Incredible 200-year-old jewelled automated caterpillar that uses clockwork to crawl expected to fetch up to £200K at auction. Caterpillar uses clockwork to mimic the motion of its real-life equivalentMade in Switzerland in around 1810 for aristocratic Chinese buyersExpected to fetch up to £200,000 at auction at Sotheby's this week By Rosie Taylor for the Daily Mail Published: 08:26 GMT, 1 July 2013 | Updated: 14:59 GMT, 1 July 2013 It may be 200 years old, but this beautiful automaton silkworm still runs like clockwork.
The jewel-covered 'Ethiopian Caterpillar' was made for Chinese aristocracy in the early 19th century and is one of just six or seven in existence. Now it is expected to fetch up to £200,000 when it is sold at auction by Sotheby's on Wednesday. Extravagant: The gold and enamel automaton silkworm is studded with seed pearls, rose diamonds and rubies Automated: The 'Ethiopian Caterpillar' uses a hidden clockwork mechanism to move like a real-life silkworm Life-like: The caterpillar's movement is triggered by a tiny lever which starts a clockwork-powered mechanism to drive tiny wheels on its underside. Popular Mechanics.
The man whose TV ray gun turned us all into couch potatoes. By Vincent Graff Published: 01:21 GMT, 24 May 2012 | Updated: 01:21 GMT, 24 May 2012 Pioneer: Engineer Eugene Polley, the inventor of the first wireless TV remote control, died at the age of 96 on Sunday You may never have heard of Eugene Polley, but he’s changed your life – although not necessarily for the better.
In fact, if you’re looking for someone to blame, you can hold him responsible for your slobbish television habits. For in 1955, this little-known American — who has just died at the age of 96 — invented the world’s first cordless TV remote control. Such luxury! Today, it’s impossible to buy a television without a remote control — but 50 years ago the idea of switching channels while remaining on your backside was revolutionary. As the rather immodest Polley put it, a few years ago: ‘This is the greatest thing since the wheel. Perhaps. It wasn’t obvious at the time how important the Flash-Matic was going to be.
It added, for good measure: ‘Absolutely harmless to humans.' Phonautogram - Thomas Edison - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. The History and Geography of Inventions. [Home Page][Other Page] [Search Inventions] [Before 10,000 BC][10,000 BC to 4000 BC][4000 BC to 3000 BC][3000 BC to 2000 BC][2000 BC to 1000 BC][1000 BC to 1 BC][1 AD to 1000 AD][1000 to 1500][1500 to 1700][1700 to 1800][1800 to 1850][1850 to 1900][1900 to 1950][Since 1950] [Inventions][Biographies][Religions of the World][Bible Contradictions][Rain][Countries of the World][Cookery][Music][Composers (Opera)] [Readers' Feedback (Religion)]
