Scientific American Magazine Vol 242 Issue 5

Scientific American Magazine

Volume 242, Issue 5

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Features

Youth Unemployment

Getting work has been increasingly difficult for young Americans ever since the 1950's. Among nonwhites more than a third of the teenagers and a fifth of the young adults are currently unemployed

Eli Ginzberg

The Superconducting Computer

A new microelectronic technology would replace transistors with superconducting switches. Computers made with them might carry out a billion elementary operations per second

Juri Matisoo

The Role of Gravity in Quantum Theory

An experiment with a neutron interferometer, an instrument in which neutron waves interfere, has shown that the laws of quantum theory apply in the presence of gravitational fields

Albert W. Overhauser, Daniel M. Greenberger

Myelin

It wraps around nerve fibers and gives them electrical insulation. Its presence reconciles the brain's conflicting needs for compact size, complex circuitry, rapid signaling and modest use of energy

Pierre Morell, William T. Norton

The Chemical Evolution of the Earth's Mantle

Clues to the nature and timing of the mantle's differentiation are gained from precise measurements of the isotopic ratios of certain trace elements in rock samples from continental and oceanic crust

Norman M. Evensen, P. J. Hamilton, R. K. O'Nions

The Kinematics of Plant Growth

Like a flame or the wake of a boat, the form of a plant changes slowly but the components are in continual flux. The motions of the components can therefore be analyzed in terms of fluid flow

Ralph O. Erickson, Wendy Kuhn Silk

The Origins of Copper Mining in Europe

The age of metals began with the use of "native" copper in the Old World. As rising demand required the mining of copper ores one of the first mines in Europe was opened at Rudna Clava in Yugoslavia

Borislav Jovanovi

The N-Ray Affair

Early in this century an eminent physicist discovered a new kind of radiation, and others confirmed his work. The radiation turned out to be totally imaginary, proving that believing can be seeing

Irving M. Klotz

Departments

Letters to the Editors, May 1980

50 and 100 Years Ago, May 1980

The Authors, May 1980

Mathematical Games, May 1980

Books, May 1980

Science and the Citizen, May 1980

The Amateur Scientist, May 1980

Bibliography, May 1980