PEDALS PLUS A LEVER They say inventing the bicycle is a thankless task. And yet… And yet… This machine, refined in design over many decades, never ceases to excite inventors’ minds. Recall that “bicycle” from Greek means “fast feet.” But why only the feet? There are also the arms. Can’t their strength be used for Read more…
A windmill toy is a simple and, one might say, ancient device. But being a dynamic toy, it can bring noticeable animation to the calm landscape of a country plot or garden, especially while they are being developed, when tall trees and shrubs have not yet grown, attracting the attention of not only children but Read more…
Old master carpenters have one very convenient universal tool that is worth reminding home woodworkers about. This fixture is called a weima (a wooden clamping jig). It is an indispensable helper when you need to glue frames, make a panel from boards, or assemble so-called case furniture from panels using glue. The weima itself is Read more…
On September 18, 1943, Guards Junior Lieutenants Vladimir Bakulin and Anatoly Pakov took off in two MiG-3s from Murmashi airfield near Murmansk with the mission of photographing the Nazi air base at Luostari. The aircraft quickly reached the target, and the pilots began photographing. But within a few minutes, at an altitude of 5,000 m, Read more…
Despite the widespread use of electric refrigerators, a structure such as a cellar has not given up its positions. Especially in rural and suburban areas, where in these compact, carefully arranged storerooms with good waterproofing and properly chosen ventilation people still know how to maintain the required temperature and humidity regime and favorable conditions for Read more…
It is simply impossible to introduce students frontally to the rules of calculation and programming on a microcalculator if there is no enlarged demonstration analogue of it. Our magazine has already described a similar teaching aid intended for use in an ordinary school classroom (see “M-K” No. 4, 1986). Continuing this topic today, we acquaint Read more…
After fascist forces occupied Greece in April 1941, the British had no doubt that they would soon try to land on Crete. Fearing a seaborne landing, almost the entire British Mediterranean Fleet was urgently assigned to the island’s defense from the sea. But the Nazis, who held air superiority, “jumped over” the naval patrols and Read more…
In modern standard apartments, the hallway is usually small, so the furniture placed in it should be multifunctional. A furniture wall unit meets this requirement most fully. It may include a wardrobe for outerwear, a coat rack, a place for shoes, and mini-storage for various items, household and sports equipment. Unfortunately, wall units available for Read more…
Small tillers with a rotary cutter as the working tool fare well: biting into the soil with their rotating blades, the cutter not only loosens the ground but also helps the tiller move forward, as if pushing it along. A motor plow is another matter: the share that cuts and turns over a furrow of Read more…
When my second child was born, we once again faced the problem of washing diapers, baby undershirts, and romper suits. Wash by hand? Long and tedious. Wash in a large washing machine? That is completely uneconomical — neither in terms of detergent consumption, nor water and electricity use… And a large machine also takes quite Read more…
