Big Cities to Have COOLED Sidewalks
COOLING big cities by means of underground air ducts has long been the dream of inventors and sweltering citizens alike. A plan is now being seriously considered by a Chicago scientist, Dr. Gustav Eglov, of the American Chemical Society.Dr. Eglov believes that huge refrigeration plants built at intervals of a mile and a half along city streets would rid the canyons between sky scrapers of humid hot air.
“Death Ray” May Outlaw War
A “DEATH RAY” machine is on exhibition at the California Pacific International Exposition being held at San Diego, Calif. It was invented by Prof. Harry May of London, England.
Prof. May feels that his new lethal weapon will be instrumental in outlawing war. He thinks that nations, knowing that such a weapon for quick destruction is available, will hesitate to attack each other.
And if the chick is a hermaphrodite it turns into a perpetual motion machine!
Will the Egg Grow Up to Be a Hen or a Rooster?
WHETHER an egg is a potential rooster or an embryonic hen can be determined, it is claimed, by a “sexometer” which may prove to be of value in the poultry industry, for when the sex of eggs can be told, it will be possible to send most of the rooster eggs to market and retain the hen eggs for the upbuilding of the home flock.
Rotating Blades To Row Planes In Air
JUST as the propeller supplanted the paddle wheel, revolutionizing shipping, so are the new Voith-Schneider vertical feather-blades, successfully tested in Germany, expected to supplant the propeller.
The blades, mounted on a rotating disk, have been used for the past two years on river and harbor boats with marked economies in operation coupled with a decided increase in maneuverability. As the disk rotates, the blades present a full face on the back stroke, and then assume a feathered position for the return circuit. Steering is accomplished by an adjustment which delays the feathering movement, the open faced blades thus pushing the stern of the vessel to starboard or port as desired.
NEW LIFE PRESERVER HAS TWO PROPELLERS
Timid of sea travel because of his inability to swim, a Japanese lawyer of Los Angeles, Calif., has invented and patented a mobile life preserver. Hand cranks at the sides of the device turn a pair of diminutive propellers, enabling the wearer to advance at fair speed while remaining erect in the water. Thus a non-swimmer may reach a nearby shore without waiting to be picked up. The photograph above shows the inventor wearing his odd life preserver. Note the propellers and the hand crank that operates them.
It may be impossible, but, damn is it cool looking!
New Rail Car Runs on Air-Electric Perpetual Drive
FROM coast to coast by rail in 24 hours, traveling literally on air—that is what W. E. Boyette of Atlanta, Georgia, claims for his invention, a railroad engine that runs almost entirely on air.Air for fuel—speeds of up to 125 miles an hour on rails—low transportation costs-—these are possibilities conjured by Boyette’s air electric car. After being started by batteries, the car needs only air to keep it running—a close approach to perpetual motion.
LOUD NOISES HELP THE DEAF
Based on the theory that exercise of the eardrums aids certain cases of defective hearing, Dr. J. B. Prager, of New York City, has devised a phonograph that subjects patients, through earphones, to loud noises. His records include dynamite explosions, the shrieking and clanging of fire engines, thunderstorms, and waves beating on rocks. Knobs on a panel resembling a giant radio set regulate the volume. The full blast of a fire siren may at first produce only a pleasant tingling in the ears, Dr. Prager reports.
Germs on Groceries Killed by Rays
Housewives now can return home from shopping with germ-free groceries. A new “germ-killer,” designed for use in food stores, bathes the groceries in ultraviolet light. The unit is a plywood box with a large opening at one end. Baskets or carts of groceries, contaminated by handling, are placed in the box through the open end. Inside are three ultraviolet lamps that pour “condensed sunshine” over the foods. After 30 seconds the foods are withdrawn germ-free.
Future GIs to ride rocket troopship
Troop transport in 45 minutes to a brush-fire war anywhere in the world is proposed by Douglas Aircraft space engineers.
The 80-by-210-foot re-usable rocket shown at right would speed 17,000 m.p.h., carrying 1,200 troops and equipment. Landing upright, it would debark them by portable ramps, jet packs, and rope ladders.
It’s called ICARUS: Intercontinental Aerospace craft—Range Unlimited System.
Death Ray Machine Is Invented by Cleveland Scientist
REPORTED to have tremendous military possibilities, a successful death ray machine is said to have been invented, after lengthy experiments, by a Cleveland scientist.
A partial description of the machine’s construction and operating principles was recently offered at a session of the National Inventors’ Congress at Omaha, Nebraska.
It works for sushi, why not groceries?
Mechanical Grocery Store Walks Around the Customer
INSTEAD of tiring herself out walking around the store and selecting what she wants from the shelves, the housewife who patronizes the newest type of grocery sits down comfortably while the store “walks around” her. Literally, of course, it doesn’t quite do that, but the entire stock of the store passes before her on an endless belt and she merely picks out what she wants, placing the items in a bin beneath a stationary counter, as shown in the illustration at right. When she has completed her purchases, she presses a button. The bin goes to a wrapping room.
I have two hypothises for this picture. Either Tthe Nazi’s were almost successful in creating an army of cyborg stormtroopers to take over the world, or somewhere on the back of the picture it says “Property of Fritz Lang.” (In German, of course).
Hydraulic Leg designed to give amputees the knee action essential in climbing stairs efficiently was developed by the Germans. The picture with schematic drawing at left was found among enemy documents and studied closely by the U. S. Air Material Command. (Compare with drawings in “Limbs To Order,” MI, Nov. ‘46.)
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