That’s a really nifty way to pump water!
CHINESE WINDMILL WATERS FARM
Adapting an Oriental idea for raising water for his own needs and to irrigate his fields, a California farmer has constructed the curious apparatus shown in the accompanying photographs. Power from a windmill, transmitted through gears, revolves a spiral-shaped tube of pipe open at both ends. The outside end dips into a water-filled ditch at each revolution. Water is thus picked up, and runs by gravity around the spiral to the hub as the wheel revolves. An opening in the hub dis-charges the water into a trough four feet above the level in the ditch, giving a sufficient lift for the irrigation purposes desired.
This is pretty cool. Of course now you can do this much better and in real-time with even the cheapest PC.
Neon Lamp Traces Sound Wave’s Picture
That’s a sound wave you see in the picture above. Here demonstrating how an acoustic lens focuses sound from a horn, the wave was made visible with the device at left—an aluminum rod with a microphone and a neon lamp at the end. A small motor swings the rod in a wide arc, scanning the area. The microphone picks up the sound and turns it into electric current to feed the lamp. Wherever the sound is strongest, the light is brightest, and the wave is traced out. A complete sound photo, such as this from Bell Labs, takes 10 minutes exposure.
This is not as ridiculous as it looks. Go read this awesome article Noah Shachtman wrote for Wired a few months ago about “the glove”. Then tell me where I can get one.
ICEBOX ON WRIST TO COOL THE WHOLE BODY
Purdue University physicists say the whole body may be kept cool during the hottest weather by a recently developed miniature refrigerator that straps to the wrist in the manner of a watch. The refrigerator is somewhat larger than a wrist watch and encloses a pellet of dry ice— solid carbon dioxide. As the dry ice evaporates, it forms an invisible gas. Escaping from the case, the gas has the same effect as cold water poured over the wrists. It lowers the temperature of the blood in the arteries and this cooled blood is carried to every part of the body. The metal case is insulated from the wrist by rubber, as the temperature of the dry ice is 109 degrees below zero and its contact with the skin would result in a severe burn. With proper insulation, however, there is no danger of this occurring. And thus the device can be worn in perfect safety.
Those chairs are really cool. Why do you think they don’t sell flat packed chairs anymore? My guess is because it would be too fun for customers to walk along with a key and puncture them. I know that when I was a snot-nosed little punk I delighted in puncturing the vacuum sealed coffee packs in the supermarket.
Foam Furniture Rises Like Bread
What goes up and doesn’t come down? A new kind of furniture called “Up.” You buy it flat-as-a-pancake in a vinyl package. Cut open the vinyl and the pancake automatically expands into a modern chair. Once expanded, it cannot be recompressed and cannot be punctured.
It works like this: At the factory in Italy the furniture is molded of poly-urethane foam, and covered with stretch upholstery. Then, in a vacuum chamber, the piece is compressed to force out the air, and sealed in the airtight package. Open the package and the foam absorbs air, expanding to its
designed size and shape.
Read the rest of this entry »
This looks like a giant prototype for the game Operation.
Skeleton Made of Auto Parts Warns Motorist to Oil Up
In front of a Green Bay, Wis., garage and service station is a startling display— a skeleton made of worn automobile parts. A mechanic, Bill Graunke, conceived the idea and collected old parts that could be assembled in the form of a human skeleton which would stand as a warning to motorists to take care of their cars by proper lubrication.
