Tesla's New York Laboratory Up For Sale 183
Ziest points us to NY Times piece on the battle over the site of Nicola Tesla's last failed experiment. Tesla's laboratory, called Wardenclyffe, located on Long Island, has been put up for sale by its current owner, Agfa Corp. Local residents and Tesla followers were alarmed by a real estate agent's promise that the land, listed at $1.6 million, could "be delivered fully cleared and level." Preservationists want to create a Tesla museum and education center at Wardenclyffe, anchored by the laboratory designed by Tesla's friend, Stanford White, a celebrated architect. "In 1901, Nikola Tesla began work on a global system of giant towers meant to relay through the air not only news, stock reports and even pictures but also, unbeknown to investors such as J. Pierpont Morgan, free electricity for one and all. It was the inventor's biggest project, and his most audacious. The first tower rose on rural Long Island and, by 1903, stood more than 18 stories tall. ... But the system failed for want of money, and at least partly for scientific viability. Tesla never finished his prototype tower and was forced to abandon its adjoining laboratory."
Article text (Score:5, Informative)
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A Battle to Preserve a Visionary's Bold Failure
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: May 4, 2009
In 1901, Nikola Tesla began work on a global system of giant towers meant to relay through the air not only news, stock reports and even pictures but also, unbeknown to investors such as J. Pierpont Morgan, free electricity for one and all.
It was the inventor's biggest project, and his most audacious.
The first tower rose on rural Long Island and, by 1903, stood more than 18 stories tall. One midsummer night, it emitted a dull rumble and proceeded to hurl bolts of electricity into the sky. The blinding flashes, The New York Sun reported, "seemed to shoot off into the darkness on some mysterious errand."
But the system failed for want of money, and at least partly for scientific viability. Tesla never finished his prototype tower and was forced to abandon its adjoining laboratory.
Today, a fight is looming over the ghostly remains of that site, called Wardenclyffe - what Tesla authorities call the only surviving workplace of the eccentric genius who dreamed countless big dreams while pioneering wireless communication and alternating current. The disagreement began recently after the property went up for sale in Shoreham, N.Y.
A science group on Long Island wants to turn the 16-acre site into a Tesla museum and education center, and hopes to get the land donated to that end. But the owner, the Agfa Corporation, says it must sell the property to raise money in hard economic times. The company's real estate broker says the land, listed at $1.6 million, can "be delivered fully cleared and level," a statement that has thrown the preservationists into action.
The ruins of Wardenclyffe include the tower's foundation and the large brick laboratory, designed by Tesla's friend Stanford White, the celebrated architect.
"It's hugely important to protect this site," said Marc J. Seifer, author of "Wizard," a Tesla biography. "He's an icon. He stands for what humans are supposed to do - honor nature while using high technology to harness its powers."
Recently, New York State echoed that judgment. The commissioner of historic preservation wrote Dr. Seifer on behalf of Gov. David A. Paterson to back Wardenclyffe's preservation and listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
On Long Island, Tesla enthusiasts vow to obtain the land one way or another, saying that saving a symbol of Tesla's accomplishments would help restore the visionary to his rightful place as an architect of the modern age.
"A lot of his work was way ahead of his time," said Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center, a private group in Shoreham that is seeking to acquire Wardenclyffe.
Dr. Ljubo Vujovic, president of the Tesla Memorial Society of New York, said destroying the old lab "would be a terrible thing for the United States and the world. It's a piece of history."
Tesla, who lived from 1856 to 1943, made bitter enemies who dismissed some of his claims as exaggerated, helping tarnish his reputation in his lifetime. He was part recluse, part showman. He issued publicity photos (actually double exposures) showing him reading quietly in his laboratory amid deadly flashes.
Today, his work tends to be poorly known among scientists, though some call him an intuitive genius far ahead of his peers. Socially, his popularity has soared, elevating him to cult status.
Books and Web sites abound. Wikipedia says the inventor obtained at least 700 patents. YouTube has several Tesla videos, including one of a break-in at Wardenclyffe. A rock band calls itself Tesla. An electric car company backed by Google's founders calls itself Tesla Motors.
Larry Page, Google's co-founder, sees the creator's life as a cautionary tale. "It's a sad, sad story," Mr. Page told Fortune magazine last year. The inventor "couldn't commercialize anything. He could barely fund his own research."
Wardenclyffe epitomized that kind o
Re:Someone with electrical knowledge explain this (Score:5, Informative)
Imagine the upper layer of the atmosphere as a copper shell. Any high voltage alternated current deposited there could be harnessed by a sufficiently high tower that could "touch" the copper shell.
Square law doesn't apply because its a conductor that captures the wave and prevents it from spreading in 3 dimensions just like it doesn't apply in wires.
All the viability is in how closely ionized upper atmosphere resembles a copper shell and also in how hard it is to effectively "touch" this layer with lots of air in between you and it.
Re:Someone with electrical knowledge explain this (Score:4, Informative)
Is this it? (Score:4, Informative)
Tesla's Laboratory? [google.com]
Re:Someone with electrical knowledge explain this (Score:2, Informative)
Well I do believe he was toying with using Earth's resonant frequency to essentially generate electricity using the atmosphere (by putting in a small amount he could receive a lot back and I think there was a story about him blowing up some power plant's generators doing this). Just some of the crazy things he did...
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:3, Informative)
Umm. He was a loon and we do know how his projects worked and didn't.
They where all interesting but as with many brilliant but crazy people most where not practical and none of them are past our understanding today.
His lab is still there as are the foundations of the tower. Simple answer declare it a historical site and it becomes just about impossible to destroy no matter who owns it.
Re:Radio principle (Score:5, Informative)
What? yes, every person that listens takes power. It's a minute amount of power but it does. In this case it weakens the range of the broadcast.
Do you even think about what you are saying? If that where true we would all be powering our devices from radio signal. You are saying 50K watts of power can power infinite devices, ir be broad cast to an infinite amount of radios with degrading the signal.
THINK!
Re:Cats, hats, and wolverines... (Score:3, Informative)
I had to read that twice before I realized they weren't talking about 'tanks' the vehicles.
Re:Someone with electrical knowledge explain this (Score:5, Informative)
I think the better example is how ham radio, or UHF stations can bounce in the atmosphere to reach long distances.
For example when I was a kid in West central Florida, if the weather was right, we could watch TV from Texas with a regular mast mounted antenna (50' tall). We required the same antenna to pick up UHF and VHF stations in the next major city, approximately 100 miles away.
I'm familiar with Tesla's work. It's all really interesting stuff.
There really isn't anything left at the site, which is a terrible shame. It could be recreated, but would cost a fortune, and without Tesla there to make it work (or work out the bugs), it's seriously doubtful the casual hobbyist could make a working replica.
His wireless power on a global scale idea would require much more than just the Wardenclyffe site. The plans indicated many transmitters globally. This would never happen, as it takes the control away from too many huge money making industries. No government would allow it either. During a military operation, one of the first strategic moves is to disable the infrastructure (power, communications, water, and transportation). Once an enemy is blinded, the aggressive forces have a significant advantage.
I was always curious about long term effects. Non-ionizing radiation is proven to cause various illnesses. For example, some schools were built on cheap property in close proximity to large power transmission lines. That caused an unusually high rate of leukemia in the students. Prolonged exposure (living or going to school) at 200 meters raised the chance of getting leukemia by 70%. 200 meters to 500 meters raised it by 20%. Obviously, no research was done with Tesla's unfinished work. And for those asking for citations, search Google for "power lines leukemia" .
Some of Tesla's earlier work in Colorado Springs caused sparks to jump out of water faucets and from peoples feet as they were walking. It would have been interesting to see, but I'm sure quite unnerving after a while. I don't know the Wardenclyffe facility would have caused the same effect, or if he corrected it by possibly changing the frequency that he worked at.
The only people with enough documentation to know are the US Government, who seized all of his work materials when he died.
Tesla Einstein Notes Found in Chelsea Hotel (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Is this it? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:4, Informative)
I suggest you read more about his latter life. He was a loon. Actually I know a lot about his projects. My favorite is the Telsla turbine. It is a terrible turbine for air. It makes a great pump for solid-fluid mixtures but as a turbine it is no where near what more traditional turbines can do.
His power transmission also just doesn't work. His work on AC power transmission and his AC electric motor. Brilliant.
Time travel, death beams, free power... Loonie.
It is a shame that so many of his fans do him a disservice by pushing his fantasy achievements.
They are as loonie as was in his later life. His decline into mental illness should be forgotten and his real achivments should be remembered.
Re:Article text (Score:1, Informative)
Today, his work tends to be poorly known among scientists,
I was fairly well introduced to his work in my electrical engineering program.
Later as power engineer I saw that what he did was fairly well known. After all we are using his induction motors and transformers. So I don't think you can say his is poorly known among scientists. It just depends on what type of "scientist" you're talking about.
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Someone with electrical knowledge explain this (Score:5, Informative)
Prolonged exposure (living or going to school) at 200 meters raised the chance of getting leukemia by 70%. 200 meters to 500 meters raised it by 20%. [...] And for those asking for citations, search Google for "power lines leukemia" .
I did. Half of the results I got were of the "study finds no link between power lines, leukemia [msn.com]" type. The rest seemed to be written by internet nuts with no clue what they were talking about. Assuming then you meant to search without the quotes, I repeated the search. This time I found more that substantiate what you said, but realising that half of them didn't know what they were talking about I repeated it on google scholar (as should anyone interested in what actual scientific research on a subject says).
Results: "no relationship was found between leukemia and electric power line configurations" [oxfordjournals.org], "Residence near high-voltage lines did not increase risk" [oxfordjournals.org], [test subjects who lived] within 300 metres [of a power line showed a] relative risk [with] 95% confidence interval [of one kind of leukemia of] 0.8-3.5 [, or for another] 0.7-3.8 [, or if exposure was prolonged] 1.0-4.6 [or] 0.9-4.7" [jstor.org] (i.e., for those who don't understand how to interpret that last one, no statistically significant effects -- note that this is the study that's usually cited _in favour_ of arguments about power lines causing leukemia). "the risk was not significantly associated with either residential magnetic-field levels " [nejm.org], "The study provides [...] no support for an association between leukemia and [magnetic field exposure]" [oxfordjournals.org], "the results suggest that typical magnetic fields of high-voltage power lines are not an important cause of leukemia in adults" [nih.gov], "These results provide little support for a relation between power-frequency EMF exposure and risk of childhood leukemia" [oxfordjournals.org], "For residential exposure >= 0.2 uT, the relative risk for leukemia was estimated at .. 95% confidence interval 0.8-2.2" [jstor.org] (i.e. not statistically significant). That's the first page of results finished with; I don't see any evidence fdor your assertion of a 70% increase in risk, and I would be cautious at claiming even that there's a link. Google scholar selects widely cited papers first, and papers with the most provocative results are likely to be the most widely cited. Given the number of studies that have been conducted on this subject, we'd expect at least some to come up with postive results based on random variation. That none of the ones I've looked at have even had statistically significant results suggests there's nothing to this, and it really is just random variation we're seeing.
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:5, Informative)
If you had ever read anything about what he was trying to do, you'd realize that he was trying to create electromagnetic waves that would travel across the entire globe, and feed the amplitude of that wave by precise timing of the bursts. The technology he was experimenting with was seized by the US government, and is currently being explored in the HAARP project.
The wealth of most of the northeastern United States can be traced to the Niagara Falls dam, and the vast amounts of energy it provides without the need for human effort. Which means it can be traced directly to Tesla. He's one of the greatest benefactors of the human race in recorded history. You might want to remember that when you're pissing on his name, and maybe question the way you calculate the measure of a man.
Re:If past performance is a current indicator... (Score:3, Informative)
Link: Right off Tesla St. [google.com], in fact.