The Mechanical Tesla

• Nikola Tesla's Disk Turbine
  A review of existing engine types followed by a description of the Tesla Disk Turbine. Instructions for fabricating a disk turbine rotor assembly are given. Also included are comments on advanced high temperature resistant materials.

• A New Advance in Tesla Turbine Theory
  Narrowing the Tesla turbine's slot shaped nozzle may eliminated requirement for complex labyrinth seals.

• A Boundary Layer Breakthrough
  Three important aspects of turbine rotor design are reviewed—through bolts, star washers and rotor end-seals.

• Is There a Turbine In Your Future?
  A short description of the Tesla Disk Turbine.

The Electrical Tesla

Wireless:

• Nikola Tesla — The True Father of Radio
  Nikola Tesla's principle contribution to the early history of wireless communications was his improvement of existing radio frequency current sources and primitive receivers through the introduction of coupled tuned circuits. By 1903, there were 10 U.S. patents covering his inventions in these areas. In 1904 Marconi also obtained a wireless patent. In 1943 a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Marconi patent because the fundamental radio circuit had been anticipated by Tesla. The following definition of radio was developed as a result of this case: A radio communication system requires two tuned circuits each at the transmitter and receiver, all four tuned to the same frequency.

• Tesla Coils & The World System — Nikola Tesla's Engineering Legacy
  Around the turn of the century, Nikola Tesla concluded a decade-long series of experiments in the area of wireless transmission, leading toward the construction of a prototype global communications facility on eastern Long Island, N.Y. His investigations centered around an electrical oscillator developed for the production of high voltage, high frequency AC known as the "Tesla Coil." This article gives a general description of the classic Tesla coil oscillator, along with that of an advanced form of Tesla oscillator called the magnifying transmitter which is specifically designed for wireless transmission. A comparison of present day radio transmitters and Tesla's transmitter is also provided.

• The Wireless Transmission of Electrical Power
  Nikola Tesla made numerous statements regarding the wireless transmission of electricity. His first efforts towards this end were simply to use electrical energy to produce an effect locally and detect it at a distance. A high power transmitter was developed, and one of these was used in Colorado to demonstrate wireless power transmission on a small scale. This success led him to construct an more powerful transmitter back in New York. While never completed, Tesla believed his system for global communications would have been able to provide small but usable quantities of electrical power at its receivers. He predicted an expanded system would have allowed for the wireless transmission of industrial amounts of electrical power.

• Tesla's Colorado Springs Lightning Observations
  During Tesla's 1899 experiments he observed an unusual natural radio phenomenon associated with an intense thunderstorm which passed close by his Colorado Springs lab. Periodic variations in signal strength at his receiver correlated with the distance of the moving storm. A plausible physical model presented by James Corum in 1994 is given to explain these observations.

• Regeneration Revisited
  The feedback loop that Tesla used in some of his 1899 wireless receivers to increase front-end sensitivity may be viewed as anticipating the regenerative receiver circuit. A modern IC-based version of the regenerative circuit patented by John Sutton is also provided.

• Rediscovering the Zenneck Surface Wave
  The power radiated by a conventional dipole antenna falls off in proportion to the inverse square of the distance from the antenna. A helical resonator, such as that which comprised the transmitting element of Tesla's magnifying transmitter, excites a wave which does not spread like radiation, but is concentrated near earth's surface.
  

AC Power:

• The Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant — An 1898 Milestone in Electric Power Generation
  Nikola Tesla's AC power system made possible the harnessing of remote waterfalls and the long distance transmission of their energy to metropolitan centers. The first commercial generating plant, put online in 1895, was located at Niagara Falls, N.Y. In 1898 the Snoqualmie Falls power plant was constructed with its generators housed completely below ground, an entirely new construction mode.

• Niagara Falls 1996 Centenial
  The first commercial use of AC power took place on April 20, 1895.

• 26 Mile Power Transmission Account
  Could J.J. O'Neill's story of 26 mile wireless power transmission have been a garbled account of AC power transmission between Niagara Falls and Buffalo?

• Tesla's "Egg of Columbus"
  1993 was the 100th anniversary of Tesla's public demonstration of the rotating magnetic field concept at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was also the 50th year anniversary of Tesla's death on January 7, 1943.

The Essential Tesla

The Man:

• Nikola Tesla — A Man of Comprehensive Solutions
  A biography of Nikola Tesla describing some of his more significant inventions.

Wardenclyffe:

• A Museum at Wardenclyffe: The Creation of a Monument to Nikola Tesla
  Nikola Tesla made significant contributions to twentieth century technology. In 1901 he started a building to house a world communications facility. Unlike conventional transmitters which radiate energy as electromagnetic waves, Tesla's transmitter would have excited a surface wave mode allowing transmission by earth currents. The apparatus was not completed due to financial difficulties. In 1915 the property was lost. Between 1939 and 1987 the building was used for industrial purposes. The complex is now being decommissioned. If the property is acquired the building will be rehabilitated and it will again have a fitting use through establishment of the Nikola Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

• New Life for an Historic Landmark
  A letter writing campaign calling for the preservation of Nikola Tesla's historic laboratory building in Shoreham, New York is suggested.

• Tesla Wardenclyffe Project Update
  Nikola Tesla contributed much to 21st century life as we know it. A major reminder of his engineering legacy still exists on the north shore of Long Island, New York. Efforts have begun to assure the preservation of this important historical landmark and to establish a world class learning facility to be called the Nikola Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

• Wardenclyffe Property Update
  In 1901 Nikola Tesla began construction of a large global telecommunications facility. In 1917 a foreclosure took place and the property changed hands. In 1994 it became apparent the latest owners were contemplating divestment of the property. In light of this opportunity to assist in the aquisition of the Tesla laboratory, the Tesla Wardenclyffe Project, Inc. filed Articles of Incorporation on June 19, 1995.
  

The Myth:

• A Blast from the Past
  Nikola Tesla claimed that a Wardenclyffe type transmitter could be used to wirelessly project explosive energy. It has been suggested that he might have been responsible for a destructive 1908 explosion which took place in central Siberia.

• Dealing With Unwanted Nuclear Material
  A theory has been offered that suggests a solution to the problem of stockpiled nuclear material from disassembled warheads. It requires the definition of a new class of nuclear interactions that would allow for the controlled transmutation of radioactive nuclei to an inert form.