Many legends are associated with the name of the great Serbian physicist and inventor: mysterious death rays, the Philadelphia experiment, secret laboratories.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, electricity in the eyes of ordinary people remained a scientific curiosity, much like the Large Hadron Collider is now perceived – a toy for the entertainment of a bunch of physicists, nothing more.
Nikola Tesla was probably the most outstanding of those scientists and inventors who, with his pioneering work, made electricity an integral part of our lives.
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Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) – great Serbian (according others of Bulgarian ethnic origin) physicist, engineer, inventor in the field of electrical and radio engineering. He created a number of devices operating on alternating current, as well as an electric motor, which gave impetus to the second stage of the industrial revolution. A unit for measuring the density of magnetic flux (magnetic induction) is named after him.
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During his long career, Tesla has received more than 111 US patents and approximately 300 more in other countries.
Trying to improve Edison’s electric bulbs, the great Serb developed neon and even fluorescent lamps, which he ignited at a distance using electrostatic waves.
The invention of radio-controlled moving machines put him among the pioneers of robotics. According to some reports, he even managed to get the first X-rays in 1896, almost simultaneously with Konrad Roentgen.
Death rays
When the clouds of the Second World War were already beginning to gather over the world, Nikola Tesla suddenly announced to the whole world that he had constructed a weapon capable of ending all wars. According to him, it was about “peaceful rays”, which, like the Great Wall of China, could protect the borders of any states.
Newspapers, however, christened the new invention differently. On July 11, 1934, The New York Times published the following headline on the front page: “TESLA’S 78 YEARS OLD DISCOVERED THE RAYS OF DEATH!”
According to the scientist, it was about creating a stream of particles of such power that it could shoot down an air fleet of 10,000 enemy aircraft at a distance of 300 km.
Unfortunately, Tesla did not provide any evidence of his invention, although he maintained about it until the end of his life. The legend of the “death rays” has long outlived its creator.
Throughout the Cold War, there were reports that one or another superpower created deadly beams capable of hitting any target at a great distance.
Secret Laboratories
It is not surprising that Nikola Tesla has served as the prototype for many of the villainous scientists from the James Bond films, who, locked in their secret laboratories, are working on a deadly weapon with which to conquer the whole world, or at least destroy Britain.
The great inventor actually had his own secret laboratory. Yes, not one, but two.
Back in 1899, Nikola Tesla organized a laboratory in the US state of Colorado in order to penetrate the secrets of high-frequency electricity.
It is known that as a result of one of his experiments, the inventor managed to create a 30-meter electric arch between two metal rods. At the same time, the generator of the electric company could not stand, and the entire town of Colorado Springs plunged into darkness.
Was it there that Tesla made his most outstanding discovery, according to his opinion? the existence of terrestrial stationary waves, with the help of which it was possible to conduct electrical energy through the Earth itself at certain frequencies. Thanks to them, the scientist managed to light 200 bulbs wirelessly at a distance of 40 km.
The second secret laboratory appeared much later on Long Island, near Tesla’s house in Manhattan. Its main attraction was a giant wireless telecommunications tower, with the help of which the inventor intended to transmit energy across the entire planet, so that “the entire globe would tremble.”
According to one version, the famous Tunguska phenomenon occurred as a result of one of Tesla’s experiments in his laboratory on Long Island.
Philadelphia experiment
Many have heard of the so-called Philadelphia experiment, as a result of which an entire ship disappeared on the high seas, and then materialized in a completely different place.
According to another, more realistic version, we are talking about the disappearance of the ship from the radar screen. Modern technologies make it possible to do this, for example, using special Kevlar coatings that absorb electromagnetic energy, making objects invisible to radars.
Many associate the Philadelphia experiment with the names of Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein, primarily because of the famous photograph taken in New Jersey on April 23, 1921, in which both scientists stand side by side during the opening of a new transatlantic radio station.
In fact, there has never been a close connection between the two geniuses. Also, Nikola Tesla’s participation in the Philadelphia experiment has not been proven, although the great Serb worked a lot on improving the radar in 1903 and later, during the First World War.
