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- Sweet Confusion: Does high fructose corn syrup deserve such a bad rap?
- Closed Thinking: Without scientific competition and open debate, much psychology research goes nowhere
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- Fuzzy future: Kids may suffer impaired vision from spending too little time outdoors, studies suggest
- Building with moon rocks: Working on the moon with lunar soil and grit could prove easier, more efficient and less costly than using earthly materials
- Major twister hits Oklahoma: Its speed, which largely determines the damage it causes, is still unknown
Web edition: September 21, 2012
Print edition: October 6, 2012; Vol.182 #7 (p. 4)
SOLID-STATE GYROSCOPE “DOES THE TWIST” — The “Twist” has reached outer space. A new solid-state gyroscope which “does the twist” has been developed by Westinghouse research scientists, the company announced. The vibragyro — as the dancing cylinder is called — develops a lengthwise twist for the same physical reason that body twist develops in a “twister” doing the popular dance. This is the first successful solid-state gyro and is particularly suited for use in space capsules and satellites, the scientists claim. The new gyro looks nothing like the conventional wheel-spinning gyroscope.... Like a rotating-wheel gyro, however, it has the same ability to act as a reference in space, detecting any motion that tries to swing it out of position.... With no rotating parts, this vibragyro is especially suitable for applications in weightless, ultra-high-vacuum conditions in outer space.
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