Thomas Foster’s School By Mail

By Alfred Lief

COAL mine accidents in the 1880’s prompted a Pennsylvania editor, Thomas Jefferson Foster, to crusade for safety laws. In his paper he ran question -and-answer columns for miners which proved so popular he later compiled them into a free handbook. But it seemed to him that the message he had to tell should be conveyed to his readers in a more systematic way. Read the rest of this entry »

LIGHT THAT BENDS
AN AMAZING new optical instrument now being developed at the Imperial College of Science at London, England, is the Fibrescope. When completed, this device will enable doctors to search inside the human body, physicists to watch radioactive material from the other side of lead walls and engineers to examine hidden parts of complicated machinery.
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While it does look pretty cool, that custom “Porsche” car will never catch on.

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CUSTOM CARS and HOT RODS

JUDGE a man by the company he keeps” is a proverb which has managed to survive the years. But nowadays you can substitute “the car he keeps” and still be on the right track.

For more and more motorists are getting bored with the production-line beauty and middle-class standard performance of our stock cars. And more and more of them— are actually doing something about it.
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He kinda looks like the love child of Hugh Grant and John Kerry.

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Meet Hans Krause

His pocket-size sculptures are soothing to handle, sweet-scented and habit-forming.

ONE PATH to serenity, say the Buddhists, is through contemplating certain objects: the sky, a tree, a design. Not relying on sight alone, the Chinese have long used hand stones—small objects combining form and smoothness in a way that makes them delicious to handle. Read the rest of this entry »

Kiddie Car-Belt

RICHARD G. OSTRANDER of Yonkers, N. Y. is not a man who puts things off till tomorrow!

Recently his young son narrowly escaped injury when he was thrown off an automobile seat by a sudden stop. To Ostrander this was a situation when stop meant go. He decided to do something about it and a few days later he presented to harassed parents everywhere his Wiggly Car Belt, a safety device for youngsters. Read the rest of this entry »

Blind Can Now Read Printed BOOKS

ORDINARY printed books can now be read by the blind, thanks to the genius of M. Thomas, a French inventor, whose remarkable device is illustrated on this page, photo-electric cells, which, as is well-known, are sensitive to light, hold the secret of the machine’s operation.
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Yay for early DRM. How long do you think it would have been before some Norwegian kid built themselves a Descrambling Card Simulation System (DeCSS) and gave the plans to all of their friends so they could view scrambled broadcasts on their non compatible European TVs?

Subscription TV
WOULD you like to see the opera, ballet, latest sports events, movies and Broadway plays on TV, sans commercials? If the FCC okays Skiatron, by merely inserting special program cards in a decoder unit attached to your set, you’ll view special programs at nominal fees.

William Gray’s Pay Telephone

By Alfred Lief

THE young wife of a machinist in Hartford, Conn., fell critically ill. The year was 1888. There were few telephones in town and William Gray had to call a doctor. He ran to a nearby factory and asked permission to use their phone. The manager said no; it was not for public use. But his pleading won consent, the doctor arrived in time and Mrs. Gray survived.
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A PORTABLE COLOR RECORDER

Newest type of helical-scan video tape machine has been colorized

By JOE ROIZEN*

RECORDING COLOR TELEVISION SIGNALS on magnetic tape has been practical since 1958 when the first compatible color broadcast recorders went into service. These transverse studio machines use four heads which rotate at right angles to tape travel (see Fig. 1). The machines also contain very complex circuitry and time-base correction devices. The circuits are necessary to achieve studio-quality NTSC playbacks that meet FCC specifications for on-the-air transmission; such VTR’s (video tape recorders) range in price from $40,000 to $100,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Three batteries, just for the radio?

Radio Equipment for Autos Brings Broadcast Programs to Motorists

RADIO, it seems, is destined to be installed in everything that flies, runs on wheels, or floats on water. The fast moving auto is the latest vehicle to be invaded by radio’s onward march.

Equipment has recently been placed on the market for installation in automobiles. As shown in the photo below, the control dials are installed on the dashboard, while the apparatus occupies a small space up under the cowl. The location of the loud speaker is optional, the space under the cowl being preferable. The antenna is ordinarily strung up in the roof, but many cars are equipped with built-in and invisible antennas, especially in the de luxe models of expensive makes.

Brain Waves Are Measured with Radio Amplifier

With an ordinary radio set for an amplifier, a young scientist at London is measuring brain waves. A fairly regular electrical wave emanates from the human brain during normal thought, but the waves diminish during sleep. The intensity of the waves is measured on an electric meter, enabling research men to study the relative intensity of thought processes.

Plastic Football Helmets. Only half as heavy as the familiar leather-and-fiber helmets, these headgear are weather resistant and have as much or more protective strength. Made by MacGregor-Gold-smith, of Cincinnati, they are molded in one unit from phenolic laminated material.