The Coolidge examiner., 1931-06-05
| Machines That Are
Almost Human
v BY E. C. TAYL o K
Electric Fleas


them initiating human beings in
their stunts beneath a microscope?
Science has trained electric 'feas"
to do much more. These electric
'feas" are wonderful creatures;
they have been made to put out
fires, guard money, turn on street
lights and perform other marvellous
tasks.
These ''feas" are cheap, too. For
a nickle one can buy 230OOOOOO,-
100000 Of them and they are easily
put to work, according to Dr.
Philips Thomas, research engineer
of the Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing company labora-
tories in Pittsburgh, Pa.
An ounce of these 'feaS" repre-
spnts 100000 kilowatt hours of en-
ergy. You press a button and 1G0,-
100000 of them a second pass along
tie wires of your electric toaster
at the breakfast table each morn
ing.
Doctor Thomas chriStcned them
"feas" These remarkably ener-
getic creatures of science are
simply electrons, the building
blocks of the universe" They are
all exactly alike and can be de-
pended, upon in their actions.
Electric "fleas" made their public
debut at the annual meeting of the
American Institute in New York in
February, 1929. They watched the
guests at dinner, counted them and
guarded them from fire.
instead of speakers, pail of
mixed gasoline and kerosene was
placed at the head Of the table.
Beside it was a device controlled
by phOtO-electric eye. This is a
vacuum tube resembling an electric
light bulb and it is so sensitive
that il registers the most minute
changes in light faster than the
human eye can perceive them.
Doctor Thomas struck a match
To- the pail of explosive mixture. 1t
famed. but just as the flames
leaped high, the new mechanical
marvel went to work. 1t promptly
put out the fire. The light of the
flames when it reached the vacuum
tube started machinery that
brought a fire extinguisher into
play. and a blanket of gas poured
over the flames quickly smothered
them.
The instrument looked something
like a hooded camera. 1t moved
around until it pointed at the
flames, and then released the
streams of fre-extinguisher.
Doctor Thomas predicts that this
machine will eventually do away
with expensive fire-fighting appara-
tus.
1T is almost human" nc said. ~
got too close to the fire while ex-
perimenting one day and it squirt
ed all over me. I'll swear heard
It chuckle. 1t would be operated
from ceilings, with a number of
photo cell units and wide area
lenses covering the floor. The pres
ent sprinkler system needs heat to
turn ii on. This will need only the
light from the fire, and it would
operate in the restricted surface Of
the light"
AS another demonstration of
what his harnessed electric "feas"
can do, Doctor Thomas presented
"Rastus," his mechanical man. with
an apple on his head and re-enacted
the William Tell episode.
His bow and arrow were ultra
modern. 1t shot light rays instead
of arrows. The light flashed and
the apple fell. Rastus stood up
and bowed and spoke a few words
to his audience. then sat down
again.
All this was done through the
medium of the new vacuum tubes,
In which the electric "fleas" per-
form at the bidding of their scien-
tist-trainer.
Scientists are at work perfecting
this device for work In the indus
tries on a large scale. New intima-
tions are being given continually,
said Doctor Thomas, Of the vast
scope of the tasks the electric
"fleas" may perform.
One demonstration showed that
it could be made to turn on and off
the street lights of a city. The
photO-electric tubes. highly sensi-
tive to the fading light of day,
turned on a series of street lights
as dusk fell, and when daylight ap-
preached the next morning, it
turned them off.
This highly sensitive device Op-
Grated by slight variations in light
is now at work in many branches of
industry. 1t matches colOrs. sorts
fruit and vegetables and does many
other tasks that place it in the
class of thinking machines.
"a 1871. Western Newspaper Union.O