.Pickup Tool Grasps, Inserts Bolts
A NEW tool has been designed for picking up and inserting bolts, screws or other small objects in places too small for the hand to operate. The tool consists of four fingers operated by a plunger within a tube. When pressure is applied, the fingers open; when it is released, they grasp the desired object.
My favorite quote: “The British jet plane, Gloucester, played an important part in turning back the robot attack on London.”
Damn those robots!
.THE JET PLANES ARE HERE!
THE thrilling story of how the jet-propelled plane was developed in this country in almost complete secrecy was revealed recently. The beginnings go back to 1941.
In the fall of that year, the employees of the Statler Hotel in Boston were puzzled by the behavior of a mysterious English guest named Whitely. He ate his meals in his room, had a private telephone installed which did not go through the hotel switchboard, and asked that all his errands be handled by one bellboy. After a week, he left the hotel.
.Keeps Smoke Out Of Eyes
WISHING to read his newspaper without the annoyance of clouds of smoke getting in his eyes, an Englishman invented an ingenious device—a flexible cigarette holder of unusual length. Not only does it keep smoke out of the eyes; it also keeps tobacco
particles from getting in the mouth. The idea may spread like wildfire—or smokers may
find it too much trouble to bother with.
.Invents Wrist Watch Camera
A WRIST watch camera is the brain child of Jujiro Ichiki, Japanese inventor. It takes real pictures, making 36 exposures with one loading, and is equipped with an f .4.5 lens. The focusing scale graduates from one foot to infinity. What a wonderful device this would be for a spy!
.do—it—with—squabs
Marketed when only 25 days old. Write a postcard, get FREE EYE-OPENING Picture Book.
Why breed for ordinary trade when these great luxury national markets are wide open for all the SQUABS you can ship, every day in the year? Go after this desirable, profitable trade now. Write today to
RICE FARM, 602 H St., Melrose, Mass.
.LIGHT BEAMS Steer SUPER RACING CARS
Speeds never before attained on land may become a reality if experiments with light beam, driverless cars are successful. Here are the mechanical features that will be involved.WITH speeds, such as recently attained by the famous Sir Malcom Campbell, already approaching the point where human reflexes are too slow to insure safe control of the car, science has turned to the photo electric cell for a possible solution. A proposed driverless car involves the use of multiple electric eyes as the heart of its steering mechanism. A powerful beam of light directed at a large lens on the front of the car is concentrated on steel mirrors set at an angle in the trackbed. The reflections are “caught” by the electric eyes which convey the electrical impulses to a mechanical-electrical brain which keeps the speeding car on its course.
The use of the electric eye for this purpose is not surprising as German railway engineers have been operating trains on the Reichsbahnzentralamt of Munich in this manner for several years-Here a spotlight is mounted on the locomotive so that it throws a beam upward to a mirror on the block signal. When the signal is red the mirror reflects the beam to photo electric cells on the locomotive which automatically set the brakes. This method was described in the Modern Mechanix for November, 1934.
.Feminine “Ham” Heard ‘Round The World
RADIO amateurs of six continents were contacted within 6 hours and 20 minutes recently by Miss Nellie Corry, young British radio enthusiast. The feat, regarded as a record in amateur broadcasting circles, is all the more remarkable in that Miss Corry accomplished it on a home made set costing less than $20. Miss Corry built her transmitter in her home at Walton-On-The-Hill, Surrey, England, during her spare time. Working on a 10-meter wavelength on the occasion of her record breaking broadcast, she contacted amateur stations in Europe, Asia. Africa, Australia, and the two Americas.
.Through IBM research, another FIRST for business
KEY TO THE FIRST ALL-TRANSISTOR CALCULATOR OFFERED TO BUSINESS!
In the IBM 608, tiny transistors are combined with the fantastic “memory” capacity of magnetic cores to give business a data processing machine with significant new advantages. Made without a single vacuum tube, the IBM 608 Transistor Calculator uses these new solid state electronic components to meet the needs of business for faster computing and greater storage capacity with traditional IBM reliability.
The new IBM 608 reduces power requirements by 90%, saves valuable floor space, requires no forced air cooling, and can be operated from a standard 110-volt A.C. outlet. Exciting developments like the IBM 608 Transistor Calculator open the way to electronic data processing for more businesses than ever. International Business Machines Corp., 590 Madison Ave., New York 22, N. Y.
.BARBERING, BANK ROBBING AND BARTENDING
If your thirst for knowledge is not quenched by ordinary colleges or schools, there are other halls of education open to you.
A suite of offices located somewhere high in the cement jungle of New York City houses one of the most amazing—and most hush-hush—institutions of learning in America. None of the building’s other tenants have the faintest suspicion that it’s a school. The elevator jockeys don’t know and neither do the cleaning women or even the owners. In fact, only a handful of persons is aware of its very existence.
.The “Dynamic Control” Ocean Liner
By Hugo Gernsback
THE tendency at the present time in airplane building is toward constantly increasing size. It is probably realized by all who have concerned themselves with aircraft that the larger machines are not very far in the future. From the earliest Wright airplane, which weighed approximately 1/2 ton, to the present record holder, the DOX, which weighed fifty tons, took a period of some 26 years. The 10,000 ton airplane, projected on a like time-scale, would, therefore, make its appearance not later than the year 1952. However, with the nature of the present-day technique, it is quite possible, at this moment, that the 10,000 ton plane will be here much sooner.
