Mystery Gadget 84

What does this machine do? Hint: it looks enormously overdesigned for its simple function.

The answer is here.

Or after the jump.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Paul - Mon May 18, 2020
Category: Technology | 1930s

Comments

Gotta have them tender peas...

Posted by Brian on 05/18/20 at 07:43 AM

We could pair this with the jelly-strength tester:

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/jelly_strength_tester

Posted by Alex on 05/18/20 at 07:46 AM

Well, it's big and has a big frame, but I'd say the design principle is simple. It's just a gravity / lever-arm thing. A smaller, bench-scale version with less frame may work as well, but shorter levers would reduce its accuracy. You still need to put the split-pea receiver low, reach up, and/or walk up steps. Shorter levers would make the build quality more significant, and this one doesn't exactly look to have been whipped up at Bell Labs.

As a kid, I could get totally absorbed when reading these pages in Popular Mechanics. The 6th story following shows the freaking cyclotron developed under Dr. Lawrence of Berkeley. Or maybe you prefer the 5th story following, with the airplane wing-and-propeller chorus girls, on page 689.

Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 05/18/20 at 11:12 AM

How about page 703, "Flaming oil well is tamed by asbestos-clad firemen."

Posted by ges on 05/18/20 at 08:51 PM

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