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142. Summary (29:51)
- Date:
- 1955
- Summary:
- Reviews the characteristics and types of operas of various periods and suggests ways of developing more public interest in opera. Points out reasons for public opposition to opera and how opera might be made available to more people. States that because of the small demand for talented youth there is a waste of musical talent in America. (Univ. Calif. Ext.) Film.
143. Operetta (29:13)
- Date:
- 1955
- Summary:
- Discusses the characteristics of the operetta, how it emerged out of various opera types in the 18th century, and summarizes the more important works and their composers. Highlights the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and presents a vocal duet from the Mikado. Describes the productions of Johann Strauss and explains why his music is still favored today. (Univ. Calf. Ext.) Film.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- What fingerprinting is to the F.B.I., spectroscopy is to the scientist. Through its use, astronomers have been able to learn more about the chemical composition of the sun than is known about the composition of the earth. Spectroscopy is used in food research to find impurities in canned food and cans of beer; it is used to trace the origin of paint found on a car in a hit-and-run accident; or to determine how jewelry was made centuries ago. Just how does this technique work? It is a simple story as explained by physicists at Argonne National Laboratory. Yet its applications are extremely precise. The basic instrument is the spectroscope, which can be as simple as a piece of glass used to split sunlight into a “rainbow” of color or as complicated as a piece of delicate apparatus that can single out sixty thousand different colors and requires a room as big as a small house. The use of spectroscopy was extremely important during the development of the atomic bomb. Large quantities of uranium and graphite were needed to produce the bomb, and scientists knew that the very success of the project depended on obtaining these elements in their purist forms. Using a spectroscope, scientists were able to measure the purity of the valuable elements. They knew that each element emits certain colors in the same manner that each man has different fingerprints. Thus, scientists could “look” at two pictures of different samples of uranium and determine which was the purer, since uranium containing impurities gave a different color or wavelength when photographed and compared with photographs of light from pure uranium. Scientists have spent literally years studying photographic plates from the spectrograph to determine the frequencies of light from specimens of chemical elements. The measurement and interpretation is an exacting and time-consuming task which is important if scientists are to understand the structure of atoms.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- For centuries men have dreamed of turning common elements such as lead and zinc into more precious metals such as gold and silver. Today, nuclear scientists are looking beyond this and are inventing new elements which are more valuable than gold. This program, “The Alchemist’s Dream,” looks into these new elements –like curium and berkelium –which were unheard of a few years ago. Using an instrument called a cyclotron –an atom smasher –scientists at the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory are making new elements which do not exist in nature. In a manner of speaking, scientists at Argonne are working in an “atomic shooting gallery.” Houses in a special room behind seven –foot thick concrete doors, a cyclotron bombards target atoms of curium with a beam of a special variety of hydrogen nuclei, resulting in the making of a new elements, berkelium, one of eleven elements which have been “invented” by science. Behind heavy concrete walls, painstaking precautions are taken in the manufacture of these new elements because of harmful radiation, a byproduct of atom splitting. Though these experiments yield only small amounts of the new elements, they enable scientists to work out their chemical properties. This research provides new information on how atoms are put together. It also tells the scientists what to expect when larger quantities of the new elements are available. Already, some of these man-made elements are furnishing the power for satellites and remote weather stations. A small quantity of one of the new man-made elements, californium, scientists predict, could produce enough energy to do the job of a nuclear reactor weighing several tons.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- The desert plains of central Idaho bore silent witness to many events in history – the coming of the Oregon Trail, the wars between the whites and the Indians, the events of the Old West, Today they are witnessing a change that is far more important – the coming of atomic power. On the lava plains of central Idaho is the National Reactor Testing Station, famous for “firsts” in nuclear energy. Here electricity was first generated from atomic energy and atomic power first was used to light a town. Principles of nuclear submarine propulsion were worked out in “a ship on the desert” in Idaho. “Challenge” visits the National Reactor Testing Station to look at a power plant of the future, a reactor that makes more nuclear fuel than it consumes. The principle is not perpetual motion. This reactor takes the part of uranium that is not fissionable fuel (more than 99 per cent of the total) and converts it into plutonium, a man made element that is a good nuclear fuel. Because the reactor “breeds” plutonium it is called a “breeder” reactor – Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. How this breeding is accomplished, and how fuel for EBR-II is fabricated by remote control, is explained in this program.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- A few years ago history was made at the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory where this program was filmed. This is the story of the dedicated research scientists whose search for truth ended a fallacy in chemistry which had existed for more than half a century. Although their efforts were not as exciting as the discovery that the world was round and not flat, the scientists at Argonne disproved that a group of elements called “inert gases” would not react with other elements to form compounds. This is not to imply that these elements – helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon – did not have utility. Helium is the gas used to send balloons aloft. Neon, argon, and krypton are used in light bulbs: xenon in high speed photographic cells; and radon in medical therapy to irradiate cancer cells. What the Argonne scientists investigated was the atomic structure of these elements. For years it had been falsely believed that the electrons within these elements could not combine with electrons within the atoms of other elements. Following a report of Canadian scientists, the researchers at Argonne found that, instead of picking up electrons from other atoms, some of these so-called “inert gases” actually gave up electrons when combined with other elements. Using Krypton, xenon, and radon, in separate experiments, the Argonne scientists succeeded in making compounds which previously were unheard of. In fact, they also found at least one xenon compound for which they weren’t looking. This was xenon trioxide, a powerful explosive, made from xenon and oxygen. Many new uses will doubtless be found for these new compounds, according to the scientists. One might be the use of xenon tetrafluoride to store large quantities of fluorine as an oxidizing agent in rocket fuel.
- Date:
- 1964
- Summary:
- In this program research scientists explore a mystery that has baffled man for ages – the life process itself. To gain knowledge that someday might answer questions such as, “How do plants make food?” and “What will control the spread of cancer?” Scientists at the United States Atomic Energy Commission’s Argonne National Laboratory are experimenting with the simplest forms of plant and animal life. One avenue of research is centered on the study of algae, one-celled green plants commonly found in pools of stagnant water. The algae were singled out because, like man, they are basically chemical factories – only infinitely more simple in structure. Scientists explain, in this program, how they have succeeded in growing algae in pure “heavy” water, a rare form of water that has hydrogen atoms that are twice as heavy as Normal hydrogen atoms.From a unique “algae farm” the scientists harvest these tiny plants. Their crop gives them chemicals that have heavy hydrogen in place of ordinary hydrogen atoms. Other larger plants are being grown successfully in mixtures of heavy water and ordinary water, and these also are valuable chemical factories.The scientists found that organisms growing in heavy water grow at a slower rate and have different nutritional requirements than organisms growing in ordinary water. From these findings, research scientists are exploring the possibility that heavy water might cause a slow-down in the aging process. Scientist has experimented also with mice to determine what effect heavy water has on animals. Already, they have succeeded in replacing about 30 percent of the normal water in mice with heavy water. Scientists have found that heavy water retards the growth of mice and that tissue which normally grows the fastest appeared to be the most retarded in growth. This latter finding may someday have a bearing on understanding cancer in humans and may lead to a breakthrough in its treatment.Other startling biological effects also have been demonstrated in organisms which have been given doses of “heavy” carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. In these experiments, scientists were able to alter the growth of the organisms. These alterations may hold further clues to the life process.
- Date:
- 1957
- Summary:
- Mr. Goldovsky discusses his basic philosophy of the Opera in English and demonstrates his production techniques with excerpts from Rigoletto, and his own personal story of the need for the broader concept and acceptance of opera.
- Date:
- 1957
- Summary:
- Describes the fundamental relationships existing between music, staging, and words in the successful and meaningful production of an opera. Stresses the importance, on the part of the stage director and the actors, of understanding the language of the music in arriving at staging procedures. Shows correct and incorrect examples of fitting stage movement to the music using selections from Don Giovanni, Faust, and Carmen. (WQED) Kinescope.