of changing speed controls—from contact type (switching current from series to parallel, and varying resist ance) to static type (solid-state cir cuitry)—for smoother acceleration. No heating device is installed in the three-wheelers, but the four-wheelers have gas-fired heaters with blower at tachments. All vehicles have a 12volt battery to supply electricity for accessories, such as windshield wipers and lights.
Antarctic Fish Caught Electrical Deliveries
Ε£Ξ3
Lining problem? (Bring it to M &T) You'll get help with the most suc cessful types of spray-applied lin ings: v i n y l p l a s t i s o l s , p h e n o l i c s , epoxies. You can work with M&T d i r e c t l y or we'll work with your drum sup plier. Chances are he knows our lin ing systems. Mail the coupon to M&T Chem icals Inc., General offices: Rahway, N. J. or M&T Products of Canada Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario. Please send: • salesman
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M&T Chemicals Inc. C&EN
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2 0,
1964
A 51-inch Antarctic fish died recently at McMurdo Station, after living for 10 days in captivity. Stanford Uni versity biologists had snatched it orig inally from the mouth of a seal pre paring to dine. The fish had large bulging eyes, a double row of upper teeth, and a bite on the end of its tail. It weighed 47 pounds and has been indentified ten tatively as a Dissostichus mawsoni. The Stanford people managed to squeeze in a good deal of work on their subject in the short time they had. They also did a post-mortem. The work is part of the U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP), which is supported by the National Science Foundation.
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We learned, after being almost run down by one the other day, that the Post Office Department has been operating battery-powered vehicles on an experimental basis for the past five years. It has four four-wheelers and 50 three-wheelers operating in a num ber of cities in the U.S. The idea is not to replace all Post Office gasoline-driven trucks, but to replace those in certain areas where a driver makes many stops on his de livery or pickup route. The gas-driven engines use fuel excessively because they are usually kept idling during a stop; the battery type shuts down when stopped. Each of the four four-wheelers is
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Career Opportunities-Α Handbook Job and salary prospects through 1970 look good for chemists and chemical engineers. However, the demand on their skills is also increasing, and college curriculums are consequently changing and intensifying
