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<!doctype html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <title>Scientific American Volume 203, Issue 4 | Scientific American</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/1960/10-01/"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#fff"/> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"/> <link rel="image_src" src="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/97372C38-9D43-4E88-BDE9714B938B2103_source.jpg"> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/1960/10-01/"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/97372C38-9D43-4E88-BDE9714B938B2103_source.jpg?w=1200"/> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/97372C38-9D43-4E88-BDE9714B938B2103_source.jpg?w=1200"/> <meta name="description" content=""The Eradication of the Screw-Worm Fly", "A Forgotten Civilization of the Persian Gulf", "Optical Pumping" and more"/> <meta property="og:description" content=""The Eradication of the Screw-Worm Fly", "A Forgotten Civilization of the Persian Gulf", "Optical Pumping" and more"/> <meta property="og:type" content="website"/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Scientific American Volume 203, Issue 4"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content=""The Eradication of the Screw-Worm Fly", "A Forgotten Civilization of the Persian Gulf", "Optical Pumping" and more"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Scientific American"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@sciam"/> <meta name="twitter:domain" content="scientificamerican.com"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image"/> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"PublicationIssue","@id":"https://www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/1960/10-01/","datePublished":"1960-10-01","description":"Scientific American Volume 203, Issue 4","hasPart":[{"@type":"Article","about":"","author":[],"datePublished":"1960-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","headline":"Letters to the Editors, October 1960","image":null},{"@type":"Article","about":"Articles from the Scientific American archive","author":[],"datePublished":"1960-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","headline":"50 and 100 Years Ago: October 1960","image":null},{"@type":"Article","about":"","author":[],"datePublished":"1960-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","headline":"The Authors","image":null},{"@type":"Article","about":"","author":[],"datePublished":"1960-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","headline":"Science and the Citizen: October 1960","image":null},{"@type":"Article","about":"A new collection of \"brain-teasers\"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Martin Gardner","url":"www.scientificamerican.com/author/martin-gardner/"}],"datePublished":"1960-10-01T00:00:00-04:00","headline":"Mathematical Games","image":null},{"@type":"Article","about":"How amateurs can make a device for listening to underwater sounds","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"C. 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400w, https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/97372C38-9D43-4E88-BDE9714B938B2103_source.jpg?w=600 600w, https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/97372C38-9D43-4E88-BDE9714B938B2103_source.jpg?w=900 900w" sizes="300px" width="300"/></div><div class="issue__detail__info-PytSq"><div class="issue__detail__meta-cIUoE"><h1>Scientific American Magazine</h1></div><div class="issue__heading-gBfnb"><h2><time dateTime="1960-10-01">October 1960</time></h2></div><small><span>Volume 203</span>, <span>Issue 4</span></small><div class="download__access-pNuvp"><p>You are currently logged out. Please sign in to download the issue PDF.</p><button class="button-Nws5y button__primary-WTBGh">Sign In</button></div><div class="issueArchiveArticleList-p9KXT"><div class="issueArchiveArticleList-p9KXT"><h2 class="listHeading-TIGph">Features</h2><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">The Eradication of the Screw-Worm Fly</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>This destructive parasite of livestock has been eliminated from the southeastern states by releasing large numbers of male flies that have been sterilized by ionizing radiation</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Edward F. Knipling</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">A Forgotten Civilization of the Persian Gulf</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>On the island of Bahrain lie the grave mounds and buried cities of a culture contemporary with those of Sumer and ancient India. Recent excavations indicate that it was a link between the two</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">P. V. Glob, T. G. Bibby</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">Optical Pumping</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>In this new technique of experimental physics light is used to "pump" electrons to higher energy-levels. The method is employed to study the interaction of atoms and radio waves</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Arnold L. Bloom</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">The Rift in the Ocean Floor</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>The discovery of a world-wide undersea mountain range that has a deep fissure down its center has suggested to some geologists that the earth may be slowly expanding rather than contracting</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Bruce C. Heezen</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">Electric Fishes</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>The electric eel is only one of a number of fishes that are capable of generating a respectable electric current. These fishes variously use their electricity for purposes of attack, defense and navigation</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Harry Grundfest</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">High-Speed Impact</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>What happens when a projectile strikes a target at extremely high velocity? Experiments indicate that impact at speeds greater than about 8,000. feet per second causes metals to flow like liquids</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">A. C. Charters</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">The Physics of Wood Winds</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>For centuries craftsmen have fashioned these instruments by trial and error and rules of thumb. The principles that underlie these empirical methods are now being studied by the modern physicist</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Arthur H. Benade</p></section></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h4 class="articleTitle-e093r">Count Rumford</h4><section><div class="dek-5E7-A"><p>Born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Mass., he was both a brilliant investigator and an unscrupulous careerist. He demonstrated that heat is not a substance called "caloric" but is a mode of motion</p></div><p class="authors-G71Hd">Mitchell Wilson</p></section></article></div><div class="issueArchiveArticleList-p9KXT"><h2 class="listHeading-TIGph">Departments</h2><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">Letters to the Editors, October 1960</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">50 and 100 Years Ago: October 1960</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">The Authors</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">Science and the Citizen: October 1960</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">Mathematical Games</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">The Amateur Scientist</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">Books</h2></article><article class="article-4xs14"><h2 class="departmentsArticleTitle-4XlrA">Bibliography</h2></article></div></div></div></div></div></div></main><footer class="footer-VfsmT"><div class="footerContainer-pfbjC"><h2 class="footerMainText-wQ3og">Expand Your World with Science</h2></div><div class="footerFlexContainer-XKe5g footerContainer-pfbjC"><div class="footerLinks-m1THn"><p class="footerText-PzHcy">Learn and share the most exciting discoveries, innovations and ideas shaping our world today.</p><a class="footerLink-uRzI4" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/getsciam/">Subscribe</a><a class="footerLink-uRzI4" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/newsletter-signup/">Sign up for our newsletters</a><a class="footerLink-uRzI4" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/">See the latest stories</a><a class="footerLink-uRzI4" href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/latest-issue/">Read the latest issue</a><a 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