Tesla "Experiments" on Mark Twain

Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain were great friends.

Twain paid many visits to Tesla's laboratory.

In this photograph from the spring of 1894, high voltage high frequency is being passed through Twain's body to light the lamp. Twain is holding the loop above the resonating coil, and you can see Tesla standing in the background.

Remote Control: In 1893!

The first demonstration of an apparatus for radio transmission and reception was conducted by Tesla in 1893 during a presentation in St. Louis before the National Electric Light Association.

The small radio-controlled boat in the picture (Tesla called it a telautomaton; note the antennas) was first demonstrated to the public in 1898 at New York City's old Madison Square Garden.

A patent with the long title "Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles" (No. 613,809) was granted to Tesla in the same year.

Tesla's two radio-controlled boats were built in the 1897-98 period. While they could withstand submersion, they had a slight positive buoyancy and no diving planes, and thus were not true submarines, as they are sometimes described. These boats were actually surface running torpedoes. The patent shows a detonator in the forward compartment.

They can be considered as the direct predecessor of guided missiles developed during World War 2 by the United States, Germany and Japan, and present day precision guided weapons.

Remote control photo reconnaissance drones, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that are used in hazardous environments, and planetary exploration vehicles such as the Mars rovers Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity all trace their lineage back to these two devices.

The Prestige

In this film, David Bowie plays Tesla. Tesla is hired by a magician to build the ultimate trick. In a way, Tesla does, but not in the way the magician expected. This is a very interesting movie with scenes showing Tesla's power broadcast technology and a reference to Tesla's disputes with Thomas Edison.

Tesla: Inventor of Radio

This blog will explore the accomplishments of Nikola Tesla. He invented radio and remote control and made alternating current a worldwide standard. He also investigated technologies not in common use today such as broadcasting power.