Nikola Tesla (Part 2)

Last week I started telling you about an inventor named Nikola Tesla, and I told you about an incredible invention he discovered. Now if you remember last week I said that he invented the Alternating Current (AC) electrical system, the first hydro-electric generator at Niagara Falls, X-rays and Radio. Although all of these inventions are still in operation or being used in some way today, the incredible invention that I am about to tell you about was never completed, but would have revolutionised the way in which we use electricity. Basically Nikola discovered a way to magnify electrical energy and to distribute the power wirelessly around the world. Imagine a world where you no longer had power lines connected to every home and the cost of delivering power to a large city would be the same as to deliver power to a shack in the middle of the desert. This is the invention that Nikola Tesla discovered, and not only did he discover it, but he started to build a tower in Long Island (New York State, in the United States of America) between 1901 and 1905. The foundations of this tower still exist today, however the tower was never completed.

Why do you suppose the tower was never complete? It was because the financier of the project realised that there would be no way to measure people's usage of power from the tower, so he could not charge them properly. J. Pierpont Morgan was the financier and his comment regarding the tower and his withdrawal of funding was, "If anyone can draw on the power, where do we put the meter?" So instead of creating a tower that could distribute electricity wirelessly around the globe, we have instead invested billions of dollars in cables being run all around the globe to deliver electricity, which has damaged our environment and I would say cost many more billions in repairs and maintenance just because with this method we are able to measure how much power is used and therefore charge people who use the most power. I think in the long run he would have made millions more distributing power wirelessly regardless of inability to measure people's usage.

If you would like to read more about Nikola Tesla, have a look at his biography on the Tesla Society website, or the original website I viewed to learn about Nikola, The Oat Meal. Learn more about wireless electricity transfer on ncoic.com.

Nikola Tesla (Part 1)

A while ago my friend sent me a website link about a man called Nikola Tesla, he was a Serbian-American inventor who lived from 1856 - 1943. The website outlined many of the great inventions that were attributed to Nikola Tesla, who by the end of his life had registered over 700 patents worldwide. The invention that interested me most was that of the Alternating Current (AC) electrical system. The reason that I find this interesting is because in school I always learnt that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and modern day electricity, however this is in fact incorrect. Thomas Edison developed a light bulb based on other men's inventions and his Direct Current (DC) electrical system which powered this light bulb was weak and inefficient. It was Nikola Tesla who reinvented this system and created the AC electrical system, which is the system that is used to power all the nations around the world today, so in fact Nikola Tesla is actually the inventor of modern day electricity, not Edison. Tesla, after inventing the AC system, went on to develop the first Hydro-electric plant at Niagara Falls.

Nikola Tesla can also be credited with many other modern day inventions which have in fact been credited to other people. Wilhelm Rontgen is credited with inventing the X-Ray, however at the same time that he discovered this, Nikola Tesla was also experimenting with the same X-Ray technology. Although Wilhelm won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for this discovery, it was actually discovered by Nikola prior to his experiments, however Nikola never attempted to claim priority for this invention. Guglielmo Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1909 for his invention of the Radio, however in 1943 the United States Supreme Court ruled that Guglielmo's most important patent was invalid and recognised that Nikola's earlier discoveries regarding radio were more significant and recognised him as the inventor of Radio. This article highlights only a few, although there were many others, of Nikola's significant contributions to electrical science. In particular, there is one more incredible invention that I would like to highlight  however I do not have the space to include it in this blog. To learn what invention he discovered that was so incredible, you will have to check out my blog early next week.

Normally I include further references about a topic, in this case you will find the articles regarding Nikola Tesla on next week's blog, however to learn more about the invention of the light bulb, check out the UnMuseum website.

Waltzing Matilda definition

I was looking at the fact of the month on my desktop calendar and for November it said that the meaning of 'Waltzing Matilda' in German was 'carrying a backpack'. So in fact the tune would go, 'carrying a backpack, carrying a backpack, you'll come a carrying a backpack with me.' I thought this was very interesting, butI didn't quite believe it, so I did a little Google research. It turns out that the phrase 'Waltzing Matilda' was thought to have originated with the German immigrants in Australia and was derived from the German language. However although the definition could be loosely translated to mean 'carrying a backpack', that is a much too simplified definition of the phrase.The definition that I discovered on a few different sites, was that Waltzing was derived from the German term Auf der walz, which means to travel whilst working or learning a trade. The term Matilda has Teutonic origins and means Mighty Battle Maiden. This term was applied to camp followers of armies and a Matilda came to be known as someone who 'keeps you warm at night'. Eventually Matilda was applied to other things that kept you warm at night, such as a coat or blanket. 

So the phrase Waltzing Matilda actually means to travel whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night. I can see why Banjo used the phrase Waltzing Matilda in his song, as the full definition would have really thrown out verses. Sing it with me, 'Traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night, traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night, you'll come a traveling whilst looking for work and carrying something to keep you warm at night with me'. Quite a mouthful, and it really doesn't have the same ring to it as Waltzing Matilda. I can also see why my desktop calendar shortened this definition, although they left out totally the part about traveling whilst looking for work, and I really don't consider that a backpack would keep you warm at night. So to say Waltzing Matilda means 'carrying a backpack' is an incredibly loose translation, but I can see that it would fit better on a desktop calendar than the real definition.

Thailand is a Monarchy

I will admit that I have traveled to many different countries and only upon arriving do I learn what form the political system of that country takes. My recent trip to Thailand was no different, upon arrival in Bangkok and after a checking out some of the sights, I noticed that there was a picture of a man in many different places around the city. I have noticed in my travels that countries which have an elected head of state don't tend to have pictures of the country leader strewn about, generally because they change so regularly that nobody forms a strong enough attachment to any of them that they start to hang pictures of them in the streets. So after seeing all of these pictures I wondered who the person was, I assumed that he was their king, however I wanted to be sure, so did a little Google research and also looked in my guidebook.

I discovered that Thailand is actually a constitutional monarchy, and that this king (I was right they were pictures of the king), Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the longest serving head of state in history, and Thailand's longest reigning monarch. His reign  has lasted over 66 of the 84 years of his life. During his reign there has been 15 coups, 16 different constitutions and 27 changes of Prime Minister. In order to survive that long as the head of state in a county which has had so many different forms of government during his reign, from military regimes to more democratic government systems, he must be a remarkable man. After learning all this information it didn't surprise me that the king was revered and that Bangkok had so many pictures of him hanging in different places around the city. 

If you would like to read more about King Bhumibol, check out Wikipedia.

Australia has thousands of species of flies

I got a sample of printing products the other day and contained in this sample was a small desk calendar which each month has a new fact. This month what I have learnt is that in Australia there are over 6000 different species of flies. This count includes blow flies, fruit flies, house flies and mosquitoes (which are apparently considered a form of fly). My first thought was, wow, how can there be so many different species of the one insect. My second thought was, why would somebody want to catalogue these different types of flies? It was this second thought that drove me to do a little more research on the subject, via Google, and discovered an animal health website which had detailed information on different species of flies (not all 6000, just some of the more common species). 

Aside from the information on some of the more common species of flies, the website informs that there are more effective methods for exterminating each species, depending on their habits and which sites they choose to breed. I guess since we are always looking for more effective ways to kill these pests, that would explain why so much research has been performed and why someone has catalogued that there are 6000 species of flies. I guess my only real concern now, is that since there are so many different species of flies, and we are always on the lookout for was to better exterminate them, that perhaps this might be seen as insect cruelty, and people might create Fly Rights activist groups. The next step is that these groups might lobby the government, first to create an endangered species list of insects, and then try and get different species of flies added to the list. Then it is just small step until I am being arrested in my own home for swatting a fly! Okay, maybe this scenario is a long shot, but if the day comes when you get arrested for swatting a fly, don't tell me I didn't warn you!

If you want to learn more about the different fly species, check out the Bayer Animal Health website.

World record for the longest free-fall

I was reading an article the other day about Felix Baumgartner who recently became the first man to break the speed of sound in free-fall. The jump took place 65 years to the day after Chuck Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier, whereas Chuck was being propelled in a jet, Felix was falling to the ground being propelled only by gravity (what goes up, must come down), which I think is a much scarier thought! Felix ascended to the height of 39km, to the edge of space, in a specially designed helium balloon before making his jump. He reached a top speed of 1342.8km/h and was in free-fall for 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Although Felix broke the sound barrier, and the records for highest manned balloon flight and highest free-fall jump, he did not beat the record for the longest free-fall.

The longest free-fall was actually achieved by Joseph Kittinger who fell for a record of 4 minutes and 36 seconds, 16 seconds longer than Felix Baumgartner. Joseph jumped, in 1962 (50 years before Felix's jump), from a height of approximately 31km above the Earth (8km closer to the Earth then Felix) and only reached speeds of 988km/h (354.8km/h less than Felix). Even though Joseph was in free-fall for a longer period of time, he actually only fell about 27km in free-fall, Felix on the other hand fell an astonishing 36.5km (9.5km longer than Joseph). Joseph spent a longer period of time in free-fall due to the lower speeds at which he fell. However since both Felix and Joseph used a Drogue parachute (a smaller parachute which is deployed to provide control and stability to a free-falling jumper), their free-falls are technically not considered to be genuine. The record for the longest genuine free-fall is thus considered to be held by Eugene Andreev who, in 1962, fell 24.5km (3km less distance than Joseph and 12km less than Felix) from a height of 25.46km above the Earth. As his jump was completed without the assistance of a Drogue parachute, he is considered to hold the world record for the longest free-fall.

If you would like to read the original article, check out The Age online or read about free-falls on Wikipedia.

The first Australian Police Force were originally Convicts

I was recently visiting Perth and whilst there playing cards with my sister and some other relations. The cards that we were using had a different fact on each card. One that interested me the most said that the first Australian Police Force was made up of the most well behaved convicts. I had recently visited Fremantle Prison where I learnt that the convicts that landed in Fremantle had to first build their own prison upon arrival, which I also found fascinating. So with my new found interest in convicts I decided to do a little Google research into the first Australian Police Force. It turns out that the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force was the first Australian Police Force and the cards didn't lie because the members of this force were actually recruited from the ranks of the best behaved convicts. The forces were named the Night Watch and the Row Boat Guard. These forces were created in 1789, however upon further reading, it turns out that although these convicts formed the first force of police in Australia, none of them were considered the first police officer in Australia.

Originally in 1788 the policing of the colony was performed by the Royal Navy Marines, however since this was not a job that they were particularly interested in doing, Governor Arthur Phillip appointed a free settler, John Smith, who performed the role of police constable. Although he performed the role for only a short while, his time as constable did earn him the record of being the first Australian Police Officer. It was after this appointment ended that the Night Watch and the Row Boat Guard were formed. In 1790 the Night Watch was replaced by the Sydney Foot Police (later simply known as the Sydney Police), who remained a separate force until all the NSW colonial police forces were amalgamated in 1862.  The Row Boat Guard were both a separate Water Police force and a part of the Sydney Police, and were the fore runners of what today is known as the Marine Area Command. The NSW Police Force is now one of the largest police organisations in the English Speaking world and it is interesting to know that the seed that they grew from was that of a few well behaved convicts!

Learn more about the NSW Police Force on their website.