Tesla: Signals. Rivals. Ruin.Episode 151:54
The Signal We Never Confirmed
Tesla's three taps remain unexplained, but his preserved work reveals why the world never stopped listening.
Watch it in the appThis episode needs All Access, from $4.99 a week.
Transcript
Three taps came from Tesla’s receiver on a Colorado hillside.
In 1899, Tesla conducted electrical experiments at Colorado Springs.
A Richmond Times account described three taps from Tesla’s receiver.
The Richmond Times account described Tesla sitting beside that instrument.
In 1901, Tesla claimed the radio communications came from Mars.
The Mars claim was broadly reported in the press.
Scientists showed little serious interest, and no other-world signal was found.
The uncertainty sits beside documented work: Tesla’s usable alternating-current motor appeared in 1888.
Alternating-current generators were demonstrated at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair.
He designed Niagara’s first hydroelectric plant, then demonstrated a remote-controlled boat in 1898.
Wardenclyffe was completed in 1902, then lost after Tesla’s financial problems.
Tesla maintained a very private personal life; his correspondence collection includes letters and postcards.
In 1915, Tesla described circuits designed to resist static and nearby lightning.
In 1915, Tesla said his patented circuits could separate signals from interference.
By the 1930s and 1940s, radio became an invaluable tool for observing the heavens.
In the 1960s, Frank Drake and Carl Sagan began searching for intelligent-life signals.
Carl Sagan called the Voyager Golden Record a cosmic greeting card; each record holds 90 minutes of music.
The National Archives holds Tesla’s patent drawing for an electric motor.
Tesla's claim left a question later science kept asking: could radio reveal life beyond Earth?
Sources
- Messages to and from Outer Spaceloc.govsecondary
- Sample text for Library of Congress control number 2001037808catdir.loc.govsecondary
- Introduction - Nikola Tesla: Topics in Chronicling America - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- archives.nypl.org -- Nikola Tesla lettersarchives.nypl.orgsecondary
- Nikola Tesla Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900 (PDF) (PDF)pdfroom.comsecondary
- Correspondence – Nikola Tesla Museumtesla-museum.orgsecondary
- Nikola Tesla Sees a Wireless Vision - New York Times, Sunday - October 3, 1915 - Open Tesla Researchteslaresearch.jimdofree.comprimary
- Utility Patent Drawings – The Unwritten Recordunwritten-record.blogs.archives.govsecondary
The whole series is in the app.
Download on the App StoreAll Access is $4.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The annual plan starts with three days free.