Talk:Nikola Tesla

Tesla is such a God to conspiracy cranks the world over this would be very fertile ground for us to explore in more depth. 15:45, 18 September 2008 (EDT)

Wireless Transmission of Energy
I wouldn't say that it is an unworkable idea. Maybe impractical for the purposes of making money and therefore never implemented, but it can and does work to at least a certain degree. I have not found any statement saying that the wireless transmission of energy on the scale that he invisioned has been tried and has failed. Of course, that doesn't mean that it hasn't been.--160.36.39.222 (talk) 17:55, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
 * your wireless phone does charge somewhat off the broadcast signal. It extends the battery life quite a bit. Hamster (talk) 18:18, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Crystal Radios derive all their power from their broadcast signal. However, this is also not what Tesla had in mind; he considered energy (and information) transfer by "Hertzian Waves" as a huge waste of power. --Stilldeciding (talk) 01:31, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I was going to say, don't we have this technology on the small scale? Though it doesn't light up entire towns like he envisions, it certainly does exist. 18:24, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes, the technology is available, but it's shit. Most of it works by magnetic induction rather than what I think Tesla was thinking about. They can just about charge a phone from a few inches away, although one experiment did manage to power a TV from the other side of the room - although to power something 6 feet away the field was powerful enough to wipe credit cards from 18 feet away. I think there's some better systems that work only in confined spots by having the fields go in phase only in certain areas (avoiding the problem of destroying any electronic equipment in range) but even so, the efficiency is still terrible, about on par with replacing all your gadgets with the efficiency levels of the 60s and worse. 18:49, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Using electromagnetic induction is not what Tesla had in mind. While his "world system" would be wireless, It would not be conductor-less, because Tesla intended on oscillating the Earth, using it as a conductor to carry the electricity. --Stilldeciding (talk) 01:31, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I would tend to think that what Tesla was trying to accomplish at Wardenclyffe would have been very, very dangerous. We are talking about broadcasting immense amounts of power, presumably at some RF frequency, and we know that what happens even at medium-wave frequencies is exactly the operating principle of a microwave oven. Antenna technicians have to be extremely careful when working around live transmitters, and depending on what surrounded the tower it's entirely possible it could have turned the entire property and then some into one gigantic zap zone -- go near something groundable, get cooked on the spot. In fact, I think that's a big part of the reason no one has ever done any serious research into the concept of microwave power satellites -- the downlink beam could easily go off focus and set a fire, or cook a bird or small aircraft even when on target. EVDebs (talk) 08:01, 18 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, Tesla was planning to use a frequency that was somewhere between 6 and 12 Hertz. He chose this because it is the resonant frequency of the Earth-Ionosphere cavity. Tesla's theory was that if he could produce an artificial standing wave to resonate with this cavity, the Earth would be able to carry economical amounts of power to any grounded, resonant coil. He claimed in his Colorado Springs notes that he was able to detect the standing waves made by lightning strikes that were more than 200 miles away from his laboratory; he took this as vindication. --Stilldeciding (talk) 01:31, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

If anyone is interested, I wrote an essay on this topic. Stilldeciding (talk) 23:17, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

death ray
what, exactly, is crazy about wanting to have your own death ray? Gmb (talk) 21:15, 28 June 2010 (UTC)
 * or a big fat gay bomb?  22:16, 28 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Lol it's not crazy to want your own death ray - your only crazy once you think you've figured out how to make it! Stilldeciding (talk) 21:09, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
 * That is exactly what THEY want us to think! Gmb (talk) 17:31, 29 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Well I've got one and I'm not crazy. I've got it with me right now.  I wear it under my trousers, strapped to my thigh with elastic bands so that enemies can't see that I've got it, and it's about the size of a tablespoon and it looks like a tablespoon and also you can use it as a tablespoon.  And sometimes I take it out and point it at people I don't like when they're not looking but it doesn't always work.  So anyway you'd better all be very nice to me or I might come after you with it.  Not crazy.   17:41, 29 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Don`t tesla me, bro! Gmb (talk) 09:36, 30 June 2010 (UTC)
 * LOL. 03:18, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

The photo
I found the photo that is currently being used is very offensive toward Tesla (and other old men). My proposal is to replace it with a free alternative. --212.200.166.32 (talk) 13:24, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
 * You may not be familiar with our snarky point of view. We don't need to flatter the subjects of our articles (alive or dead).  It might be worthwhile to have a photo of the younger Tesla added, but I don't think it has to replace the current photo.  13:39, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

the world's first hydroelection station built there
wat?

Teslas ashes to be stolen by the Serbian Orthodox Church
The plan to remove the urn from the Tesla museum in Belgrade and move it to the Temple of Saint Sava was revealed several weeks ago. The plan was to move it in June or July. People, thankfully, started protesting against that, (fb group) and at the moment it seams that the plan is "frozen", which may mean that they gave up but do not want to admit it, OR it can also mean that they are just waiting for the people to forget and then to do a blitz move after which it will be "too late to move him back" or something like that. Oh, the plan was not to move the urn INTO the Temple because cremation is strictly forbidden in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, instead they want to bury the urn BEHIND the Temple in a hidden park under a Tesla statue...-- Pedja  (speak up, contributions) 16:05, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

What became of this plan?
 * So far so good... he is still in the museum. There was a significant outcry from the scientific community to pause this plan, at least for now... -- Pedja  (speak up, contributions) 13:19, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Tunguska
Would be a good enough source? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 18:11, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Serb or croat?
The other wiki has him as serb. I have no reason to doubt this. Why was someone blocked for changing it to serb? AMassiveGay (talk) 16:55, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * He was born in what is now Croatia and I did not know what WP says about it only that there is a huge conflict about it. And I wanted to show the apparent Serb nationalist (look at his edits) that this kind of shit does not fly here. We have had enough pointless edit wars. Arguing which flavor of Southern Slav Tesla was really has no place here. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 17:26, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * do you even read the bullshit you are reinstating? AMassiveGay (talk) 17:52, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Have a look at the edit history. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 17:55, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * i did. You reinserted bullshit about wp conflict. Did you read it? You happy with that shit in the article? Id remove it again but that would be 'edit warring' AMassiveGay (talk) 18:03, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I wrote that "bullshit". And frankly it is pointless. He was an Austrian citizen until he became a US citizen. He never expressed interest in Serb or Croat nationalism. He was a Southern Slav during a time when the distinction between Serbs and Croats was meaningless another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 18:06, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
 * you didnt seem to mind when it had him as a croat. Why such strident claims of serb nationalism when it was changed to serb? AMassiveGay (talk) 18:15, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

The article still says he was "of Serb origin" & has done so for over a year. I have no idea what is correct but see no reason to suggest that people who debate this issue should "fuck of" & get a life. Why even have articles on science, history, politics or anything if that's your attitude to people who care about the details? 21:57, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Where does it say that? That should be changed. And it's not "people that care about the details", it's "people that get worked up about which nationality some dead person has so we can claim to be the glorious master race". Look, the words Serb and Croat were very close to meaningless at the time of his birth and he died an US citizen. There is nothing less relevant about Tesla than what type of Southern Slav he was. And if the thing about Tesla you care most about is that, you are what is wrong with the Balkans. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 22:05, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * This is an idiotic argument. Putting it back to what it was before fuckery began. --Castaigne2 (talk) 22:49, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Good. I agree that we should put a stamp on it, as they say.-- Pedja  (speak up, contributions) 11:07, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Einstein
Please have a look at Albert Einstein - a case of similarly non-straightforward nationality. There the first sentence does not mention his ethnicity at all. Which is imho what we should do. Alternatively we can have a paragraph titled "ethnic background" or "appeal to Balkan nationalists" or something like that. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 00:51, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * If we mention it at all, we must take extra care and be as accurate as possible. If unsure, simply leave it out. Quite frankly, I don't think it matters. Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, but attended the ETH Zurich, acquired Swiss citizenship then worked at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. After being invited by Max Planck (founder of quantum mechanics) and Walther Nernst (as in Nernst's heat theorem, or the third law of thermodynamics), he accepted a post at the Prussian Academy, though never reclaiming Germany citizenship. After Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany, he immigrated to the United States and became a citizen there. He spent the last two decades of his life in Princeton, New Jersey, working at the Institute of Advanced Study. Nerd271 (talk) 01:00, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * If we mention it at all, we should use . A Serbian-American, born in modern day Croatia. Big whoop. More importantly however, let's all show we're not edit warrior scum for now. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 01:04, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * If we go by the citizenship he held, Tesla was born an Austrian citizen and later was naturalized in the US. He never held Serb, Croat or Yugoslav citizenship as no such thing existed at the time. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 01:15, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Great! Please add that to the article. Cite some credible sources and remove all reasonable doubt. Thanks! Nerd271 (talk) 01:19, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * ...Along with an explanation as to why TOW is somehow in the wrong, despite having an otherwise well-written article on him sporting four entire refs on his Serbian-American nationality. Just saying. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 01:24, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I am not saying the other wiki is wrong, I am just saying that if we want to go by nationality (for which Wikipedia quotes a book source), Serb and Croat are both useless categories. He was born in what is now Croatia to a Serb Orthodox priest and the daughter of another Serb Orthodox priest. But that is irrelevant to what hes says or does. Unless we want to make a whole paragraph just about nationalism around his person. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 17:45, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Lots of RW's articles on people don't even mention nationality at all. In fact, a couple of months ago, I recall the phrase "Lebanese-Australian" (or something like that) being removed from an article about some YouTuber with weird views because because it had nothing to do with the rest of the article. Given that statements about a person's ethnicity do not appear in tons of other RW articles, and that Tesla's ethnicity is totally unrelated to the point of the article, why should this article in particular mention it?--Кřěĵ (ṫåɬк) 10:50, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * My point exactly. another Jewish conspiracy by (((Laurogeita Hamabost)))  (talk) 17:46, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I concur as well. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 17:50, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * I maintain the same opinion. Nerd271 (talk) 17:52, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * maybe if Lau had made that point in first place instead of the ensuing twattishness, we all could have avoided all this nonsense. AMassiveGay (talk) 17:56, 17 August 2016 (UTC)
 * Well... Hindsight is 20/20. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 21:48, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Invention of radio
Tesla is not mentioned in the “history” section Wikipedia’s article about radio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio#History

88.190.182.66 (talk) 05:43, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

See also https://earlyradiohistory.us/tesla.htm

88.190.182.66 (talk) 05:44, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Labeling
Why are you guys so obsessed with labeling? especially the Mental Health section. Labels are just verbal hallucinations that only serve to limit our conception of reality in the long run. Actualrational (talk) 19:34, 10 September 2018 (UTC)

Tesla used to irradiate his own head with x-rays...
Although this sounds facetious, I am completely serious. It is known that, consistent with other types of self-experimentation he performed (it was he who stood among the giant sparks, etc.), Tesla would expose his own head to x-rays from primitive x-ray tubes getting God knows what kind of a dose; we read his descriptions of doing so and he apparently did it for long periods and said that he felt a "pleasant warmth" -- of course dentists and doctors use very short x-ray bursts and I would suggest that he was getting many, literally thousands or perhaps millions of times, the exposure that one receives from a dental x-ray and probably more like something akin to the exposure one receives during gamma-ray therapy for cancer which while intense and protracted is carefully targeted to spare healthy tissue.

But Tesla was sort of bathing his entire head with x-rays believing that they were good for him, maybe the same sort of thinking that led people to drinking radium water.

So: I submit that Tesla sadly damaged his own brain, literally killed neurons, probably a frigging lot of them and I wonder if one can correlate a decline in productivity with the time after he started to use the x-ray apparatus on himself? It is my non-professional understanding (I am not an electrical engineer) that many of his later inventions had technical flaws; in any event, after somewhere in the early 1900s, Tesla started to have financial difficulties, moving into cheaper hotels because he could no longer pay his bills.

He may well have still been brilliant and just got unlucky which happens to many inventors -- too early or misunderstood. But besides his financial troubles, he exhibited extremely bizarre behavior as he grew older -- he lived into his mid 80s but the damage from x-rays might not have affected his overall health.

I can't prove it but I think the effects of radiation on Tesla's cognitive abilities and behavior should be considered.

Serbian Tesla crankery
I'm sure Tesla attracts a lot of Serbian crankery on YouTube. Here are some of titles: "Our Katarina is connected Tesla's device - See what your aura look like", "Nikola Tesla and the earthquake machine | Tesla's invention cause of earthquakes around the globe", "Tesla's UFO: FBI's secret documents"...ASerb (talk) 23:43, 4 March 2023 (UTC)