INVENTIONS WANTED!

SPECIAL COMPARTMENT in medicine chest that locks to prevent little hands getting at harmful drugs. Bob Ewing, Mishawaka. Ind.

LIGHTWEIGHT PLASTIC DOME to fit over bicycle would keep newsboy, papers dry in wet weather. Ronald Hale, Bloomfield, Conn.

GLASS CUTTER with small emery stone on its topside to save Pop time looking for sandpaper. Joseph Orbanski W. Concord. Mass.

FIREPROOF CLOTH, 10×10, enabling home owner to bum refuse on grass, walk, etc., not leave any marks. Andy Staub, Glenview. Ill.

PIVOTING RADIATORS that swing outward so Mom can make short work of cleaning behind them. Mrs. E. Miller, Lansing, Mich.

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Mechanical Wonder Man Is Operated By Radio Control

“ROBIE,” a mechanical robot walks, talks, smokes and winks his eyes when electrical impulses are transmitted to his “radio” brain. The unusual animated character is the work of Arthur Wilson, of Chicago, Illinois. More than a year’s work and the assistance of three men were required to perfect the robot which is constructed of sheet metal and wood. Read the rest of this entry »

Machine “Eats” Old Light Bulbs

BURNED out electric lamps which have been thrown into ashcans as worthless are now considered so valuable for salvaging purposes that a new machine, called a rumbler, has been perfected to thresh the brass shells out of this former waste. A New York company collects 300,000 incandescent lamps annually and salvages the brass ends by means of the new machine shown below. The old method of collecting bulbs and cracking them up in churns took much more time, was less efficient, and the brass ends had to be sorted out by hand.

Yale Scientists Trace Cancer To Body Electricity

Electrical changes in the human body may explain the cause of cancer according to Prof. H. S. Burr, of the Yale School of Medicine. Working with Dr. R. G. Meader, Prof. Burr has found that minute changes in the living process are accompanied by changes in body electricity. Read the rest of this entry »

Builds Tiny Looms That Work

BUILDING miniature looms that actually weave cloth into intricate patterns is the spare time hobby of George Yoxall a London weaver. The looms are assembled from toy constructor parts and small gears which must be specially made for the tiny mechanism. One of the looms accommodates 554 threads and weaves them into a design equal in quality to the work produced on full size equipment. Mr. Yoxall’s first loom gained such wide-spread attention that he set to work on others. His large loom weaves a seven-letter name in a souvenir belt.

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Dust! Dust!

• THE wind blows where it pleases, as we learn on good authority; it has also a habit of blowing what it pleases — even real estate. The story is told of a western farmer who, in last year’s drouth, found the whole top-soil moved from his property to a neighbor’s, by the wind. If he could claim his stolen “land,” he could hardly afford to move it back in the form of wagonloads; since it amounted to several thousands of these. And, while he might have a good case against the wind for malicious mischief, it would be hard to compel the wind to pay damages, or return the property. Read the rest of this entry »

Thirst stops here

The road maps of the world are dotted with happy places to pause. And ice-cold Coca-Cola is there to make a pause the pause that refreshes. Familiar red coolers everywhere signal you to refresh yourself and be off to a fresh start.

Meanwhile, in more modern times, the iPhone in my pocket has a six-axis gyroscope that is smaller than a grain of rice.

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What’s What in Radio Today

by Jay Earle Miller

What is the screen grid tube? What does it do? What are the advantages of the condenser speaker? These are a few of the questions that occur to folk trying to keep abreast of developments. Mr. Miller, who attended the Chicago radio shows, here gives the answers.

I WENT to a furniture show the other day and saw some clever new adaptations of radio to home decorating.

And then I went to a radio show and saw the finest furniture exhibit in Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

Combination Sports and Street Suits Made in Germany
A SUIT which is equally suitable for street wear and sports has been innovated by the tailors of Berlin, Germany. The change can be performed in a few seconds. Some Germans are partial to the one-piece sports suit and enterprising tailors schemed a one-piece suit with belt and lapels. From that step it was comparatively simple to arrange a strip-off garment to form the lower part of the coat. This coat-tail garment with pockets is buttoned on just beneath the belt to make the sports suit adequate for street wear. Various stages of the transformation are pictured at the left. A similar garb for women has been devised with knickers and skirt.

Outboard Motors Propel Floating Theatre in Holland
ALMOST every canal bank in Holland, the land of canals and dykes, is a prospective theatre auditorium for the operators of a floating motion picture theatre. An enterprising theatre man conceived the idea of building a boat which would carry the projection apparatus and a ground glass screen, the entire equipment being propelled by outboard motors. The projector and operator are housed in a large steel structure at one end of the barge or boat and the screen is located at the opposite end. Two seahorse motors propel the theatre at a rate of four or five miles an hour.

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MODELS FOR MILLIONS

It takes superb skill and endless work to produce those plastic scale model kits anyone can assemble.

LEWIS H. GLASER, founder and president of Revell, Inc., the plastic model kit company, has on file a letter received from the Department of the Navy in Washington. “The Revell ship models I have seen all possess a sailor’s concern for nautical detail as well as an engineer’s attention to workmanship and design,” the letter states. Read the rest of this entry »