April 10, 2008

“TALKING” SCARECROW SAVES FARMERS FRUIT (Aug, 1931)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 10:35 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1931
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“TALKING” SCARECROW SAVES FARMERS FRUIT
A scarecrow that talks keeps fruit-eating birds away from a berry farm near Portland. Ore. When the farmer discovered that his berry patches were furnishing free meals for large flocks of crows and robins, he rigged a loudspeaker up inside his scarecrow. The scheme worked successfully so far as bird pests were concerned, and he has never been troubled with them since fixing up the “talking” scarecrow. This contrivance, however, is said to have attracted many song birds to the vicinity.

February 8, 2008

Carrier Pigeons Turn Cameramen (May, 1936)

Filed under: Other Animals, Photography — @ 12:43 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1936
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We’ve seen these pigeons before. This article also has examples of the pictures they took.

Carrier Pigeons Turn Cameramen

SOMETHING entirely new in aerial photography has been developed in Munich, Germany. In place of trained photographers carried aloft in airplanes or observation balloons, camera equipped pigeons are released to fly over the object to be photographed.

The pigeons do not fly at random. Months of training and selection are required before a few birds are chosen for camera work. Then their flights in each direction are timed so that the trainer knows exactly at what time the bird will be over a certain point. It is then a simple matter to time the camera to expose the film at the point desired.
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January 28, 2008

The Remarkable Roach (Oct, 1947)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 2:00 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1947
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The Remarkable Roach

SAY what you will about the pesky cockroach, he really deserves our respect when we learn that he has been an inhabitant of this earth some 200 million years. (Man can be traced back only one million years.)

Some scientists think the insects will inherit the earth and rule it long after the human race has passed into oblivion. If this does happen, the cockroach will quite likely be among the most numerous of creatures, as he has been since the dawn of time.
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January 8, 2008

Radio Increases Milk Yield of Cows With Musical Ear (Dec, 1931)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 12:48 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1931
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Radio Increases Milk Yield of Cows With Musical Ear

THAT cows will give more milk to the strains of music was proven when Ben Scott, in charge of the cattle at the Fred-mar Farms near Oakville, Mo., installed a radio loudspeaker for the benefit of the restless bovines.

They immediately showed signs of musical appreciation and stood still while they were milked. Some even cocked a musical ear while the soothing strains of a classical waltz came from the radio.

As an almost conclusive proof to the new idea, the cow pictured boasts of an official record for 3-year-olds with 840.98 pounds butter and 17,864 of milk.

December 25, 2007

5,000-pound Devil Fish Is Caught (Apr, 1934)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 12:01 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1934
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Damn, that’s a big Manta.

5,000-pound Devil Fish Is Caught

A GIANT Manta Devil Fish became entangled in the anchor and anchor rope of Captain A. L. Kahn’s fishing boat while he was angling just off the shore of New Jersey, almost capsizing the heavy boat.

A Coast Guard vessel came to the rescue, and killed the 5,000-pound monster Manta Birostris with 22 shots from a high-powered rifle. The sail-like fish has been mounted and placed on exhibition by Captain Kahn.
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October 21, 2007

Trapping Animal Gangsters (Dec, 1930)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 12:11 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1930
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Trapping Animal Gangsters

by JAMES NEVIN MILLER

The gangster is commonly thought of as a product of modern civilization, but in reality he has existed since the world began among all forms of life. In this article you will read of how the predatory animals are preying upon their fellow creatures and encroaching upon the domain claimed by man. How the forces of the United States government work to stamp out the criminals of the animal world constitutes a story as gripping as any detective yarn.

“BRING him in, dead or alive!”

This square-jawed sentence sounds like parting words of advice to a posse of deputy sheriffs. But in this case it does not apply to man trailers but to animal hunters. It is the slogan of the super-sleuths of Uncle Sam, now engaged in a relentless battle against a vast animal underworld with headquarters in the great Western stock country.
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September 9, 2007

Black Widow Spins Web to Help Build Weapons for U.S. Army (Nov, 1953)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 10:40 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1953
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Black Widow Spins Web to Help Build Weapons for U.S. Army

The black-widow spicier above is a defense worker. Its web filaments are used by Northrop as cross hairs in microscopes and telescopes for Army tank sights. Tougher than steel, they are so fine that 5,000 of them laid side by side take up only an inch.

At left, the spider is having a health check in the plastic box where it lives between jobs. At right, it has climbed out on a stick and is about to be shaken loose. As the spider falls on its back to the floor, it will spin a six-foot strand.

August 31, 2007

Radio-Controlled Rats (Feb, 1957)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 1:42 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1957
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According to National Geographic very similar research is still being carried out.

The National Geographic article talks about actually using the rats like smart little robots. The research in this article is supposedly aimed at learning more about electro-shock therapy in insane patients. I’m not really sure how the to are related. Maybe their goal is to make crazy people navigate mazes.

Radio-Controlled Rats

Rodents with radio sets in their heads get their brains massaged by electric impulses for science.

INSERTING a miniature crystal set beneath the skin of a rat’s head, Dr. Joseph A. Gengerelli, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, has been doing research on the subject of instructing rats by radio. Read the rest of this entry »

August 3, 2007

Luxurious Stable on Wheels Speeds Race Horses to Tracks (Oct, 1924)

Filed under: Automotive, Other Animals — @ 4:35 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1924
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I think that trailer was nicer than most people’s homes at the time.

Luxurious Stable on Wheels Speeds Race Horses to Tracks

Transporting race horses in railway cars or in ordinary motor trucks always has been attended with anxiety for the owner and more or less discomfort for the animals. To eliminate these difficulties and to save time as-well, a luxurious automobile has been designed. It is a. completely equipped stable on wheels. Cushioned upon a passenger-carrying chassis with shock absorbers, the car develops an average speed of thirty or thirty-five miles an hour and can swing along with ease and safety at fifty. Two horses and a groom besides the chauffeur can be carried in the roomy, electric-lighted interior. There are two stalls, separated by a partition on a pivot to facilitate loading.
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July 26, 2007

POACHING MADE BIG BUSINESS by Ruthless Gangs of Killers (Oct, 1933)

Filed under: Other Animals — @ 12:37 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1933
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POACHING MADE BIG BUSINESS by Ruthless Gangs of Killers

HIDDEN among the P’s of the dictionary, you find: “Poacher, One who takes game or fish illegally.” To this time-honored definition, recent events have given a new twist. Outlaws are invading the forests and exploiting the game resources of the country. Organized criminals are’ dealing in illegal furs, fake bounty scalps, out-of-season game birds.
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July 24, 2007

This Trained Monkey Spends Most of Time in His Master’s Workshop (Sep, 1929)

Filed under: Just Weird, Other Animals — @ 8:06 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1929
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This Trained Monkey Spends Most of Time in His Master’s Workshop
TINKERING with tools has earned this trained monkey at left the title of “house carpenter” on the estate of Cherry Kearten, famous African explorer and authority on animals. The chimpanzee was brought back from Africa after one of his expeditions and tamed and trained. He was allowed to wander about the estate at will and one day walked into Mr. Kearten’s workshop. His attendants couldn’t find him for a day and a half, and when he was finally discovered, he was busily engaged in nailing small pieces of board around the shop. Now he has a separate corner in the workshop and spends hours with the tools that have been provided for him.

July 23, 2007

Music for Bossie (Jun, 1950)

Filed under: Music, Other Animals — @ 8:36 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1950
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Music for Bossie

Do cows like music well enough to give more milk? Miss Nora Johnston of Thorpe, Surrey, in England, believes they do, and has set out to prove her theory. She travels about a large farm with a portable carillon of her own design, playing a musical accompaniment while the cows are milked. She says figures accumulated over a period of time prove that the milk yield has increased since she started her program of music for Bossie.

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