A few weeks ago we wondered if 5G connectivity, which is revolutionizing the telecommunications sector, and which has been available for just over a year, could make the possibility of enjoying a network a reality in the not too distant future. wireless electricity . Something that, in fact, Nikola Tesla already dreamed of more than a century ago.
Born on July 10, 1856, of Serbian descent, Nikola Tesla was an electrical and mechanical engineer , as well as a physicist . He is considered one of the most prolific inventors ever known, since he registered more than 900 patents , not to mention many of the works that he never patented and many others that ended up being usurped by other authors.
From an illiterate mother, but intelligent and with great power for invention, and an Orthodox priest father, from a very young age he proved to be able to carry out very complicated calculations in his head , which normally require calculation tables. In addition, he was very good at learning new languages , and he had a sensational visual memory . In fact, he had the ability to represent a machine with such precision that he could also reproduce its operation.
Thus, in 1875 he entered the Polytechnic School of Graz, in Austria. At that time he already dreamed of creating a flying machine. Soon after, when he studied Gramme’s dynamo, sometimes working as a generator and sometimes as a motor in the direction of the current, he already imagined the advantages that could be derived from alternating current.
But it was not until 1896 when he developed a hydroelectric system capable of converting the energy from Niagara Falls into electricity, thereby boosting the different industries of the city of Buffalo. The generators were manufactured by the Westinghouse Company in strict accordance with Tesla patents.
But what other Tesla inventions were so important that we still use them today?
Radio
Although the credit for this invention goes to Guglielmo Marconi , did you know that many historians consider Tesla to be the original inventor of the radio ? There is some evidence that Tesla presented his version in 1893 to the National Electric Light Association, later patenting it in 1897.
However, in 1904 the patent office decided to change its decision in favor of the Italian, who possibly obtained the necessary financing from the hand of Thomas Alva Edison and Andrew Carnegie.
X-rays
The invention of X-rays is officially credited to the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen , but Tesla’s contributions were simply fundamental.
In fact, a decade before its invention, Tesla developed different investigations into the field of electromagnetism, realizing how important it was to consider the dangers inherent in the use of ionizing radiation.
Alternating current
At the Chicago World’s Fair, held in 1893, Tesla and Edison presented two ways of producing and distributing electricity .
Thus, while the direct current proposed by Edison was expensive and, furthermore, its production was also dangerous, the Tesla method proved that alternating current was considerably safer .
Electric motor
Curiously, we would find ourselves before one of Tesla’s inventions that, in recent years, has been popularized by Tesla, the popular vehicle brand. It is a motor with magnetic fields that rotate to produce energy .
However, with the crisis of the 1930s, and later World War II, the invention was forgotten at least for use in vehicles, but this invention is used in different machines, such as the water pumps, wrist watches, compressors and industrial fans.
Wireless telecommunications
Tesla demonstrated that the transfer of electrical energy wirelessly was possible by using a series of phosphor bulbs , a process that he christened electrodynamic induction .
The inventor, in fact, was convinced that, one day, this technology would offer the possibility of allowing the transfer of energy.
Neon lamps
Although Tesla did not discover fluorescent and neon lights, it did make many contributions to the advancement of both. What’s more, he came to see an opportunity and experimented with the passage of electrical particles through gases, developing four different types of illumination.
For example, he was able to convert black light into visible light using a substance with phosphorescent qualities created by himself. And he also found a practical use for such technology when he created neon lamps and signs .
Since then, the idea has gained popularity and today we continue to use neon lights and billboards that, for example, illuminate some of the world’s major cities.
