April 2024: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago
Chromosome cats; Louis Pasteur, master brewer
1974, Gassy Galaxy: “Gas motions at our galactic center are displayed. The map shows the distribution of emission from un-ionized hydrogen. The different colors indicate intensity, from violet (lowest) to red (highest). The vertical axis indicates the velocity of hydrogen lying in the galactic plane: velocities toward us are negative; velocities away from us are positive. The horizontal red ridge is centered at zero velocity.”
Scientific American, Vol. 230, No. 4; April 1974
1974
Herbicidal Warfare in Vietnam
“Between 1962 and 1971 U.S. forces sprayed 20 million gallons of herbicidal chemicals on some four million acres of South Vietnam, or about a tenth of the country’s land surface. The objectives were primarily to defoliate trees and thus uncover enemy troop concentrations and to destroy crops destined for enemy stomachs. The environmental war has now been assessed by the national academy of sciences. Among the conclusions are that serious long-term damage was done to Vietnamese forests, that the fertility of cropland was probably not adversely affected and that it is too soon to be sure whether or not humans were made sick or genetically damaged, or will be in the future.”
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Research since then, of course, determined that many people in Vietnam were harmed, short term and long term.
Chromosome Cats
“A ‘tortoiseshell’ cat is a mixture of orange and black, usually blended together rather than in patches; a ‘calico’ cat is tortoiseshell and white, usually in patches. Most tortoiseshell and calico cats are female. Males are rare and tend to be infertile. It…
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