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Inventions Needed in Field of Electrochemistry

An interview with Professor Colin G. Fink
Head, Division of Electrochemistry Columbia University

by Richard H. Parke

“THE young inventor looking for new worlds to conquer would do well to investigate the vast but little-explored domains of electrochemistry. Hundreds of new products and inventions difficult or impossible to discover during the countless ages of the past with mechanical skill alone are today readily possible through the combined power of electricity and chemistry Thus Professor Colin G. Fink of Columbia University presents an invitation — and a challenge—to inventive minds everywhere. Read the rest of this entry »

Nothing says “I love you” more than a vacuum. Well except maybe a festive plunger or toilet brush.

Though, holy crap those are expensive! In 2010 dollars the middle one would cost about $1,200. Nowadays that would get you a Dyson that rides on top of a herd of Roombas.

Give Her a Hoover
and you give her the best

Nearly 700,000 husbands have given the Hoover for Christmas

It’s the all ’round gift for all the year ’round, to make cleaning easier for every woman who owns it.

This Christmas there’s a Hoover Cleaning Ensemble for every house and house wife. It’s the new idea—rug and furniture cleaner in one ensemble. Saves her strength —easier to use —made with magnesium, one-third lighter than aluminum. Saves her time—converts instantly from rug to furniture cleaner. Read the rest of this entry »

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SCIENCE GALLERY

Fitting Music To Film

Synchronizing music with action in a moving picture is one of the most exacting and exasperating jobs in the world. It’s turning Hollywood’s composers into precision engineers.

When a composer writes a symphony for a film, his job has just begun. The music still must be fitted with split-second timing. Curiously, the chief tools for this are two prosaic little items: a stop watch and a tape measure.
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Motorized Window

• ADVERTISING cars are not new; but here at the left is possibly a new way of doing the trick.

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AIRMAN’S heroic Juggling Saves Would-be Suicide

When Lieut. Harold F. Brown took off from the Los Angeles Eastside Airport recently he left the ground thinking that he was just taking another passenger for a ride. Little did he realize that within five minutes he would be called upon to bring into play every factor at his command to save a would-be aerial suicide as well as himself and the ship. The manner in which he accomplished this feat is detailed here. Read the rest of this entry »

Sadly these quack cures are still ridiculously popular.

Also, despite all of his fantastical ideas, Hugo Gernsback was an excellent debunker.

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Scientific Frauds

By HUGO GERNSBACK

IT would seem that, in this enlightened age, the public should be sufficiently educated not to fall prey to the multitude of scientific quackeries which still abound.

With the public pretty well accustomed to science, there would seem to be no excuse for these latter-day swindles which are still being practiced all over the country; but, strange as it may seem, there is still a great amount of business being done by various individuals and companies who make a specialty of thus exploiting the public.
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Set Building Simplified by Standardized Hookup Board

THIS new hookup board will gladden the heart of many a newcomer into radio because of the ease with which it allows the novice to hook up his receiver. It eliminates all wiring from part to part and practically any type of circuit can be employed. Consequently the following of blueprints and diagrams can be avoided and the various items assembled by merely plugging them in the proper sockets in the board. Read the rest of this entry »

Newest Patents

• NOT all patents are complicated; some, as shown here, are extremely simple. Their success depends on the manner in which they are merchandised to the public, and the public receives them. For instance, right, we have a very simple remedy for the habit of paper napkins to slip off your knee; a little sticker holds the napkin to table or clothing. (It is specified that it shall leave no marks when pulled off.) Left, a motorist’s, and a sailor’s idea.
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Spraying Mantis is a fantastic name for a crop duster.

SCIENCE ON WINGS

By JOHN FOSTER, JR.

PROPHETS OF WING LOAD Not long ago, a well-known engineer declared flatly that it would be impossible to get airplanes above a 40-pound wing loading. By that he meant we could never get off the ground if the weight of the airplane and its load exceeded 40 pounds for every square foot of wing area. Actually that figure was topped some time ago, but conservatives then said we’d never get above 80 pounds. Read the rest of this entry »

“Compressed Film” Takes Wide Picture

The view above, of the Tower of London, was taken in its natural proportions with a wide-angle lens. At the left, the same scene is shown, compressed into an ordinary motion-picture “frame” by a new process.
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And if you chip some teeth off a few of the gears you end up with Momento.

Robot With Mechanical Brain Thinks Up Story Plots

FORMERLY robots were merely mechanical devices that could perform a variety of stunts under the guidance of a human being, but now a robot has made its appearance that thinks, has a soul of a kind, creative imagination, and other qualities necessary for writing a modern stereotyped short story. Read the rest of this entry »

Wing Motors to Improve AUTOGYRO

RECENT successes of Juan de la Cierva’s Autogyro airplane have directed the attention of aeronautical engineers to the possibilities of improving this type of machine into tomorrow’s perfect airplane. The aerodynamics of the autogyro are considerably more complicated than is the case with the conventional type of plane, but various features of its design, such as its ability to descend almost vertically, are most practical. Read the rest of this entry »