On Light, Electricity and the Future!

by Jack

“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” Nicola Tesla

tesla-2In the beginning of the 20th century Nicola Tesla (1) was a well established inventor with most of his research focusing on what we could do with electricity.

By 1879 Edison had invented the electric light bulb and this one invention created a huge demand for electrified homes and commercial buildings around the world.  Previous we relied on gas lamps and oil lamps, so this was a quantum leap for mankind.

Tesla and Edison saw the need for power companies with electrical generators that could transfer electricity over long distances.  But, they disagreed on which form electrical transmission should take, AC or DC and winner was going to reap millions.

Tesla won with AC generation and of course today AC (alternating current) is the standard used around world.

In the early stage, electrical transmission was done via neighborhood generators, this was both expensive and inefficient.   Electrical wiring also had it’s drawbacks and still does, with regular maintenance needed to power lines and poles.   So, Tesla began looking for a way to transmit electricity over long distances and without the use of wires!  That would have been an advancement far exceeding Edison’s light bulb.

Early tests proved Tesla was able to send electricity up to 1/8th mile without the use of wire, which is more than we can today.   His idea was to eventually provide homes with virtually free electric energy, however his financial backers discovered his true intentions of giving away electricity, they backed out.   Not a lot is known about this particular Tesla experiment and it appears the secret of transmitting electricity without wires died with him or did it?

Modern physics has come a long way since Tesla’s time and what we’ve discovered says Tesla might have been on to something big!  Today, we know that light is an electro-magnetic field and that electricity can be affected by light, thus there exists at least at the sub-atomic level, a light/electricity commonality.  Actually, a physicist by the name of Max Planck demonstrated this when proved he could knock electrons off a polarized copper sheet using nothing but ultraviolet light.tesla_colorado_adjusted_slideshow

Why is this important, you may wonder?  Because it is the first known  manipulation electrons by light and Tesla was trying to direct electricity much like a beam of light!

Was Tesla aware that it is possible to manipulate electrons using a certain frequency of light, as Planck demonstrated?  And if so, could he have known that by concentrating light, much like a laser, we could create a sort of carrier wave for the transmission of electrons?

My theory is, yes and yes, Tesla was on to it and it may have come from Planck’s experiments.   Now, had he perfected his idea it would have advanced civilization by 200 years or more.  Then again, he might has sent us back to the stone age if his theory was used to develop electrified light beam weapons.   Imagine, being able to focus a laser onto a target and then zap it with electrons (like artificial lightening bolt).    There would be no defense to such a weapon.  Potentially, you could slice a missile or plane in cleanly in half faster than a plasma cutter could punch a hole thru butter.

Hollywood had the idea, but they lacked the theoretical foundation to understand how close they really were.  They just knew it looked cool to arm spacemen with light guns!  Oddly, this fantasy is turning into a reality, much like the Jules Vern stories about space travel.

electric_energyI believe in the years to come, we will see electricity transmitted without wires and possibly inside a light beam.  If that happens, I imagine it would be nearly invisible.  it would be a sort of virtual tube to contain the flow of electrons from point A to point B. Exactly what that light might be (what spectrum it may be) or what frequency would be needed to contain the flow is something for future scientists to determine.   But, it is interesting to think about.

In order to appreciate what was just said above, you might like to mull over these questions.  The answers are out here:

Q.  What is the similarity between light and electricity?    (We know they are both forms of kinetic energy, but what else?)

Q. What’s the difference between a photon and an electron?

Q.  Does light have a frequency?

Q.  Does electricity have a frequency?

Q.  Is electricity a wave or a particle, how about light, wave or particle?

Q.  Why does ultraviolet light move electrons, but infrared light does not?

  1. Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Born: July 10, 1856, Smiljan, Croatia   Died: January 7, 1943, Wyndham New Yorker Hotel, New York City, NY. Education: Graz University of Technology (1875-1878), Gymnasium Karlovac (1870-1873)
  2. http://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/scientists_planck.html

Other Sources: Boundless. “Planck’s Quantum Theory.” Boundless Chemistry Boundless, 08 Aug. 2016. Retrieved 23 Dec. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-textbook/introduction-to-quantum-theory-7/the-nature-of-light-63/planck-s-quantum-theory-296-7514/

 

 

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4 Responses to On Light, Electricity and the Future!

  1. Tina says:

    I’m a complete dummy so forgive the question but isn’t that what fiber optics ido?

    • Post Scripts says:

      Tina, fiber optics can only transmit light. They have no electrical component, but they do transmit data over great distances extremely fast with very low energy usage. When it comes to large data files like video transmission, fiber optics are the bees knees! In my article, I’m proposing using a concentrated light, (such ultra violet) that will act like a containment barrier for electrons so they can be herded in one narrow direction over a given distance with virtually no impedance. Impedance being resistance that causes energy to be siphoned off the further it travels on an electric wire. For example, lets say you could string a copper wire from here to the moon and you sent a current of 120 volts from the earth to me sitting on the moon. Chances are by the time the voltage arrives it would be just a single volt or two…that is how impedance works. The electrical industry is always looking for a more efficient way to move electricity and that means some day copper wire will be obsolete, its inevitable. Wire is cumbersome, costly and requires regular maintenance, whereas light transmission involves none of those things. Tesla was working on a way to move electricity great distances without wire and his early field tests indicate he succeeded. Upon his death, all his notes were seized by unknown person/s and to this day we have no idea how he managed it.

  2. Tina says:

    Unrelated but Jack, this one’s for you.

    This is a can of worms that will come back to bite them. Imagine the national parks as permanent homeless camps!

  3. Chesterfield says:

    Yes, Tesla was an off the charts, incredible man light years ahead of everyone else of his era….but…

    Mr. Jack and the rest of you people,

    To liberals could there be a more annoying, irritating, grating, bombastic, offensive, politically incorrect, detestable…(an endless list of adjectives go here)…candidate for president than Trump?

    He is so over the top liberals could do nothing but dismiss him as a joke yet he routed their beloved Hildabeast. (Didn’t Chrisbert tell you Trump had no chance?)

    And now we have triggered snowflakes petting ponies in cry rooms. (Suck it up, buttercups.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grD_IINiH9c

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXpi3F0E5ro

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtJvYdX4GKM

    Could this election have been more entertaining or funny?

    Doesn’t God have an incredible sense of humor?

    Make America great again? I think God wanted to make America laugh again, first.

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