Technology of the Thirties
The Discovery of Pluto
In 1846 it was believed that another planet existed past neptune. A search was conducted but no "Planet X" was found. Then, in 1929, astromomers in Arizona began to search once more. In 1930 an amateur amstromomer, named Clyde Tombaugh, was able to photograph the ninth planet.
Pluto is an unusual planet, and it has been puzzling since it was first discovered. Quite unlike the gaseous giant planets, Pluto is tiny and lonely. It is about as large as our moon. It was once suggested that Pluto itself was merely another planet's moon that broke off of its orbital path, but in fact Pluto has a moon of its own, called Charon, which is half the size of the planet.
Interesting Facts
- Pluto is the ninth planet, though because of the shape of its orbit it sometimes switches with Neptune, making it the eighth planet.
- The surface temperature of Pluto is -369° F.
- Pluto was discovered in 1930, while its moon, Charon, wasn't discovered until 1976.
- 6 days, 9 hours, and 18 minutes on Earth equal one day on Pluto.
- Pluto is mostly made up of methane ice and rock.
Penicillin
In 1928 Alexander Fleming accidentally left a petri dish uncovered. Several weeks later he returned to discover anunusual fungus growing in the dish. Where ever the fungus grew there was no bacteria present. Fleming believed that the fungus had killed the bacteria.
While the discoverly was amazing, Fleming did little with it. He couldn't find a way to make the fungus useful, and he eventually gave up. Luckily, Howard Florey then began to test with it. He continued through the thirties and finally in 1940 it became useful for humans. He ended up winning a nobel prize.
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