MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 26. 1961
Scientists Seek Computer To Edit 'Gabby' Satellites
Bv JOSEPH L. MYLEIl I only when they have something! Such gabbiness means waste communication links between from 000 to 999. It can best be the reading is around 72 do-, inches of meaningful data. made of the earth's weather but In the simplest case c
United Press International worth saying. nf timo talent and monev spacecrafi and earth. I explained for the layman by I grees, say, he is satisfied and i Engineers at the G o id d a r d only those which showed hurri- repair, if one circuit . goi
A .3
WASHINGTON (UPI) -Satellites
arc loo gabby.
bo scientists arc looking lor
only when they have something! Such gabbiness means waste
worth saying. 0f tjmc taicnl alK money.
A single overly articulate sat- M si h djo
ellite can transmit enough data ! , i ,i
to earth to keep magnetic tape l,um " ""' u "".
some way to make them talk I recorders busy 24 hours a day. crable burden on the limited
Oregon State Research
Aid in Making Safe Pesticides
CORVALL1S Research, at
Oregon State University on how
insects protect themselves from
poison sprays may soon aid sci
ence in reaching a long-time
goal of making selective pesti
cides safe to man and wildlife,
livestock and beneficial insects,
but effective against harmful
insects.
A recent grant to OSU of al
most $150,000 over the next five
years from the U.S. Public
Health Service will allow the
biochemistry research team of
Leon Terriere, Robert Schon
brod, William Philleo and Rich
ard Boose to continue the study
started in 1958 of the dedica
tion mechanisms in insects..
The problem, according to
Dr. Terriere, is to discover how
insects change poisonous sub
stances into harmless materials.
The research team has been
searching for the "defense mech
anism" within insects which
help make them immune to cer
tain potent insecticides.
A Dctoxication Process
OSU scientists found that the
Insccts's defense is a detoxica
.; nmross which transforms
chemically toxic, water insoluble
compounds into non-toxic water
soluble compounds which are
able to pass from the body. The
molecules of a toxic substance
are modified into a different
nnn.mxic structure, according
to Terriere.
Research to date on how in
sects resist chemical sprays has
resulted in several important
discoveries, Terriere said.
Using house flies as expori-
mental subjects, OSU scientists
have been able to locate the
smallest particles yet discover
ed in the cells. These tiny frag
ments, called microsomes, can
be seen only with an electron
microscope. They are separated
from cell particles and other
tissues hy using speed centri
fuge which produces more than
100,000 times the forces of grav
ity. With these active tissues, sci
entists are now able to study
dcloxication within test tubes in
stead of using live insects.
Dctoxication has been studied
for more than 100 years, Dr.
Terriere said, but it has been
only within the last 15 years
that the public has been increas
ingly concerned with the effects
of vast numbers of chemicals to
which man and animals have
been exposed.
Much of the Oregon State Uni
versity study of the dctoxication
mechanisms in insects has been
with house flics. Dr. Terriere
explained that house flies were
used because they have about
as many defense mechanisms
against poisonous materials as
does man. Also, flics are easily
reared under laboratory condi
tions and they have been one of
man's persistent pests.
The research team fed the
house flics napthalene the
common mothball chemical.
Napthalene was chosen because
it could be made radioactive
cheaply for study within the fly,
because scientists have previous
experience tracing napthalene
and its reactions in rats and
rabbits, and because it repre
sents several kinds of insecli-
cides.
Flies injected with radioactive
napthalene neutralize and ex
crete the toxicant a few hours
after injection. OSU scientists
also found that the house fly
was able lo neutralize the nap
thalene in a way similar to the
higher animais.
Other insects have shown a
remarkable ability to build up
resistance to certain chamicals,
Terriere said. Insect resistance
to DDT shows how chainical sci
ence has kept only a few paces
ahead of pests before the in
sects' defense mechanisms ad
just and neutralize the chemical.
Dr. Terriere said that in
environment contaminated
spacecrafi; and earth.
What is wanted
gineers are trving lo develop, is
a space-borne editor to screen I reason is obsessed by tempera- But if on one of his hourly
out repetitious chil - chat and j ture radings. Every hour on the visits to the window he saw the
and what en-, analogy. makes
In the simplest case of self
repair, it one circuit goes out.
no notes in his record ' Space Flight Center of the Na- canes or other storms in various the computer re-routes its op
tional Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) have
calculated for some years into
idle gossip
k i transmitted.
1 W The editor will have lo be a
J light-weight, long - lived, high-
speeu computer possessing
great powers of discrimination
and judgment.
It may take five years to
y ' sllrh vital AYPflltivA wm-lt hut
insecticides, the insect with the engineers say it is both possi
best detoxication process will ble and necessary,
survive, pass this inheritable Use Numbers Code
trait to his offspring, and start Information - gathering satel
a process where detoxication j lites use a numerical code in
methods are concentrated. The , making their radio reports,
resulting populations are thus They talk, so to speak, in "data
able to detoxify lethal amounts I points." A data point in satel-
j villi vnui imu imi- ""'"i"' " J wwt v i I viaiia IU lilt V IllUUn llvTuunuib'i , , . . , ,
before they are hour he leaps from his chair to thermometer reading had he'ul!"'e, the V(T!!e, of d
see what the outside thermome
ter says. He is operating at the
rate of one data point per hour.
But a gifted satellite, like the
geophysical observatory to be
put in orbit late next year, can
transmit 10,000 data points per
second if not curbed in some
way. Actually, ground stations
simply refuse to listen to much
more than a tenth of what such
a satellite has to say.
Much Is Useless
In that tenth, however is a lot
of stuff conveying no useful
meaning. Much of it is mere
of insecticides."
He pointed out that the detox
ication process in man, animals
and insects is not always a
guarantee of protection against
poisons. Detoxication capacities
vary, the OSU scientist stated,
from species to species, individ
ual to individual and even to sex
and age.
Your Money's
Worth
By SYLVIA PORTER
Cpyrlf kr, Hill Syndicate, Inc.
repetition. Go back to the man
lite language is expressed in j who is so interested in the out
tnree decimal digits anything I side temperature. As long as
t WXlTACIW liWIBM-"'
'. nil
jumped to 85 degrees, he would " . ",
be concerned and would record . cn'lflc sa'e lltes lone-
towara me ena oi r.m.j, wun
the change.
That suggests one way in
which the space-going editor
might function it would in
struct experimental devices
aboard the satellite to report
only the changes in whatever
conditions they were observing.
That alone would eliminate a
lot of monotonous repetition.
To understand the magnitude
of the job of processing and
analyzing satellite reports it is
necessary to understand that
data and information are not
necessarily equivalent. Miles of
magnetic tape may contain only
relatively few
lites in orbit.
epinntifip eatnl.
this traffic!
phases of development.
Can Self Train
This presupposes that com
puters can be made which are
capable of self-training. Accord
ing to scientists of NASA's of
fice of advanced research and
technology, this has been proved
crations through other circuits.
For the long future, scientists
foresee satellite control comput
ers capable of operating with
complete trustworthiness, unat
tended and without failures, for
dozens of years.
no OftA i At.ti..j. r-M
. t.jyv n. nuiivtni (LA 1
Synchronous Orbit 'jr.tf!
X
wax
Firemen Called to
Plane Fire Today
A small fire broke out in the
engineers compartment of a pri
vate plane at the Mcdford Air
port this morning, but no dam
age was reported.
The Mcdford Fire Department
was called out at 11:08 o'clock
this morning. Firemen said an
nil leak was the cause of the
fire, which was noticed as the
craft was preparing to lake off.
The plane belonged to Bob ,
Rude of Seattle, Wash. 1
Girl Falls Off Sled;
Killed by Dad's Car
DUNDEE, N.Y. (UPD-Ralph
Ilollendeck ran over and killed
his 11-year-old daughter, Rhon
da. Wednesday night during a
Christmas sledding party.
Police said the girl fell off
her sled while sliding down a
hill and her father, following in
a car, was unable to stop in
time lo avoid hitting her.
SHOULD WE 'GO METRIC?
(This Is Ihc Last in a Series of Three Columns)
Should we, in the United Stales, abandon our "tangled spa
ghetti" system of measurements in pounds and ounces, feet and
inches, fathoms and fractions and convert to the sleek, beauti
fully simple Metric System, now used in 88 countries containing
more than 90 per cent of the. world's population?
The odds are the best in years that a bill to lay the base for
the historic conversion will pass in the next session of Congress.
At the convention of the American Assn. for the Advancement of
Science in Cleveland this Saturday, leaders of science, industry
and education will urge the changeover as soon as feasible.
Top scientists maintain that our system of measurements is
outrageously obsolete, unwieldy and breeds disastrous errors. Top
industrialists emphasize the towering difficulties and unnecessary
costs involved in conducting international trade in two separate
laneuaces "Metric" and "English." Top educators almost
unanimously feel that the confusion of our system makes learning
it an arithmetic ordeal for school children whereas the entire
Metric System can be learned in less than an hour.
But, as reported Tuesday, a changeover here would pose tcr
rifyingly formidable obstacles. Opponents emphasize these three:
C'osl: General Motors estimates conversion would cost $26 bil
lion General Electric estimates the cost to it alone would run
to $200 million. A confidential survey by the Stanford Research
Institute puts the cost of a changeover to the nation at $11 billion.
"The cost of a shift would be astronomical," says an automobile
industry spokesman. "It would court economic disaster."
rnt..cinn- Mnst It S rnmnrations are firmly wedded to our
i,.aiiinnal .uoiohts ami measurements. To change all these would
require industries to keep double inventories of products and parts
lor decades in oow meiriu hhu ciiumi iumbuiw.
Rc-cducation: All of us would have to re-learn measurements
of distances, weights and volumes in the now unfamiliar terms
of meters, grams and liters. The task of re-educating engineers
and machinists would be staggering, the auto industry (a main
opponent to conversion) argues.
Why then, is pressure mounting so relentlessly for conversion.
A key retort made by boosters of Ihe Metric System is that
the obstacles are being grossly exaggerated because any change
over would NOT take place overnight but would instead be spread
over decades. .... u
During the prolonged period of conversion, industries cou d
wait for equipment to wear out before substituting Metric scale
equipment. While surveys indicate 75 to 90 per cent of scientific
and industrial concerns would welcome the changeover, all indus
tries would not be compelled to convert - particularly if it meant
crippling costs.
As for costs, Ihe Stanford Research Institute concludes that
its own estimate of an $11 billion cost lo the nation would be
more than covered over a period by increased business and
productivity. Savings bolh tangible and intangible would
come from' faster calculations by engineers and scientists,
belter understanding among businessmen and scientists every
where, reduction of expensive errors during conversions from
one system to another. Engineers in certain fields spend six
hours" each month just converting English lo Metric meas
ures and back. Some Industries notanty tnc pnarmdccuu
cal industry are so impatient that they already have made
the conversion. The time-saving in schools would be immense,
in oriHiiinn In the advantages of precision, efficiency and sim
plicity at home, the Metric System would enhance our position
in world trade markets, for nations on the Melnc System under
standably prefer to shop in nations offering goods in metric
moaiirpmenls.
The fact that Russia is on the Metric System is an enormous
trade advantage to the Soviets, will be an increasing handicap
l Eventually, we will go Metric. Then, in the words of the Civil
Such monstrosities as proper fractions,
improper fractions, least common denominators and greatest
common divisors could be laid to rest with the celluloid collar
and the oxcart."
V
TALK TOO MUCH Space scientists, who
maintain that satellites talk too much, are
trying to develop a computer that will keep
them from giving repetitious or unimportant
"SYNCOM"
HIOH AiriTUOE
COMMUNICATIONS
-.SATIUITI
messages. Here, in an artist's conception, the
"Syncom" high altitude communications sat
ellite beams some of its voluminous data back
to earth. (UPI)
amounted to seven million data
points per day. NASA plans in
the next four years to launch
about 63 more scientific satel
lites. In 1967, the engineers figured,
the radio traffic will average
some 350 million dala points a
day. Just lo store that much
data on the ground would lake
70 reels, or 35 miles, of mag
netic tape.
If it were printed on business
machine sheets, the paper pile
in less than 10 days would tower
as high as the Washington Mon
ument.
So clearly something has to
be done. Engineers estimate
that on-board computers could
reduce needful satellite trans
missions to a tenth or a hun
dredth of the calculated 1967
volume.
Must Store Data
But Ihe computers can't be
given too much authority to
throw dala away. This is be
cause experimenters are looking
for the unknown and never know
when or how it will show up.
So some provision must be
made aboard satellites to store,
for periods of perhaps weeks,
data to which the computers had
attached little significance.
Thus if an experimenter found
a fact that ncedcil to be put in
context it would be possible lo
tell the satellite lo cough up
amplifying data from its elec
tronic memory units.
This necessity would not
arise in the case of so-called
application satellites which are
put in orbit for specific and
well-anticipated purposes.
Weather satellites of the fu
ture, for example, may carry
computers capable of recogniz
ing cloud patterns of interest to
mcteorologisls and ignoring the
rest. Satellites so governed
would not send all photographs
feasible.
In ground experiments, a
computer was exposed to a
large number of photographs
taken by the Tiros weather sat
ellites. It quickly learned to
recognize whether hurricanes
were or were not depicted.
Engineers expect to perfect
satellites with much longer use
ful lifetimes than those now fly
ing. The computers used to com
press and control their trans
missions must have equally long
lifetimes.
SHIP IT LASME
to or from Oakland, San Fran
cisco, Los Angeles and other
California points.
Call
Jack
Fitzgerald
773-7761 rsat
553
Nik'
' Plinc.Q .Parti
3
1 t
i lathi b i atti i - - i
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