OF ALL the miraculous aids to better living that are pouring from electronics laboratories to brighten the postwar era, those which promise to be of the most intimate, personal value to every man and woman are new tools to combat disease and promote health. These tools come as close to pure magic as anything man has dreamed of. They are divided into several classes: Some are magic yardsticks of infinite accuracy that measure the faltering course of human organs — even the brain itself — long before any external symptoms can be noticed. Others are instruments for the immediate treatment of injuries and infirmities... for the prevention of illness... for the longe-range study of disease... for the development of the much-discussed new approach to health known as "physical medicine." Carl Dreher describes all these in this, the fourth and last article of his series on electronics in the postwar world.
All-Purpose Soap Aids Our GI Joes MAKING life a lot easier for our soldiers is a soap mild enough for shaving, powerful enough for the i greasiest pots and pans, and capable of producing a foamy lather in water hard or soft, fresh or salt, hot or cold. Secret of the soap lies in a […]
Belt Operated by Clock Feeds Aquarium Fish Automatically FOOD for a week or longer can be fed to fish in your aquarium while you are away on vacation if you lay it out on a belt turning on spools that get power from an electric clock as shown at right. Use a self-starting clock, attach […]
From the Bronze Age to World War II, this metal has been useful to man.
By KENNETH M. SWEZEY
WHEN you next speak of tin, be sure it's with respect. For tin is not only one of the most useful of the common base metals, but it is by far also the most expensive. At a price of 52 cents a pound, this erroneously maligned metal is more than three times as costly as aluminum, is four times as dear as copper, and is 40 times as expensive as iron. What's more, its important contribution to everyday living and to industry makes it worth the price.
Tin is one of the most ancient and honorable of metals. Alloyed with copper to make bronze, it has been used to fashion weapons, utensils, and tools since prehistoric time. In this alloy, tin makes the copper harder and more resistant to atmosphere and gives it a lower melting point. The tin mines of Cornwall, England, now supplying tin for the Allies' war effort, have been in almost continuous operation since the Bronze Age.
A seemingly impassable barrier blocks the way to higher plane speeds. Can we hurdle it? Our aviation editor gives his views.
By C. B. COLBY
Drawings by STEWART ROUSE
DESPITE glowing newspaper reports, man cannot now fly at the speed of sound. In fact it is doubtful, according to the best authorities, that man has ever closely approached sonic speed (764 m.p.h, at sea level and 664 m.p.h, at 40,000 feet), let alone attain or exceed it. Speeds of over 500 m.p.h, in level flight are a serious challenge to design and power-plant engineers. Even in a terminal-velocity dive (straight down with all stops open), it is doubtful that any pilot has attained the speed of sound.
G.I.’s Photograph Their Own Pin-Ups SERVICEMEN may go to Carl Oppenheimer’s photographic studio in New York any day between five and eight in the afternoon to make their own pin-up pictures. He permits them free use of all his equipment— cameras, films, lights, props, darkrooms, and chemicals—and he stands around ready to assist and advise […]
Shutting Hell’s Mouth SCREAMING sacrifices to strange gods, corpses of medieval victims of persecution, even the grisly results of Chicago gangster activities have hurtled down to oblivion in the gaping earth slit that is called The Mouth of Hell. That’s all over now, for the citizens of Taxco, 105 miles south of Mexico City, have, […]
Thirty-five tons of dials, wheels, and wires knock out problems that would take the best human expert a lifetime.
By VOLTA TORREY
SOME boy may soon work his way through Harvard University by watching a 51-foot switchboard all night in an air-conditioned basement. Behind its polished panels, electricity will be solving the longest and most difficult mathematical problems ever conceived. It will be doing everything that is known to be mathematically possible with such numbers as 12,743,287,341,045,502,372,098.
THAT UP-AND-DOWN MOTION that dentists tell us we should use in brushing our teeth is easily accomplished by the use of a new manually operated rotary toothbrush invented by Denis Borgeat, Montreal, Canada. The shape of the handle allows the user to take a firm grip and vary the pressure of the brush against the […]
By HARRY WALTON
Photographs by WILLIAM MORRIS and ROBERT SMITH
VISITORS to London about 1816 were amazed to see people in the streets gazing skyward through pasteboard tubes. But these watchers were peering at no eclipse or comet. They were fascinated by a scientific novelty that had taken London by storm—the kaleidoscope, invented by Sir David Brewster. First regarded only as a toy, it was soon adopted by artists as an aid in originating new designs. Sir David named his invention by combining three Greek words: kalos, meaning beautiful; eidos, form; and skopeo, I see. Almost anyone who has looked through a kaleidoscope will agree that the name is appropriate.