50 Years Ago

A novel data storage and processing technology for computers and telephone switching systems, involving the movement of minute magnetic domains, or bubbles, through thin sheets of an orthoferrite, is being explored at Bell Telephone Laboratories. The system leads to memory densities of about a million bits per square orthoferrite … Single bubbles, or groups of them, are being made to perform a variety of functions — logic, memory, switching and counting — and although the conventional random access memory organization does not seem to be particularly suitable, the fact that logic and memory now appear almost indistinguishable suggests that other ways of arranging the information may be appropriate.

From Nature 23 August 1969

100 Years Ago

During the war the proper provision of life-belts … on ships became of vital importance owing to the submarine menace. One of the most widely used appliances was a life-jacket stuffed with “kapok” or floss. … According to the existing official regulations, the only kapok that may be used for this purpose is Java kapok, which consists of the long hair surrounding the seeds of a tree which occurs abundantly in the Dutch East Indies. A similar material is, however, obtainable from India, but from a different tree, and this Indian floss cannot under the existing regulations be used for life-jackets. The results of trials made at the Imperial Institute … have shown that the Indian floss can fully satisfy all the requirements as regards buoyancy and freedom from water-logging. It is, therefore, suggested that the use of Indian kapok should be officially permitted for life-jackets.

From Nature 21 August 1919