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Tesla Special on PBS
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."
Thanks for the info. It is showing on my local station on April 6 at 4am. I am going to make every effort to -- wait -- crap!
This signiture copied from somewhere.
The government is not keeping anything invented by Tesla secret.
I suppose next you are going to tell me that some guy in the midwest invented a 100 mpg drip-feed carburetor and was kidnapped by oil companies, and that Texas A&M bought Nazi technology for making synthetic gasoline from grass after WWII and has it locked up somewhere gaurded by the Corp.
These kinds of stupid psuedo-science mythologies are bad because they allow people to sit around and blame others instead of getting to work solving problems. They also obscur and distract from the real techno-conspiracies out there, such as chips in ink carts, region encoding, the Clipper Chip, a variety of schemes involving RFIDs, etc.
On a serious note, year ago I read Margaret Cheney's book about Nikola Tesla and it was an interesting read. The man was talented, but he sure was a kook. I'll have my TiVo record this program for sure.
So Slashdot is going to start posting when reruns air?
This special was already shown four years ago and is simply a rerun.
...and it was informative, to say the least. For instance, Tesla had the first patent for Radio, not Marconi. I was stunned by this information. Sadly, Tesla didn't receive as much compensation as he should have for the radio patent or his AC (alternating current) related patents, all of which were worth *trillions* of dollars. Interestingly, Tesla became *really* driven after Edison screwed him. Edison promised Tesla $50K if he solved a particular problem. Tesla managed to solve the problem, and then Edison refused to pay up. I highly recommend watching the show - it's a great history lesson regarding the technology we all are using to view /. right now (electricity and it's economical transmission/use).
I want to know more about his "Death Ray", communication with other planets, and splitting the earth like an apple: http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/bio.htm
...appear to be much better at predicting what jokes other slashdotters will post than they are at actually coming up with jokes.
I'm curious what the ratio is of actual jokes to people who post "I can just see the xxxxxx jokes coming in now!" Or, "Here come the underpants gnome jokes." or "I wonder how long before someone corrects them on their usage of 'begs the question'?"
Slashdot should open up a psychic hotline with all the soothsayers around here.
Can you substantiate even a portion of this ridiculous statement?
Nicola Tesla was... involved with experiments...that the goverment 'feared' so much that they still keep much of his work and ideas from the public.
I didn't think so.
Jesus, does even Slashdot need to cater to conspiracy nuts?
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
..to his cult-like admiration in the scientifiction fan and angry underachiving technician fields."
Face it. The first place I encountered books about Tesla was on the remainder tables at the bookstore. With the new-age drivel and public-domain editions of Shakespeare and Poe. (actually, not even the remainder tables, they were over on the next table with other junk-books self-published by Barnes and Noble)
Tesla is more likely to be revered by the most loose crackpots at a Science Fiction convention than he is at any mainstream Science gathering.
This comment will serve as a magnet for proof in evidence. There will be a handful of comments tacked to it about 'the conspiracy' and people flaming and ranting because Tesla was a visioniary, not somebody who slipped off the table of reason and degenerated into Science's Alestair Crowley.
PBS is just the place for this kind of program. Or the Discovery Channel, sandwiched in between shows on UFOs.
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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.
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.
You would think the inventor of radio would get a little more respect.
And the dynamic brake, and the 3-phase motor, and the AC distribution system, and many more.