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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 24, No. 15. 1961.
Science Column
Science Column
Oldest Vietnamese Settlement Found
A recent expedition to Mount Do in North Viet Nam, reports the finding there of a 300,000- year-old settlement. Previous archaeological discoveries in the republic date back only 10,000 years, and the new find adds Viet Nam to neighbouring territories in south-east Asia and in the Caucasus as birthplace of man.
Concrete Ship
A new 3,500-ton refrigerator ship, now being built at the Gonodetsky shipyards on the Baltic, is being constructed of ferro-concrete. This is the first of its kind, although the yards have already produced floating landing stages of this material. The ship will be 280 feet long and will have a 55-foot beam. It will be used for storage of the fish catch at sea and the manufacture of ice for the remainder of the fishing fleet.
The Sea Sorts Shells By The Sea Shore
While on holiday, a Dutch scientist made the chance observation that the sea sorts sea-shells into right and left-hand varieties. The significance of this discovery is that it will assist geologists in determining the direction of the currents when pre-historic seas laid down sedimentary formations. He is continuing his studies of the sorting action employing highly coloured shells made from plastics. These synthetic shells will be placed in the sea, and the colours will assist in their recovery and classification. A plastics-based material has been compounded, which is hard and robust, but from which it is possible to manufacture synthetic shells that have the same specific gravity as normal shells.
Mushrooms Combat Cancer
Japanese scientists have discovered a substance in mushrooms which can combat the growth of cancerous cells. The substance was extracted from ground mushrooms by using acetone and methyl alcohol. They also found that most of the 700 species of mushrooms examined contained this substance, and believe that mushrooms eaten at meals should help check cancerous growths in humans. During tests, the scientists injected the substance into 591 mice affected with cancer. Of them 84 reportedly recovered, while the disease was checked in another 146 mice. They are now trying to extract this substance in crystal form to determine its chemical composition. After this is done, tests will be made on humans.