You walk around the pond and take pictures ofswimming ducks. Suddenly, you notice that your phone’s battery islow. You press abutton onthe side ofthe gadget, and itstarts using air tocharge its battery. You sit inyour electric car and drive afew miles.
There are nogas stations orany other charge points around. You don’t need tocharge your vehicle because it’s already filled with energy. Itgets itstraight out ofthe air. Anywhere inthe world, you have amobile connection and free internet.
You have long forgotten about wires, outlets, and USB connectors. All devices are powered byelectricity taken from the air, and your body doesn’t get harmed. There are large towers inevery city. They produce invisible electrical currents. Energy iseverywhere, and there isaninfinite amount ofit.
Brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla saw this picture while dreaming about anideal modern world. And atthe very beginning ofthe 20th century, hetried tobuildit. The scientist wanted tocreate aunique system capable ofsending electricity all over the world without wires.
Todothis, in1901, hebegan building one ofhis most ambitious projects— the Wardenclyffe Tower. Its height was 187feet, slightly more than half ofthe Statue ofLiberty. The tower looked abit like the Eiffel Tower— itwas also made ofsteel and got narrower closer tothe top. There was awide circular platform atit* peak surrounded bysteel cables and wires.
Also, the tower went deep underground. Aniron tunnel system was built there, resembling the roots ofa*giant tree. However, noone knows for sure whether Tesla really built those labyrinths under the tower ornot. Anyway, this gigantic structure had totransfer power for many miles.
Initially, Tesla conducted experiments onthe transmission ofelectricity through the ground. Perhaps, hethought that ifyou built aspecial device, you could transfer this electricity tothe air. The scientist needed finances totest his ideas. Hefound aninvestor— JPMorgan investment bank— and asked for $150,000. Now itseems aninsufficient amount for such aproject. But in1901, itwas alot ofmoney, equivalent toabout $5.2 million today.
Atthe same time, Italian inventor Guglielmo (guid-El-mo) Marconi demonstrated his wireless telegraphy system— hemanaged tosend messages from aship toland. But Tesla told his investors that his invention would beable toprovide telephone communication between two points inany part ofthe world. Ofcourse, this impressed them, and Tesla began tobuild his project.
Hestarted working onhis project in1901on Long Island. His plans included building about 30towers and installing them all over the world. Unfortunately, Tesla didn’t know that his invention wouldn’t work. Modern scientists have read the scientist’s diaries and examined his drawings and concluded that the Wardenclyffe Tower couldn’t provide enough energy even for the simplest devices.
The tower had toproduce much more electricity toensure that atleast afew nearby phones worked. Plus, the high voltage could beharmful tothe human body and the environment. Tesla also needed tobuild more than 30towers. All this required gigantic energy consumption. Such asystem was impractical and financially unprofitable. During the construction ofthe tower, Tesla needed even more money, but JPMorgan refused tofinance the project.
Locals claimed that electric sparks flew off the tower several times. Luckily, itdidn’t emit any damaging energy into the atmosphere. With nofunding, Tesla had tomortgage his real estate tocontinue the project. But the tower turned out tobejust amassive pile ofsteel. In1917, anew owner boughtit. Hecut itinto pieces and sold itfor scrap.
After the failure ofthe Wardenclyffe project, Nikola Tesla continued tocreate other inventions. Hehad been fascinated byflying since childhood. Hewanted todevelop asupersonic passenger plane, using his electrical and mechanical engineering knowledge and skills. Atthe beginning ofthe 20th century, itseemed absolutely unrealistic.
Tesla didn’t want his invention tobefueled. Heplanned tocreate electric stations tocharge the plane wirelessly! Their advantage would beapractically unlimited power supply. Tesla wanted touse this boundless energy. The main feature ofsuch aplane? Passengers would beable tofly over great distances atsupersonic speed.
In2022, adirect flight from London toNew York takes about 7hours. Tesla, in1919, wanted this time tobereduced tothree hours. Hepublished the idea ofasupersonic plane inalocal magazine. Unfortunately, itdidn’t gobeyond its pages.
One ofTesla’s most bizarre but, atthe same time, impressive inventions was the Earthquake Machine. The scientist accidentally created amechanism that could produce tremors and trigger strong earthquakes. Initially, Tesla built acomplex steam-powered mechanical oscillator. Itvibrated and moved upand down like ahammer togenerate electricity.
In1893, hepatented this device and tested itfor several years, systematically increasing its power. Heonce tested itinNew York, inside alarge building. Hewas changing the settings and heard acrashing sound. The device caused asmall earthquake! Asaresult, all the heavy machinery inside the laboratory fell tothe floor and broke.
Atthat moment, Tesla grabbed ahammer and smashed the device. Hewas scared this machine could destroy all buildings with strong tremors. After the incident, anambulance and police immediately arrived atthe scene. Tesla asked his assistants not totalk about the device. Hetold the police that itwas anordinary earthquake.
Many tech companies continue toimprove photo and video cameras sothat people can capture the surrounding world indetail. Atthe end ofthe 19th century, Tesla was thinking differently. Hewanted tocreate something that could photograph the inner world. Hecame upwith aThought Camera.
Itwas supposed towork like this: You imagine apicture inyour head and then mentally photographit. After that, you print the picture onaprinter. Tesla assumed that any mental image inyour mind was projected onyour retina. And hebelieved itcould betransferred from there.
The inventor wanted tocreate anartificial retina, like alens, toproject images created bythe human mind onto itand then transfer them tothe screen. Imagine ifTesla had created this technology. How would itdevelop further? Would wehave the ability toread thoughts and record our dreams?
Now, how about wetalk about Nikola Tesla’s most famous invention— the Tesla coil. You’ve all probably seen this shiny ball that sends electric charges inall directions. Itlooks pretty impressive. But infact, this device ispretty useless. Onthe other hand, itchanged people’s idea ofelectricity.
ATesla coil consists oftwo parts— aprimary and asecondary coil. Each part stores electrical energy like abattery. The primary coil isconnected toapower source, which powers the entire system. The charge issostrong that itovercomes the air resistance inthe space between the two coils.
This creates amagnetic field. Itcollapses and generates anelectric current inthe second coil. Aspark sweeps between the coils. Itmoves from one coil tothe other atarate ofseveral hundred times per second. The energy charges the second coil, which produces electricity inthe form ofabeautiful flash, similar toalightning bolt.
When Tesla first showed this machine topeople, everyone was shocked. For them, itwas absolute magic. Even now, the Tesla coil looks pretty impressive. This invention not only helped tomake atechnological leap but also influenced culture.
Many directors have used the image ofaTesla coil inscience fiction films. People began touse the Tesla Coil technology intelevisions, radios, and other electrical appliances. The inventor showed that electricity could beasmaterial aswater, fire, and soil.
