Linking Minds on All Planets, Hope Held by Tesla, Inventor

Nikola Tesla, inventor, dreamer, experimenter, the creations of whose mind are no mean stone in that immense foundation on which the electrical industry rests today, sees the world on the brink of its greatest discovery.

He foresees man lisping through millions of miles of empty space, like a child first learning to talk, and, by means of interplanetary talk, stumbling upon a treasure greater than ever Christopher Columbus found.

That is the treasure of Mars as he sees it, the wisdom of an ancient and advanced civilization.

He thinks life on Mars may be a million or ten million years older than life on earth.

In an interview today Professor Tesla told how he believes the spatial abyss may be crossed. He does not limit communication to Mars. He is not sure that earthlings may not ultimately reach out to planets in other solar systems, linking the human mind with the minds of the universe.

Heretofore aerial wires or conductors of some sort have been erected and used to send out Hertzian vibrations of high frequency. Tesla would use the earth itself for his “aerial conductor.” He sees the earth as a conducting ball in space, surrounded by a perfect insulating medium—i. e., the emptiness of space.

Why have not wireless experimenters been able already to use the earth for the sending out of space vibrations?

Tesla declares it is because they have designed no apparatus of the proper frequency. He says he has determined the oscillation frequency of this earth ball, its natural period of vibration.

By using electricity of high pressure and a frequency which harmonizes with the earth frequency, he holds that the huge terrestrial mass will throw off into space vibrations which travel into the abyss of the universe without loss.

Tesla places this earth frequency at 11.77 vibrations a second.

Setting down his ideas during the interview, he said in part:

“An attempt in this direction is, I believe, just as rational as the building of a New York subway. Indeed I am amazed that, beyond the hysterical interest manifested at the times of opposition, the vast majority of people are indifferent to life in other worlds.

“Matter and force are the same throughout the universe, and it is an unavoidable consequence of physical laws that unorganic matter must run into organic forms, the first impulse being given by heliotropism. The elementary structures become more and more complex in time, and by continuous adjustment to the influences of environment and chemical changes automata of inconceivable complexity result.

“Being of similar construction and actuated by the same external stimuli, they respond in like manner. And the concordance of their actions begets what we term reason and mutual understanding. So, in the course of ages, races of superior intelligence come into being; and the problems of existence being solved, ideal tendencies arise in obedience to the general law of action and reaction.

“This is the stage of development at which human beings find themselves today.”

Mr. Tesla, asked about the means of achieving interplanetary communication, said:

“In this new method I contemplate the application, not so much of energy in large quantities as of great pressure, which can be transmitted through the ether, without loss, to the deepest depths of the universe. The activity attainable is relatively small, but the receiver can collect energy over a vast area. Whereas, if radiations are used, the receiving surface is insignificant.

“In examining the possibilities of this plan of communication significant relations have been found; namely, Mars could be powerfully energized by vibrations of a frequency just suitable for resonant excitation of the earth.

“Twenty-five years ago well-known electrical experts considered my attempt to introduce a comprehensive world system of broadcasting energy for all purposes as a quixotic undertaking, fantastic and absurd. At present nobody wonders at wireless transmission, and, in not so distant a future, planetary signaling will also be accepted as a commonplace.”