Word: inch
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Give 'Em An Inch...
...Philadelphia at a meeting of the American Ceramic Society, Ceramist Gene Haertling and Electrical Engineer Cecil Land explained the secret of the ce-ramic's unusual behavior. Tiny crystals in the ceramic-packed some 100 million to the square inch-respond to electric voltage much as iron filings align themselves in a magnetic field. High voltage causes many of the crystals to change their orientation; low voltage affects only a few. By reversing the voltage, the change can be erased. That accounts for the color change; the ceramic is transparent only to a narrow range of light frequencies...
...solar energy is hardly a new accomplishment. Nearly 22 centuries ago, the Greek mathematician Archimedes is said to have temporarily saved Syracuse from Roman conquest by setting the invading fleet aflame with numerous large mirrors. In the 18th century, the pioneer French chemist Lavoisier produced enough heat with 52-inch-wide lenses to power his experiments. Though Lavoisier's work was cut short by the French Revolution (he was guillotined), his history has not discouraged contemporary French scientists-notably Physical Chemist Felix...
...trouble with modern plastics is that they seem to be as immortal as they are useful. Plastic garbage bags litter Italy; Florida's discarded containers clog Bahama beaches. Each year one Kansas plant makes enough cellophane to wrap the earth with a 15-inch band 40 times; most of it becomes enduring garbage. Even getting rid of plastics can be dangerous. When polyvinyls like Saran Wrap are burned, they produce corrosive hydrochloric acid...
Sixty outlets in the Los Angeles area are selling the stuff, and national distribution is imminent. The pot is sold freestanding, not potted; prices range from $1 for a 20-inch spray to $18 for a 60-inch plant. Sales, according to the proprietor of Encino's The Third Eye shop, are generally to "straight types, who wouldn't be caught dead using real marijuana, but think the idea is kind of cute." Several police stations, less amused than realistic, have also purchased the plants for educational purposes so that men on the beat will know a real...