SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
From RT:
Leonid and Sergey Plekhanov, graduates of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, claim they have spent years scrutinizing the Nikola Tesla's patents and diaries and they believe that with his most ambitious project - transcontinental wireless energy transmissions - Tesla came very close to unprecedented scientific discovery that could be brought to fruition.
The enthusiasts say they need about $800,000 to reconstruct the famous Wardenclyffe Tower once created by Tesla himself to implement his ideas and find a commercial application for his ideas on long-distance wireless energy transmission.
The Plekhanov brothers are raising money through IndieGogo croudfunding.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Russian Scientists Raising Funds to Rebuild Tesla Tower, Satisfy World Energy Hunger
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 23 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
You have a message from the operator.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Subsentient on Sunday July 06 2014, @12:50PM
That would possibly be a great idea. I hope they succeed, if and only if the world is indeed ready for such a thing. I also get the feeling that this will somehow be bad for the animals, and probably us, healthwise I mean.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday July 06 2014, @11:25PM
Yup, other than frying birds in flight, and wasting a lot of power upon hill and dale, I can't imagine a single reason to pursue this.
Even in focused bower beaming schemes people are looking at a 60% transmission loss.
Just put the money into better transmission lines, (about 6.6% loss in the US grid), or convert the grid to high voltage DC, and cut the losses even even further. As of 1980, the longest cost-effective distance for direct-current transmission was determined to be 7,000 km (4,300 mi). For alternating current it was 4,000 km (2,500 mi), though all transmission lines in use today are substantially shorter than this.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by VLM on Sunday July 06 2014, @01:08PM
The problem from an EE perspective is he was using baling wire and bear pelts to inefficiently generate small amounts (by modern standards) of RF, but we haven't found any useful apps despite having much more efficient generation technologies.
So if the HARP in AK or your local .mil surface painting radar or local UHF TV transmitter can't economically run your cordless drill, generating RF at 1% efficiency by Fing around with Tesla coils isn't going to help the overall system work any better.
Once you get past the astrological quartz crystal worship BS level, all a Tesla coil is, is a relatively high power tuned L/C resonant circuit coupled to a high impedance (unterminated) quarter wave antenna. So you've generate a massive field using roughly "equal sized" current and voltage and the other side of the transformer has the typical antenna nodes of very high current and very high voltage at different locations. As a gross simplification. Kinda like put a fork or plastic bag twist tie or other silverware in a microwave for a demonstration of the overall effect.
TLDR is there's better ways to generate RF fields now, yet the overall economics still don't work, so going all retro isn't going to help.
GM can't make cars profitably in Detroit. I know, the solution is obviously Fred Flintstone stone wheels, that'll fix it all right up.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by cyrano on Sunday July 06 2014, @01:46PM
The main reason for GM not being able to make cars at a profitable price point, is because their resistance to change. I think Tesla (the car manufacturer, not the inventor) has shown that quite clearly.
I don't know enough about what Tesla (the inventor) intended to do, but I'm just trying to keep an open mind. I share your skepticism about efficiency in RF as we know these circuits today. But I'd also like to see some further investigation before we call it nonsense.
As an example, scientists only very recently discovered earth layers can and do produce magnetism without any significant amount of metals involved. We know that now, but we still can't explain it. According to our dogma's from months ago, it is impossible.
The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear. - Kali [kali.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday July 06 2014, @09:01PM
The square-cube law says a tesla tower will never be useful for any distance beyond what an extension cord could reach. Not tomorrow. Not with astounding new materials or breakthroughs. Never.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Funny) by BradTheGeek on Sunday July 06 2014, @06:29PM
But, but.... they are going to eat pirogi and channel the Tao of Rasputin to make it work!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 06 2014, @01:09PM
It's all over my head. I've actually witnessed what ground waves can do in radio - but I don't understand how the electrons flow. If they can make "free" energy flow from the desert, through the earth, to where it's needed - great. I just don't have any high hopes of success. Just think of it though - instead of paying the electric company to monitor the power we use, we just pay a tax to the government to maintain all those solar panels! Sweet!
Oil company lobbies would probably put a stop to it right quick though.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday July 07 2014, @02:55AM
I've actually witnessed what ground waves can do in radio
Man who sees radio waves mystified by Tesla's 100 year old pipe dream. Film at 11.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06 2014, @01:12PM
Simply convert the energy to mass; move the mass on the back of a truck; then convert it back to energy again.
No wires required!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06 2014, @01:20PM
"Simply".
(Score: 4, Funny) by maxwell demon on Sunday July 06 2014, @02:33PM
Sure. You convert energy to mass by dividing it by c^2. If that's not simple, then what is? ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 1) by arslan on Monday July 07 2014, @02:36AM
you need to raise a new RFC for this... can't re-use the avian one.
(Score: 1) by citizenr on Sunday July 06 2014, @04:47PM
Flexible Funding = scam
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06 2014, @05:58PM
It sounds like all the Physics textbooks are going to have to be rewritten--specifically, the inverse-square law. [wikipedia.org]
It will be interesting to see the workaround for that.
...and people are already worried about health effects of power transmission lines and broadcast transmitters.
What happens when the density of EM energy in the ecosystem goes up many orders of magnitude?
At what wavelengths will this stuff be working?
There are numerous questions that arise with this.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06 2014, @07:04PM
luckily there already are revised physics books. Scalarwave technology makes it all possible ;)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cafebabe on Sunday July 06 2014, @07:28PM
This was covered in the Robert A. Heinlein story Waldo. Actually, I recommend getting the compilation of Waldo and Magic Inc. [wikipedia.org] I read Waldo when researching 3D printers but, with two exceptions, Magic Inc. has more curious concepts.
1702845791×2
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday July 07 2014, @01:37AM
It was also covered (in the form of "nerve attenuation syndrome") in the movie adaptation of Johnny Mnemonic [wikipedia.org].
I think its pretty hilarious that devices such as phones transmit on the same frequency as Microwave ovens. [wired.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 07 2014, @03:34AM
Wait, where's Waldo?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 07 2014, @04:30AM
There was a way to convert the massive amounts of power (approx 1kW/m2) radiated directly at the earth by its nearest star to energy. It would surely satisfy the world's energy hunger. Oh wait...
(Score: 2) by TheLink on Monday July 07 2014, @06:03AM
Unless your transmission/distribution tech magically transfers energy from a plentiful source to those that need it, it's not going to solve "world energy hunger". The last I checked the "plentiful source" part is the problem for energy.
2) Who pays? How do you bill people for the energy? You going to give me plentiful energy for free?
3) If we all somehow have free limitless energy, the Earth will soon become glowing hot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @06:37AM
That's the worst possible analogy you could make, there indeed is more than enough food to feed all people on earth but no distribution...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:30AM
For food the problem is politics not distribution technology.
In lots of countries you can get the food there but the army just comes in and takes the food. Might even shoot people while doing so.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TGV on Monday July 07 2014, @06:14AM
This sounds like a scam to me, aimed at the crowd that swoons when hearing the name Tesla. They get $800k, do a bit of "research", in two years show a prototype (that no-one will be able to verify), and ask for more.