Something new under the sun

Series

Series Name: Britain Can Make It

Issue

Issue No.

Date Released

1946

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

2 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: Every now and then the sun behaves in a very strange way - and this behaviour is due to things called sunspots. Sunspots are actually whirlpool craters of flame, which appear on the sun’s surface from time to time. These craters are many times the size of the earth.
British scientists have recently discovered that sunspots act like giant radio transmitters; and the short-waves, which break through to the earth, can be recorded on sensitive receivers,
Early this year at the Ministry of Supply Research station near London, British scientific workers demonstrated how these radio signals could be received. A giant sunspot had occurred and they were able to listen to the sun.
But even more curious is the theory of the effect of sunspots on the growth of vegetation, and it is estimated that within the foreseeable future we may be able to forecast harvest of the world, and even to control the world food problem.
COI Commentary - Every now and then the sun behaves in a very strange way - and this behaviour is due to things called sunspots. Sunspots are actually whirlpool craters of flame, which appear on the sun’s surface from time to time. These craters are many times the size of the earth. Shown here to scale.
British scientists have recently discovered that sunspots act like giant radio transmitters; and the short-waves, which break through to the earth, can be recorded on sensitive receivers.
Early this year at the Ministry of Supply Research station, near London, British scientific workers demonstrated how these radio signals could be received. A giant sunspot had occurred, and they were able to listen to the sun.
In case that sounds quite crazy, let me explain. By means of highly directional aerials, the receiver is swung round until the maximum signal is obtained. When "on" to the sun, there is a method of recording the activities of the radio waves received. A pen traces on a travelling graph the strength of the signal. At the moment the signal is normal - but it’ll step up soon - wait for it - and there it goes, - listen yourselves to the sun.
Shortly after the stepped-up signal was received, short-wave transmissions faded out. So you see the scientific possibilities in that. We can be warned that when sunspots are sending out radio waves, fade-outs of short-wave transmissions can be expected.
But now perhaps even more curious, is the theory of the effect of sunspots on the growth of vegetation. The rings in this cross-section of a tree trunk denote the number of years of growth, and the amount of growth in any one year. Some trees show wider rings approximately every eleven years, which coincide with the sunspot cycle. Sunspots - the weather - growth - the harvest. Within the foreseeable future we may be able to forecast the harvest of the world, and even to control the world food problem.
This is a British investigation, carried out entirely and only in this country. Sir Edward Appleton first drew attention to the phenomena, and Mr. J, S, Hey and his colleagues are carrying out this remarkable investigation. Military and civilian brains are bent to the task, the possibilities of which seem boundless - as boundless as the universe itself.

Keywords

Science and technology

Written sources

The National Archives INF 6 /592
Central Film Library Catalogue 1948, p83.
British Film Institute Databases

COI Reference

MI 360/5

Credits:

Sponsor: Board Of Trade
Producer: Duncan Ross
Production Co.: Films of Fact
Commentator: Geoffrey Sumner
Producer: Jack B. Holmes
Camera: James Hill
Editor: Len Green
Support services: Peter Hennessey

This series is held by:

Film Archive

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