Atomic Shave

This young British atomic technician is getting his whiskers chopped at the hands of a "barber" on the other side of the thick glass wall (rear). These mechanical hands will be used in delicate "hot chemistry" work enabling the chemist to stand behind shielding and well beyond deadly radiation.

Source: Newsweek - Mar 18, 1957

Who We Are
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: Alex - Thu Sep 29, 2016
Category: 1950s | Hair and Hairstyling

Comments

I'd say that counts as a qualifying test! I like the look on the guinea pig's face.

Posted by TheCannyScot on 09/29/16 at 07:12 AM

Usually on this sort of qualifying test the supervisor would be on the receiving end (the added pressure was a better test for real-life conditions). Also heard of one where the test was fishing a cigarette out, placing it in the tester’s mouth and lighting it up. Now the whole thing is far more procedure driven.

Posted by crc on 09/29/16 at 08:14 AM

In case you didn't know, these manipulators were popularly called "waldoes." As crc points out, today these have evolved into the Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) machine which is a machinist's wet dream for producing / reproducing parts.

Posted by KDP on 09/29/16 at 09:34 AM

Looks like what is called a puppet arm in robotics parlance.

Posted by RobK on 09/29/16 at 10:31 AM

The first thing I thought when I saw them was "look, old-timey Waldoes." Wasn't it Arthur C. Clarke who coined the name Waldoes for them?

Actually, this is the internet I can look that up...
And... it was Heinlein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#Words_and_phrases_coined

Posted by Claude on 09/29/16 at 02:40 PM

The concept first appeared in Heinlein's 1942 short story "Waldo" - expanded to a novel in 1950. The protagonist, Waldo Farthingwaite-Jones, was a weakling genius who invented "Waldo F. Jones' Synchronous Reduplicating Pantograph" - mercifully shortened to "waldoes'.

Posted by tadchem on 10/03/16 at 03:59 AM

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.