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Tesla Special on PBS

Posted by michael on from the zzzap dept.

Halvy writes "Nicola Tesla was one of those men involved with experiments with electricity and radio waves that the goverment 'feared' so much that they still keep much of his work and ideas from the public. PBS is to broadcast a show on him this April. Goto pbs.org/tesla/ for local times and listing. It should be interesting to see what kind of tid-bits PBS came up with, considering that there is so little available about him, which just adds to his cult-like admiration in the scientific and tech fields."

6 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Old News by profet · · Score: 4, Informative

    So Slashdot is going to start posting when reruns air?

    This special was already shown four years ago and is simply a rerun.

  2. Re:his inventions by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tesla was both a brilliant inventor and a nut case.
    His AC system is still used today.
    His electric motor is still used today.
    These two inventions make him the equal of Bell and or Edison. The difference is that he did not start his how company he worked for someone else. That company was called Westinghouse.

    Tesla's disk turbine is extermly inefficent compaired to axial or inpulse turbins or centrifical compressors. It is pretty much usless except for some pumps.
    His wireless power distribution system also does not work. But it is nice science fiction.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. Wardencliffe - broadcast power by TheOldBear · · Score: 2, Informative

    Part of my daily commute takes me past the site of Tesla's broadcast power experiment. Today, the only visible trace is the street sign 'Tesla St' conecting NY Rt 25a and North Country road.

    [about 3 miles from the LILCO/Shoreham nuke reactor site, and about 8 miles from Brookhaven National Lab]

    --
    Caution: Do not stare into laser with remaining eye.
  4. Re:bullshit by a+whoabot · · Score: 2, Informative

    As the post above me has pointed out: how do you know?

    You seem to have automatically disregarded zero-point energy systems as "pseudo-science". That goes completely against the scientific spirit. Keep an open mind. You don't believe big oil could keep something like it secret? That's naive. They have more money than you can dream of. Yes, don't automatically assume there's a conspiracy just because there's a couple webpages made by some engineer who put some schematics up. But don't assume there can't be as well.

  5. Re:Tesla is a magnet for kooks by MikeMo · · Score: 2, Informative

    And the dynamic brake, and the 3-phase motor, and the AC distribution system, and many more.

  6. Re:Watched most of it last night.... by LastToKnow · · Score: 3, Informative

    If Mr. Edison had worked smarter, he wouldn't have sweat so much - Nikolai Tesla