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Isn't it true, how simple it all is — a nylon envelope, a gas burner with spare cylinders, and here before us is a device capable of carrying us into the sky. One involuntarily thinks that our time is characterized not only by the most complex devices, but also by a simplicity that is always ingenious.

The widespread fascination with motorcycle sports has led to many enthusiasts, barely having become accustomed to powerful machines, losing their vigilance, and along with it, their heads. But how can one teach a person to avoid a collision with a truck that suddenly appears from the side? Surely not by staging a training accident? Specialists from BMW came up with a simple solution: place in the student's path a wall of foam blocks with a painted car on it. It can be "pierced" right through without serious consequences, while at the same time practicing how to avoid doing so.

It is not so easy to study the characteristics of receiving and transmitting antennas — reflected radio waves "muddy" the picture. Scientists are aided by the so-called anechoic chamber: the "needles" covering the walls completely absorb secondary radiation. This enormous chamber is adapted for testing the receiving devices of satellites and spacecraft.

"A negligible amount of isotopes is introduced into the human body, the bloodstream carries them throughout the body, and the diseased organ accumulates atoms like a battery. That is when we see them" — this idea is not new in principle, but specialists from Picker developed it further. A computer connected to the receiver of "tagged" atoms processes the image and displays on the television screen everything that was hidden but has now become evident.

Modern industrial equipment grows with the age — giant turbines, shafts, electric motors, automobiles, excavators... The examples are countless. And for the manufacture of "accelerator" mechanisms, machine-tool builders design powerful machines like the one you see in the image.

This new "shell" is designed for those who love to ride anywhere and on anything. The principle of operation is simple — a fan forces air under the bottom, the air cushion lifts the device, and manipulating the propeller sets this bathtub-like contraption in motion. Still, it is best used on water, since the dust raised by the air jet does little to promote urban comfort...