Synopsis:
Magica finally succeeds in getting Scrooge's lucky dime and now she hurries home to melt it down into an amulet. But Scrooge is after her...

Comments:
As we all know Magica has an arsenal of different gadgets, one of which is an effective paralyzing bomb. She uses it to stun her opponents rendering them unable to follow or harm her. Such a device has been known for years now and it is primarily used by law enforcers to pacify criminals.

Synopsis:
The Beagle Boys construct a giant chopping machine to open the Money Bin. Scrooge mails his money to the far woods but the crooks are at his heels...

Comments:
Through the years some moving, industrial machines have grown to incredible sizes in order to manage certain jobs quicker and more effectively. In this story the Beagle Boys construct a giant tree cutter that simply axes through the forest. Today's foresting machines are a bit more sophisticated; they cut the trees down, strip them from their bark and branches, and cut them into suitable lengths - all in one go.

Synopsis:
One day all the money from the Money Bin disappears through a hole into the ocean. The ducks encounter mermaids and mermen in their quest to recover it.

Comments:
Scrooge's scientists invent elastic diving helmets that filter oxygen from the water. Chemically, this is a fairly straightforward process, but in reality this procedure has only been tested, developed and used for a limited number of years.

Synopsis:
Scrooge's technicians have invented unbreakable glass but what can it be used for? Well, the Money Bin could be encased in it...

Comments:
At the time of the story plastic was far from being as well known and used as it is today. Although Barks never uses the word Plastic in the story it seems that Scrooge's pince-nez glasses are made from a similar compound. Since the story was published the world has taken plastic in to such an extent that it is reasonable to state that we cannot function without it!
It is suggestive to follow Barks' growing knowledge of the material in his work; in his last short cartoon Plastics Inventor from 1944 Donald bakes a plastic airplane that dissolves in a rainstorm. The plastics industry was in its infancy then, producing a weak and brittle plastic, but the material was never so poor that it would melt in water. Obviously Barks did not know that at the time.
Furthermore, in WDCS171 'Sealing the Money Bin' from 1954 Donald seals the Money Bin in Impervi-Wax which makes it totally impenetrable. It can be speculated that Barks did, in fact, have soft, viscous plastic in mind when he made the story.

Synopsis:
Gyro is waiting at the patent office to register an invention. It seems another inventor is waiting there and Gyro is unreasonably curious about what the gentleman's invention might be...

Comments:
As it turns out Mr. Ipsquiggle has invented a human sized robot. Scientists have always been fascinated by the concept of inventing robots that could do certain things. Already three centuries ago the first puny, but well-meant, examples such as chess player robots were introduced and since then the robot concept has developed dramatically.
Barks also used 'live' robots in some of his other stories. Examples: In U$20 'Roscoe the Robot' from 1958 Gyro constructed an artificial manservant (with feelings!), and in U$66 The Heedless Horseman different scientists constructed two mechanical horses to run the prestigious Great Crystal Orb Derby.

Synopsis:
Donald has a postal route in an incredibly difficult area to travel in, but luck smiles upon him one day as he discovers the advantages of a one-man helicopter...

Comments:
This invention by Barks seems very straightforward and natural, but still, after all these years from the story's first publication, there has been no serious attempts to realize that means of transport in real life. Perhaps the invention will come one day, which only goes to demonstrate that Barks was ahead of his time - in this field also...

Synopsis:
Gyro invents an unbreakable money bin for Scrooge but when Scrooge loses the combination they have to travel to the asteroids in order to obtain a metal strong enough to open the bin...

Comments:
Although Barks primarily created his comic book stories to entertain people he was always very interested in getting things right. This meant that he was studying the era's space technology in order to draw his panels as accurately as possible (of course with due respect to the comics' medium). In this story Barks was precise in his descriptions of the rocket launch, the G-forces, and the weightlessness, occurrences that were not common knowledge at the time.
In other stories Barks described additional space age technology. Examples: In U$29 Island in the Sky from 1960 we are introduced to a giant space wheel, in U$37 The Great Pop-up from 1962 we see astronaut gear, in U$49 The Loony Lunar Gold Rush from 1964 we follow a realistic rocket launch, and in WDCS244 Missile Fizzle from 1961 we witness a space capsule landing on the ocean.

Synopsis:
Donald invents a radar with a screen, through which he can follow the nephews anywhere. But the radar has its flaws...

Comments:
The special radar apparatus can locate the nephews (the fatal flaw being that it can only show them as silhouettes). A much improved version of Donald's gadget is widely seen nowadays in Western societies, where video cameras can trace our every step when moving in public places.
This was also the case in Scrooge's more advanced video camera in U$39 Tricky Experiment, in which he could follow the Beagle Boys' every dastardly move without them even knowing about it. Scrooge simply sat in his living room and operated his video camera by remote control (the latter being an extremely practical gadget that few of us would dispense with in our daily lives).