Tesla was right
28 Aug 2010, 2:22 am
Maybe. Kinda. Not entirely...yet.
---------------------
There's electricity in the air all around us, formed as water vapor comes into contact with dust particles. For centuries scientists have dreamed of tapping into this source of power - and we finally might be able to do it.
The knowledge that water vapor creates electricity goes back to the industrial revolution, when workers noticed the steam escaping from boilers created sparks of static electricity - and, for anyone foolish enough to touch the steam, a powerful electric shock. We've known the basic components of this form of electricity for a while - when water vapor and microscopic dust particles mix, somehow electricity is the result. But replacing that "somehow" with an actual scientific process has proved a seemingly unsolvable mystery.
But a team of researchers led by Fernando Galembeck of Brazil's University of Campinas may have made a breakthrough. As they explained at this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society, they were able to overturn a basic assumption about this process - that the water remains electrically neutral, even after contact with the charged dust particles. They were able to show that silica and aluminum phosphate, two of the more common types of dust, changed their electrical charges when in the presence of high humidity. That means the water vapor must have some of its own charge to exchange with these particles. The team has dubbed this "hygroelectricity", which basically means humidity electricity.
Galembeck says this gives them the chance to isolate the underlying processes of this mysterious form of electricity, and it might have other advantages as well:
Quote:
"Our research could pave the way for turning electricity from the atmosphere into an alternative energy source for the future. Just as solar energy could free some households from paying electric bills, this promising new energy source could have a similar effect. If we know how electricity builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we can also prevent death and damage caused by lightning strikes."
It's now possible to create hygroelectric collectors, which could theoretically gather enough electricity from humidity to light a house or power an electric car. As an added benefit, they would drain the atmosphere of excess electrical energy that partially causes lightning to strike. The collectors would be most practical in regions with high humidity, which includes the tropical regions and (as I'll be more than happy to tell you) much of the eastern United States.
http://io9.com/5622771/the-next-big-sou ... air-itself
_________________
Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings. ~Heinrich Heine, Almansor, 1823
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31 Aug 2010, 10:57 am
Asp-Z wrote:
Dalton_Man321 wrote:
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights.
Along with the AC electricity system all households today use, of course...
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights, and the electricity thing that powers the laptop I'm typing this on. The electrician version of Chuck Norris.
31 Aug 2010, 1:09 pm
Dalton_Man321 wrote:
Asp-Z wrote:
Dalton_Man321 wrote:
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights.
Along with the AC electricity system all households today use, of course...
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights, and the electricity thing that powers the laptop I'm typing this on. The electrician version of Chuck Norris.
And radio. His assistant Marconi attempted to claim credit; the Supreme Court eventually found that Tesla's claim on the basic patents was superior, but by that time the name "Marconi" had become synonymous in the public mind with "wireless", because Tesla was lousy at self-promotion.
And remotely-controlled devices (in 1898, he couldn't interest the US Navy in his demonstration of a radio-controlled boat; his plan was to load such a boat with explosives, pilot it remotely to a point next to an enemy craft, and detonate it, sinking the enemy. Apparently, the navy just could not conceive at the time of warfare not conducted with great hulking cannon).
And beamed-power devices. Reportedly, Tesla's entire Colorado ranch was powered by a central tower broadcasting electrical power to the whole place. He also had a scheme to electrify the entire planet, so that if you needed power all you needed to do was sink a metal pole into the ground and attach one of his converters; the project fell by the wayside when its primary funder, J. P. Morgan, realized that there was no practical way to charge customers for the electricity used.
And... you know, it might be quicker to list those devices employing electricity and radio waves that Tesla didn't invent...
_________________
Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good.
08 Sep 2010, 9:51 am
DeaconBlues wrote (in part): ...by that time the name "Marconi" had become synonymous in the public mind with "wireless", because Tesla was lousy at self-promotion.
---
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
The news media is not interested in the best inventors but the most entertaining ones.
It's often essentially about entertainment, not science or the best available products, it seems to me.
The news media will prefer an entertaining fibber (liar) to an objective but boring scientist (seeker of truth/a better way as an ideal).
Sometimes corporations will gang up on a new inventor when they perceive the inventor may acquire market share.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Tucker
08 Sep 2010, 10:12 am
pgd wrote:
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
Likewise, why invent when you can steal?
Watson and Crick (IIRC) won the Nobel Prize for "discovering" DNA, but I've heard they basically found someone else's work and just rushed to publish it under their own names.
08 Sep 2010, 2:15 pm
skafather84 wrote:
Maybe. Kinda. Not entirely...yet.
---------------------
There's electricity in the air all around us, formed as water vapor comes into contact with dust particles. For centuries scientists have dreamed of tapping into this source of power - and we finally might be able to do it.
The knowledge that water vapor creates electricity goes back to the industrial revolution, when workers noticed the steam escaping from boilers created sparks of static electricity - and, for anyone foolish enough to touch the steam, a powerful electric shock. We've known the basic components of this form of electricity for a while - when water vapor and microscopic dust particles mix, somehow electricity is the result. But replacing that "somehow" with an actual scientific process has proved a seemingly unsolvable mystery.
But a team of researchers led by Fernando Galembeck of Brazil's University of Campinas may have made a breakthrough. As they explained at this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society, they were able to overturn a basic assumption about this process - that the water remains electrically neutral, even after contact with the charged dust particles. They were able to show that silica and aluminum phosphate, two of the more common types of dust, changed their electrical charges when in the presence of high humidity. That means the water vapor must have some of its own charge to exchange with these particles. The team has dubbed this "hygroelectricity", which basically means humidity electricity.
Galembeck says this gives them the chance to isolate the underlying processes of this mysterious form of electricity, and it might have other advantages as well:
It's now possible to create hygroelectric collectors, which could theoretically gather enough electricity from humidity to light a house or power an electric car. As an added benefit, they would drain the atmosphere of excess electrical energy that partially causes lightning to strike. The collectors would be most practical in regions with high humidity, which includes the tropical regions and (as I'll be more than happy to tell you) much of the eastern United States.
http://io9.com/5622771/the-next-big-sou ... air-itself
---------------------
There's electricity in the air all around us, formed as water vapor comes into contact with dust particles. For centuries scientists have dreamed of tapping into this source of power - and we finally might be able to do it.
The knowledge that water vapor creates electricity goes back to the industrial revolution, when workers noticed the steam escaping from boilers created sparks of static electricity - and, for anyone foolish enough to touch the steam, a powerful electric shock. We've known the basic components of this form of electricity for a while - when water vapor and microscopic dust particles mix, somehow electricity is the result. But replacing that "somehow" with an actual scientific process has proved a seemingly unsolvable mystery.
But a team of researchers led by Fernando Galembeck of Brazil's University of Campinas may have made a breakthrough. As they explained at this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society, they were able to overturn a basic assumption about this process - that the water remains electrically neutral, even after contact with the charged dust particles. They were able to show that silica and aluminum phosphate, two of the more common types of dust, changed their electrical charges when in the presence of high humidity. That means the water vapor must have some of its own charge to exchange with these particles. The team has dubbed this "hygroelectricity", which basically means humidity electricity.
Galembeck says this gives them the chance to isolate the underlying processes of this mysterious form of electricity, and it might have other advantages as well:
Quote:
"Our research could pave the way for turning electricity from the atmosphere into an alternative energy source for the future. Just as solar energy could free some households from paying electric bills, this promising new energy source could have a similar effect. If we know how electricity builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we can also prevent death and damage caused by lightning strikes."
It's now possible to create hygroelectric collectors, which could theoretically gather enough electricity from humidity to light a house or power an electric car. As an added benefit, they would drain the atmosphere of excess electrical energy that partially causes lightning to strike. The collectors would be most practical in regions with high humidity, which includes the tropical regions and (as I'll be more than happy to tell you) much of the eastern United States.
http://io9.com/5622771/the-next-big-sou ... air-itself
Ridding the atmosphere of electrical charge may seem like a good idea; isn't ozone a byproduct of lightning - isn't ozone required in the upper atmosphere to filter ultraviolet radiation?
Just my 2 cents - not trying to start an argument.
08 Sep 2010, 2:31 pm
zer0netgain wrote:
pgd wrote:
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
Likewise, why invent when you can steal?
Watson and Crick (IIRC) won the Nobel Prize for "discovering" DNA, but I've heard they basically found someone else's work and just rushed to publish it under their own names.
Yes. The late Ros Franklin who did the real work, but was thoroughly ignored mostly because of her gender.
ruveyn
08 Sep 2010, 2:34 pm
ruveyn wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
pgd wrote:
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
Likewise, why invent when you can steal?
Watson and Crick (IIRC) won the Nobel Prize for "discovering" DNA, but I've heard they basically found someone else's work and just rushed to publish it under their own names.
Yes. The late Ros Franklin who did the real work, but was thoroughly ignored mostly because of her gender.
ruveyn
Indeed - just look at the case of Lise Meitner who discovered nuclear fission, and how she was ignored while her 'colleague' Otto Hahn received a Nobel Prize in Physics for work he didn't do.
Life is full of injustice - however, there is a rumor that none of us are getting out of here alive, which levels the field at the end of the day.
08 Sep 2010, 2:39 pm
Fixer_Girl wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
pgd wrote:
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
Likewise, why invent when you can steal?
Watson and Crick (IIRC) won the Nobel Prize for "discovering" DNA, but I've heard they basically found someone else's work and just rushed to publish it under their own names.
Yes. The late Ros Franklin who did the real work, but was thoroughly ignored mostly because of her gender.
ruveyn
Indeed - just look at the case of Lise Meitner who discovered nuclear fission, and how she was ignored while her 'colleague' Otto Hahn received a Nobel Prize in Physics for work he didn't do.
Life is full of injustice - however, there is a rumor that none of us are getting out of here alive, which levels the field at the end of the day.
Meitner's role in the development of fission technology and physics is being remembered now. She was Otto Hahn's primary brain unit, but she was a woman and a Jewess (at a bad time for being Jewish) which is why she was conveniently forgotten.
ruveyn
08 Sep 2010, 2:54 pm
ruveyn wrote:
Fixer_Girl wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
pgd wrote:
That's so true. So often promoters can push inferior (mediocre) products based primarily on their ability to self-promote. Creative geniuses like Tesla can easily be discarded by the public relations machine.
Likewise, why invent when you can steal?
Watson and Crick (IIRC) won the Nobel Prize for "discovering" DNA, but I've heard they basically found someone else's work and just rushed to publish it under their own names.
Yes. The late Ros Franklin who did the real work, but was thoroughly ignored mostly because of her gender.
ruveyn
Indeed - just look at the case of Lise Meitner who discovered nuclear fission, and how she was ignored while her 'colleague' Otto Hahn received a Nobel Prize in Physics for work he didn't do.
Life is full of injustice - however, there is a rumor that none of us are getting out of here alive, which levels the field at the end of the day.
Meitner's role in the development of fission technology and physics is being remembered now. She was Otto Hahn's primary brain unit, but she was a woman and a Jewess (at a bad time for being Jewish) which is why she was conveniently forgotten.
ruveyn
You are absolutely correct. She checked his work for him - often explaining the results of his experiments to him and the relevance of what they meant/mean.
She was indeed of Jewish faith, within sight of Hitler, therefore within shot.
I'm not sure she was persecuted as a female, as she was the director of the institute of chemistry when Hitler came to power - although, I can't say she wasn't a victim of sexism in one way or another.
Interesting thread.
08 Sep 2010, 5:48 pm
ruveyn wrote:
Tesla believed in the existence of the aether. He was wrong.
The best theory of electromagnetism is quantum electrodynamics. Tesla has no quantum theory.
ruveyn
The best theory of electromagnetism is quantum electrodynamics. Tesla has no quantum theory.
ruveyn
Nikola Tesla was not a theorist. And condemning him for not knowing anything about quantum electrodynamics is somewhat like condemning Newton for not knowing anything about relativity - it was a bit after his time...
_________________
Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good.
08 Sep 2010, 8:44 pm
DeaconBlues wrote:
Dalton_Man321 wrote:
Asp-Z wrote:
Dalton_Man321 wrote:
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights.
Along with the AC electricity system all households today use, of course...
Nikola Tesla - That guy who invented the plasma ball and made pretty lights, and the electricity thing that powers the laptop I'm typing this on. The electrician version of Chuck Norris.
And radio. His assistant Marconi attempted to claim credit; the Supreme Court eventually found that Tesla's claim on the basic patents was superior, but by that time the name "Marconi" had become synonymous in the public mind with "wireless", because Tesla was lousy at self-promotion.
And remotely-controlled devices (in 1898, he couldn't interest the US Navy in his demonstration of a radio-controlled boat; his plan was to load such a boat with explosives, pilot it remotely to a point next to an enemy craft, and detonate it, sinking the enemy. Apparently, the navy just could not conceive at the time of warfare not conducted with great hulking cannon).
And beamed-power devices. Reportedly, Tesla's entire Colorado ranch was powered by a central tower broadcasting electrical power to the whole place. He also had a scheme to electrify the entire planet, so that if you needed power all you needed to do was sink a metal pole into the ground and attach one of his converters; the project fell by the wayside when its primary funder, J. P. Morgan, realized that there was no practical way to charge customers for the electricity used.
And... you know, it might be quicker to list those devices employing electricity and radio waves that Tesla didn't invent...
So, White Star line should of thanked Tesla?
_________________
"We accept the love we think we deserve."
