Word: electronics
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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These were said to be the deepest authentic cosmic ray recordings ever made. Mr. Wilson, believing that ordinary electrons or protons could not penetrate 1,600 feet of solid rock, came to the conclusion that the rays must be either neutrinos or X-particles, both relative unknowns. For although atomic physicists speak of neutrinos (small, uncharged particles with a mass less than that of an electron) as familiarly as a carpenter does of a tenpenny nail, they have never come to light experimentally. "X-particles," although they have turned up experimentally (TIME, Nov. 29), have yet to be explained...
Boyish, modest Dr. Anderson discovered the positive electron in 1932 and is now a Nobel Prizeman. In 1934, in an inconspicuous footnote, he hinted at the possible existence of a new particle. The dilemma which confronted him then was a choice between theory and observation. He was studying electrons which occur in cosmic rays. Such electrons are supposed to behave according to the Bethe-Heitler theory, which ascribes certain penetrating powers to electrons of certain velocities. Dr. Anderson's data showed that electrons did conform up to energies of 300,000,000 volts. Above that energy level there appeared...
...Cosmic ray particles are pulled toward the earth's poles by its magnetic field. Particles of high energy resist this pull, and so predominate in the region of the Equator. The latitude difference between Madras (13° N.) and San Antonio (29° N.) furnished valuable data on electrons in the energy band between seven billion and 17 billion volts. These high energy electrons were found to conform to the Bethe-Heitler theory, rapidly losing their power to ionize (electrify) air as they pass through the atmosphere. Since the X-particle's extraordinary penetrating power was entirely...
...reasons both Drs. Anderson and Street believe that the X-particle is not a part of the primary cosmic radiation, but arises from cosmic ray collisions in the upper air. An important question remained: What is the X-particle's mass? It appeared to be heavier than an electron but lighter than a proton. But this is a wide range, about as wide as between a pound...
...pictures Dr. Street obtained two tracks which seemed significant. One was ruled out, however, as a proton. The other was obviously not a proton, yet its track was about six times as heavy as could be expected from an electron. It was clearly ticketed as an X-par-ticle. Counting the fog droplets as carefully as he could and taking into consideration the track's curvature as bent by a magnetic field, Dr. Street figured its mass at 130 times the mass of the electron-with a probable error of 25% either...