All posts by Nicholas Gerbis

Electromagnetism, Engineering, Gadgets, Geoscience, History, Materials, Photography, Physics, Science, Technology, Top 10, Weapons

Tesla: A mind to light the world

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Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla

Thomas Edison has long enjoyed the incandescent light of public admiration and textbook domination while Nikola Tesla, the scientist and inventor who pioneered the alternating current that truly powers the modern world, has unjustly languished as a footnote in scientific history. Farsighted, quirky, driven and brilliant, Tesla frequently leapfrogged ahead of his contemporaries to the next step, and the next.

Over the course of his long career, Tesla registered over 111 American patents and around 300 patents worldwide, including radio and alternating current. He designed the Niagara Falls power station that provided electricity to most of the northeastern United States. But his loyalty to his first loves, science and progress, cost him his fame, his fortune and, some argue, his sanity. These are just a few of the …

10 Reasons Why Tesla is a Scientific God

Anthropology, Astronomy, Biochemistry, Genetics, Health, How To, Psychology, Science, Space, Technology, Travel

Defining the “right stuff”

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Astronaut visor reflection
Photo courtesy NASA.

Space travel isn’t all glamor: Body odor and bad breath hang around; food and filth float; emotional pressure builds; weightlessness degrades bone and muscles; the body experiences higher radiation levels; and risks of kidney stones and eye problems mount.

Clearly, astronauts require a pioneering spirit, but near-future space colonists will need more than guts and gusto to thrive en route to, and on, other worlds. What constitutes an ideal astronaut candidate? Should we select space travelers based on genetic risk factors? Could we train colonists from childhood to be better adapted, mentally and physically, to life in space? And would we be willing to go to the extreme of changing what it means to be human?

How to Build a Better Space Explorer

Astronomy, Engineering, Geoscience, Physics, Science, Travel

The world’s best 7,900-mile shortcut

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That's a big hole.
Photo by Rajeev Nair.

From where you currently stand, the farthest you can travel on Earth is about 7,900 miles (12,700 kilometers) straight down. What’s more, were it not for some pesky geophysical realities such as crushing pressure, scorching heat and differential rotation spoiling your fun, you could get there in less than 45 minutes. All you need is a modest tunnel … right?

What would happen if I drilled a tunnel through the center of the Earth and jumped into it?

Consumer, Culture, History, Law

Money: It’s a crime

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$20 billsThe economy being what it is, 99 percent of us are probably not in the position to light our $2 cigars with $50 bills – but could we? Is it within our legal rights to make a statement by tearing up a dollar, or could we be clapped in irons for crushing a zinc penny in a carnival souvenir machine? Reading the answer won’t cost you one red cent.

Is it Legal or Illegal to Destroy U.S. Coins and Paper Money?

Computing, Engineering, Gadgets, History, Internet, Technology

The mouse that roared

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Replica of first computer mouse
Photo courtesy Jrpvaldi.

Before the Internet, before personal computers and before he and William English invented the computer mouse, Doug Engelbart had a vision. It entailed putting a computer in every office, sharing ideas and resources across networks and raising the collective IQ of society through human-computer interactions. That dream drove him to design some of the foundational technologies that drive today’s information society – including a few that might surprise you.

What device did Douglas Engelbart invent?