Dec 27 1964

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In the Journal of the American Physical Society, Irwin I. Shapiro of MIT's Lincoln Laboratory proposed use of radar as a test for Einstein's general theory of relativity: radar pulses would be sent to one of the solar system's inner planets, either Venus or Mercury, and the time-lapse before the radar echoes' return measured on the earth. According to Einstein's theory, when the radar beam passed close enough to the sun to encounter a very strong gravitational field, the radar waves should slow down. The slowdown should be sufficient to delay return of the radar echoes by as much as 0.0002 seconds, a time interval accu-rately measurable by electronic techniques. (Wash. Post, 12/28/64)

President of the Delaware Academy of Science, John S. Seney, reported experiments he hoped would lead man to fly under his own power, like a bird. He had captured a turkey buzzard which he hoped to put through a series of tests in a wind-tunnel in the basement of his home. "If we're going to fly, the only way to do it is to find out what this bird's got . . . and then put all this together in relation to what modern materials are available. Then maybe we'll come up with some sort of flying suit." (NYT, 12/28/64, 51)


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