Basic Research For Tomorrow's Progress (1979)

red foundry proudly brings you this issue of the science screen report the nation's leading independent foundry has been a growing part of the Lynchburg community since 1896 we manufacture quality engineered castings using 2800 degree molten iron and automated equipment to shape intricate parts chemical and physical analysis form the backbone of Lynchburg quality control program precision castings are used in a variety of industrial and consumer products [Music] experience technology quality and the foundries greatest asset people have combined to make Lynchburg foundry the leader in its field now the science green report [Music] the science screen report developments in science engineering and medicine that help solve the problems of modern life [Music] michael faraday physicist 1791 to 1867 from his simple laboratory came discoveries that were the basis of today's electronics [Music] James Clerk Maxwell physicist 1831 to 1879 discovered basic laws of electromagnetism of no use in his time his work ultimately set the stage for all of today's communications technology George Boole mathematician 1815 to 1879 created a symbolic system to record logical thought a pure idea which in this century led to the modern computer [Music] these three scientists basic research was carried out because of their thirst for knowledge within a century what they found reshaped the world [Music] [Music] who is blazing today's research trails accumulating the basic knowledge that will be needed tomorrow [Music] one such researcher is Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution his curiosity about how the seabed was formed led him to investigate one of the deepest underwater canyons the caiman truck in the Caribbean Sea the past 15 years have seen a revolution in our concept of the Earth's crust this revolution known as the theory of plate tectonics says that the continents are being pushed apart by forces beneath the seafloor it tells us that the tremendous heat trying to escape from the interior of our earth splits the crust into huge floating plates our continents are part of these drifting plates floating like ice packs on a restless sea a variety of different kinds of scientific measurements support this view but we wanted to find some direct evidence so he descended in a bath a staff to a depth of eight kilometers when we dove in the Cayman trough we entered the tear itself for the first time it was a thrilling and frightening moment we were fascinated to find twisted cylinders of lava scattered all over the landscape into the crust that has been torn open molten rock flows rising up from the depths here's what happens when this kind of volcanic activity erupts underwater and when lava pillows are formed this particular footage was shot in the shallow waters off Hawaii the sounds you are hearing are those of underwater volcanic activity in the Cayman trough this is caused by the separation of place it is the sound of the earth itself the echoes of creation by knowing how the continents move we may get a better idea of where to look for new oil deposits and minerals [Music] the plate tectonics theory effects our lives in another way for when the immense sliding plates collide and grind against each other earthquakes may occur at the San Andreas Fault in California too colliding plates are under study the land around the fault is moving steadily at the rate of 64 centimeters or about 2 inches per year if this fault should slip the results could be disastrous for millions of people these experts are measuring some of the energy buildup in the fault so that perhaps someday they may be able to predict when it will slip again a different area of research concerns the ocean of air in which we live the man who sent this research balloon aloft to probe that ocean is dr. David Merck Ray of the University of Denver if you were to ride this balloon up through the sky you'd notice the air gradually getting colder but around 15 kilometers up the temperature levels off at that altitude the stratosphere begins there is located the ozone layer this thin layer of gas shields us from the burning cancer producing ultraviolet rays shot out from the Sun [Music] for years we have been studying how the ozone layer is formed since it shields us from these deadly rays of the data those studies proved most opportune for other experts had come upon a new and potentially deadly problem was it possible they wondered that man-made substances could be destroying the protective ozone layer that could be serious for only a 5% depletion in the ozone could trigger a worldwide increase in skin cancer we had to know that's when balloon research started to pay off the scientists already knew what to do they sent up more high-altitude balloons loaded with detection equipment and began collecting additional data here take a look at this the balloons gondola is right smack in the middle of the ozone layer and these Peaks these Peaks are due to man-made fir carbons right up there with it definitely infiltrating stratosphere we had our first answer but all the answers aren't in yet it is possible that the ozone layer may remain intact through some mechanism we do not understand or it may Sunday be dangerously depleted by the substances we've allowed to enter it it's funny you know when we first started wondering about the basic chemical reactions occurring in the stratosphere it all seems so esoteric only the government the National Science Foundation gave us any support and encouragement now it could turn out to be crucial to the health and safety of our nation you couldn't have known that back then could you [Music] still another scientific research project concerned with the life of a simple fern may have a critical application to the world food shortage one major food source is rice a key problem in growing more and better rice is fertilizer today chemical fertilizers replace depleted soil nitrogen but such fertilizers must be manufactured out of expensive natural resources for this reason experts like Ray Valentine at the University of California at Davis are investigating plants that convert nitrogen in the air to soil nitrates they want to understand this process so that it can be more widely applied in basic research you never know where the leads may come from this little fern is called a Zola it has lived this way from millions and millions of years a microscopic blue-green algae lives with it now we're studying this little fern it has a real genius for plucking nitrogen from the air and enriching the soil with it just look at this rice notice how much taller the rice is with azolla and the rice without the question is how does it do it that's what we're trying to find out here if scientists can learn more about the Azolla it can be grown cheaper and in greater quantity it might even be possible to introduce a zola's algae into other food plants [Music] if this type of basic research is successful and food production around the world might be revolutionized one more basic research area is laser chemistry probing the molecule with one of Sciences newest most versatile tools [Music] lasers are unique in that they produce a very fine beam of only one frequency or color the laser strong enough to punch a hole in a rock or gentle enough to treat a diseased eye a laser beam can also reach into the minut world of rapidly changing chemical processes even a flame although application of lasers to chemistry as just a gun they are already being used by dr. Robin hock Strasser of the University of Pennsylvania to learn more about the scientific phenomenon called coherence in order to do this experiment so this is a one pulse prepares a system one pulse does something to the third pulse causes it to fluoresce or not fluoresce right and so it works quite well we're using a laser here to create a coherent effect in this liquid nitrogen when a substance is in a coherent State it can carry and transmit energy with little or no loss such as in a superconductor it's rare to find this state in nature and chemists are interested in it because it tells them more about the fundamental nature of the interactions between the molecules that they study in our experiment we know we will have achieved coherence in this liquid when a Blue Beam goes in the beam of another color comes out is everybody ready fire the laser [Music] the Blue Beam changes to greenish yellow because the Blue Beam has transferred some of its energy into the liquid the power of the Blue Beam has forced the molecules into a strict pattern coherence has been achieved [Music] understanding coherence has produced the key to transmitting huge amounts of power with very little loss of energy something we desperately need laser-induced chemistry may soon create new materials synthesize new drugs better harness energy and give us insights into the nature of living things still other basic research is underway at these hot springs scientists have found a previously unknown form of life living on hydrogen and carbon dioxide of still unknown potentials where will the search for new knowledge lead us history suggests that its future impact made dwarf even our most daring speculations [Music] lynchburg foundry has been proud to bring you this issue of the science screen report to further your understanding of science engineering medicine and technology [Music] [Applause]