Massive Tesla Tower Suddenly Appears in Field Outside Waco, TX
Drivers traveling east along the I-35 corridor between Waco and Dallas have been intrigued by a tall, oddly shaped tower looming in the middle of a field in the small town of Milford, TX. For many, the tower is a confounding sight, but those familiar with the work of Nikola Tesla have been quick to point out that the lone pylon looks strikingly similar to a Tesla Tower.
Though construction began almost two years ago, it wasn’t for at least a year until the tower began to draw attention from local news outlets and various corners of the internet.
But now that the company behind the project has been uncovered and some of the project’s goals have been elucidated, much of the speculation has been confirmed; the tower is in fact based on the same idea behind Tesla’s Wardenclyffe Tower constructed on Long Island.
The precise electrical mechanism behind it however, is known as Zenneck surface wave technology, named after electrical engineer Jonathon Zenneck, who discovered that low-frequency electrical waves could be transmitted and received through the curvature of the Earth, to and from a singular location.
Based on the titles and affiliations of those involved in the project, it’s unclear whether this tower will be used to realize Tesla’s dream of transmitting free energy to everyone in the world – if it’s even possible – however, the company behind it claims it intends to bring energy to rural parts of the world that currently have trouble accessing energy efficiently.
That company is Viziv Technologies and it has partnered with Baylor University in developing methods of wireless electricity distribution over long distances. It also says it plans to develop the technology to transmit navigation and sensing signals for GPS and various communication technologies.
“Currently about 17 percent of the world’s population have no access to electrical power, and for many more people, availability is spotty and unreliable,” Truell Hyde, Baylor’s Vice Provost for Research, said in a press release. “This technology has the potential to raise the standard of living for people around the world. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of something like that?”
With over $50 million in funding from investors, in addition to its university partnership, this may be the first time the technology has had significant investment since Tesla built Wardenclyffe in 1906. Let’s just hope the private interest from those investments doesn’t lead to its demise, like it did for Tesla in 1917.
For more on the Wardenclyffe Tower and the legacy of Nikola Tesla, check out this biopic Free Energy of Tesla :
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Did Nikola Tesla Leave Us a Key to Free Energy?
We have many reasons to thank Nikola Tesla when it comes to modern technology, but had capitalistic greed not stood in his way, Tesla’s contributions to society could have gone significantly further. Despite his mental breakdowns later in life, likely caused by detractors and capitalists who refuted his utopian visions for society, Tesla created a plethora of inventions, with the goal of transmitting energy to the world at little to no cost.
While Tesla is known for his advancements in AC power, radio transmission, and induction motors, there is one vision of his that hasn’t fully come to fruition, and that is the wireless transfer of energy en masse. While the Tesla coil is commonly recognized and found at most science museums, the basis of the technology behind it is still in its nascency for practical use.
Over the past decade, wireless technology has become a feasible technological product, but its scale has yet to reach the level at which Tesla originally envisioned. While some companies used the concept to create wireless charging devices for cell phones and small electronic devices, Tesla’s original intent was to provide a wireless network of power for anyone in the world to tap into.
