Pushbuttons replace dials on telephone

Tests in regular service last winter at Carnegie and Greensburg, Pa., suburbs of Pittsburgh, have shown it’s easier and more than twice as fast to press buttons for a phone call than it is to twirl a dial. As each “touch-tone” button is pushed, it sounds a pleasing musical tone.

Bell is introducing the phone area by area, will nave it in general use within the next 10 years.

Outboard Starter Rewinds Itself

A NEW starter for outboard motors makes obsolete the rope starter heretofore used. A steel tape, which automatically winds itself into the container in readiness for the next pull as soon as it is released is the feature of this device.

Boating enthusiasts who have had difficulty in finding their starting ropes—who have lost their ropes upon the sudden kick-back of a motor—whose wives have protested when the knot of a suddenly released rope snapped back over their heads—who resented picking up grimy, oil-soaked ropes—who have wasted time winding the rope around the starting plate—all have hailed this development as the greatest boon to outboard motoring since the development of the tilting propeller years ago.

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Public Key Cryptography

An introduction to a powerful cryptographic system for use on microcomputers.

John Smith
21505 Evalyn Ave.
Torrance, CA 90503

Cryptography, the art of concealing the meaning of messages, has been practiced for at least 3000 years. In the past few centuries, it has become an indispensable tool in the military affairs, diplomacy, and commerce of most major nations. During that time there have been many innovations, and cryptography has changed and grown to accommodate the increasingly complex needs of its users. Present techniques are very sophisticated and provide excellent message protection. Current developments in computer technology and information theory, however, are on the verge of revolutionizing cryptography. New kinds of cryptographic systems are emerging that have incredible properties, which appear to eliminate completely some problems that have plagued cryptography users for centuries. One of these new systems is public key cryptography.
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Waterproof Sand Exhibited

W/ATERPROOF sand constituted one of the many marvels of modern chemistry exhibited at a Chemical Industries Exposition recently staged in New York, N. Y. In a convincing test demonstration, water was passed through a series of curves in the chemically treated sand without becoming even partially absorbed.

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Science Transplants Babies

BY LESTER DAVID

The embryo conceived by one mother has been removed from her womb, stored by refrigeration, then transplanted to another mother for normal birth. Mother’s name Is “Mrs. Rabbit”—some day it might be Mrs. Jones.

IF YOU could mate a man and a woman—could let the embryo get just a start, then transfer it to the body of another woman to complete its prenatal growth and be born—that would start a revolution in human genetics, wouldn’t it!

It’s just been done with rabbits.

It certainly will be done next with cattle.

And just as certainly it will some day be possible with human beings!
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Origin of flaps?

Telescoping Wings “Brake” Airplane

ONE of the most difficult problems of flying—that of reducing the speed of a high powered airplane to a minimum without slowing down the engine—has been solved to some extent by a Frenchman, M. Bille, who has invented an airplane in which
the wing surface can be mechanically increased, thus cutting down the speed of the machine.

Early inventions for varying the size of wings in flight lacked wing rigidity necessary to safe flying. Bille’s invention overcomes this handicap by means of two pairs of extension wings that telescope snugly into the main wings of the plane, so that they can be extended or taken in at will during flight.

At a recent demonstration of the plane Maneyrol, the French record making aviator, flew 100 miles an hour, then slowed down to 35 miles, and finally to 12 miles, simply by extending the wings. This was done in six seconds.

Underwater Gallery for Aquarium

SHARKS are always intriguing to the curiosity—more so than lions; for you can less frequently get a good look at a shark. A professional shark hunter is now promoting plans for an open-water aquarium with, not tanks, but pens; and floating steel compartments from whose windows thrill seekers may watch the demons of the deep. The idea, as distinguished from its accomplishment, is very old; a medieval picture shows Alexander the Great in a (fabulous) submarine observatory.

Swallows New Camera to Get 16 Pictures of Stomach

A CAMERA so small that it can be swallowed without discomfort takes sixteen pictures of the inside of the stomach.

A two inch long metal cylinder contains the camera, a roll of film, and a tiny flash bulb capable of 20,000 candle-power illumination. The control plunger runs through a two-foot rubber tube attached to the cylinder.
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Suicide or Murder? ~ Science Tells Which

NO LONGER can a murderer defeat justice by placing the gun in the hand of the victim to mislead the coroner’s jury into returning a verdict of suicide. On the other hand, it will no longer be possible for an innocent man to be convicted of murder on circumstantial evidence if the deceased fired the shot which ended his own life, for science can now identify positively the hand that fired the gun. Whenever a firearm explodes, the generated gases expand and blow backward as well as forward. No firearm has yet been built in which some of these gases do not escape backward. Read the rest of this entry »

Electric “Ear” Helps Photograph Heart Beats

Photographic records of pulsations of the human heart are produced by a portable instrument containing an electric “ear” and equipment for converting sound into light. The electric ear, a sensitive condenser microphone, picks up the heart’s sounds, which are amplified until they can be heard through a radio loud speaker. Read the rest of this entry »

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Printing Without Ink

Here’s how one man beat the high cost of printing by inventing Xerography—a new process which requires no ink, rollers or heavy presses.
CHESTER CARLSON, patent attorney, wanted to have one of his manuscripts published but the cost astonished him. It started him thinking about methods for reducing printing costs. And what’s more important, it started him experimenting.

Soon he found it essential to ask for financial heLp. The Battelle Memorial Institute of Research with the sponsorship of the Haloid Company, came to his rescue. The result? Well, it has just been announced that a revolutionary process of inkless printing has finally been developed. It’s expected to change radically most printing and publishing operations.

Named “Xerography,” the method reproduces pictures and text at a speed of 1200 feet within 45 seconds after exposure of the photographed material. It substitutes for liquid ink a fine, iron powder mixed with a dry plastic substance.
With the prospect of terrifically reduced printing costs, inventor Carlson feels he has really accomplished something. Says he might even publish a manuscript, now.

Here’s how it works. 1 & 2: Surface of coated plate is electrically charged as it passes under wires.

3: Copy is projected through lens in camera. Light releases charge, leaving electric image.

4: Negatively-charged powder sticks to positively-charged image.

5: Sheet of paper is placed over plate and receives positive charge. 6: Positively-charged paper attracts powder from plate, forming direct positive image.

7: Image heated to fuse powder into print.

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ROBOT Planes to FIGHT ENEMY AIR RAIDERS

by DOUGLAS ROLFE

Automatic airplanes, steered and flown by special photo cell equipment invented by the Englishman, Mr. Sidney G. Brown, may revolutionize war air raids.

WINGING their way with deadly precision towards the apparently unsuspecting city which is their objective the enemy bombers are alive with bustling activity as the bombing crews take station and prepare for the impending attack.
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