Loyal Ally

An old ally that helped the U.S. through World War II is back working for the U.S. again in Korea. After years of observing the effect of sunspots on electrical communications, Cornell's Dr. Carl W. Gartlein reported last week in a survey for the National Geographic Society that the sun is still doing its bit.

Sunspots, and the electrical particles that shoot out from them, come & go in an eleven-year cycle. During World War II the sunspots were waning, and the earth was comparatively free of electrical disturbances. This favored the allies, says Dr. Gartlein, because they relied more on electrical communications than the Nazis or the Japanese.

After World War II, says Gartlein, the sunspot cycle turned upward, reaching its peak in the winter of 1948-49. That was a time of troubles in the electrical world, when the sunspots' pesky particles disrupted communications for entire days. Then the cycle turned downward again. In the fall of 1950, the sun showed an almost spotless face for the first time in six years. The bottom of the cycle will be reached in 1954. So, says Dr. Gartlein, the U.S. and its friends (who are more electrical-minded than the Reds) will have the sun's help in war for at least the next three years.

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