Stars of radio
Last week Britain鈥檚 greatest scientific instrument, the 250-foot radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, began experimental work, and astronomers are finding that its performance exceeds their highest expectations. Much credit is due to Professor Bernard Lovell, who planned the project when radio astronomy was still in its infancy.
However regrettable it may be that the telescope cost more than was expected, financial controversy must not be allowed to detract from the brilliance of the project. Britain now leads the world in this most recent branch of astronomy, but the government must be prepared to spend even more, because after obtaining a telescope that is the envy of the world, the nation would be open to ridicule if its programme were impeded by a lack of funds. Radio astronomy has replaced nuclear physics as the chief intellectual sounding board. Who can set a limit on its value?
Selling like frozen cakes
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Traditionally bakers work by night, since the public demands that its bread is absolutely fresh when bought from the shop. However, increasing wage bills mean it is becoming ever more expensive to bake bread overnight.
With this in mind, over the past few years larger bakeries have become interested in the possibility of storing bread and other baked foods by deep-freezing. Some are already selling bread from the freezer. Bread kept in this way remains fresh for quite a long time, and some experiments show it can remain so in a deep freeze for as long as 12 weeks. The mechanisms are not yet fully understood, although it is believed that freezing the bread stops water evaporating from it and hinders chemical changes that normally take place in the starch.
Whatever the reason, it looks like frozen bread and frozen cakes will one day be widely on sale in our shops.
From The New 杏吧原创, 22 August 1957