GREAT ADVANCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 163, 12 July 1935, Page 7

GREAT ADVANCES.

Seemingly Incredible Work of

Dr. Nikola Tesla.

SPEED OF COSMIC RAY GAUGED

NEW YORK, July 11

Dr. Nikola Tesla, who is the holder of 700 basic patents, celebrated his 79th birthday by revealing seemingly incredible advances which he is making in the field of electro-physics. lie said that he had completed studies which "knocked the props" from under the theory of relativity.

He had measured the velocity of the cosmic ray from the star Antares, and found it to be 50 times greater than the speed of light—lß6,ooo miles a second —which the relativity proponents contend is the maximum speed in the physical universe.

Dr. Tesla described two electrical inventions, one "an apparatus whereby mechanical energy can be transmitted to any part of the terrestrial globe." He said it had many practical applications as providing a new and unfailing means of communication, and a safe means of guiding ships at sea.

The other invention be described as a new method and apparatus for producing direct current without a commutator, whereby aeroplanes and even lorries and railways could be operated by electric power from a disconnected station.

Cousin to an Auckland resident —Mr. Mandich, of Nikau Street, Kingsland— Dr. Nikola Tesla is a native-born Croatian, or Yugoslav, but is now a naturalised American citizen. He became famous for his invention in 1891 of the Tesla coil, for transmitting current over long distances without danger. He also invented the arc-lamp system of lighting, and discovered the principle of the rotating field for alternating current work, and applied it to motors. Electrical and radio development also owe much to him. He was concerned in the scheme for transmission of power from Niagara Falls. In 1933 he announced his discovery of a principle allowing machinery power to be transmitted from a central plant to any part of the globe, drawing this power from the cosmic energy present everywhere in unlimited quantities.