Technology Notes

Among the recent contributions of applied science:

>A tractor whose body can be raised between its wheels to pass over the high tops of growing corn, lowered so that its centre of gravity hugs the ground to give extra traction for plowing. Patent was granted to Henry Ford of Dearborn, Mich.

> A magnetic gauge which measures the thickness of sheet steel from only one side. Until now such measuring has been done with calipers which must feel both sides of a plate. The new device, developed by General Electric, sends a current through the steel, records its changing magnetic reluctance as the metal's thickness varies.

> Portable X-ray equipment which can be set up on a battlefield in ten minutes to locate bullets and shell fragments in wounded soldiers. Westinghouse is building these machines for the U. S. Army.

> A simple device which shows farmers the moisture content of their grains and forage, enabling them to judge proper time for harvest and storage. (Many a barn is set alight by spontaneous combustion of hay, stored too wet.) With the new gadget, invented by Ohio Agronomist Robert Q. Parks, the farmer can test his crops quickly in the field by adding water-hungry calcium carbide to plant tissue, which then loses weight in proportion to its moisture content.

> Transmission of speech and electrical power on a single wire. Westinghouse engineers convert speech into fast-vibrating radio waves, send it along with slow-vibrating power transmission waves. Chief use: in communicating among the widespread stations of power networks, whose telephone service is often cut off during storms.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.