Those who have studied his work closely proclaim that it would not be much of an overstatement to say he invented the 20th century. Yet most consider Thomas Edison to be America’s greatest inventor.  (He was certainly America’s greatest self-marketing inventor.)

Edison won the Nobel Prize for physics.  Little known is the fact that the award that year held a place for a second name — a name struck from the records. Tesla’s name was removed because he refused to share the billing with Edison.

Tesla felt that Edison had wronged him professionally.  Whether that is true or not, he also considered Edison a trial and error experimenter rather than a true innovator of new principles of science and engineering. That’s a harder argument to dispute.

It was Tesla who invented radio (before Marconi), alternating current (the enabling force behind our entire electrical system), the transistor and a total of approximately 700 other things including, reportedly, a “death ray.”

He even, as I recently confirmed, developed a viable technology for wireless transmission of energy.

My friend, the inventor Jerry Smith, has studied every patent Tesla ever filed and found only one technical error. Jerry has made numerous breakthrough inventions in his own right, including the Transmagnet™ — a third basic type of magnet. Therefore, in my view Tesla’s claim that he had successfully invented a death ray must be taken seriously.

It is a curiosity that this technology never surfaced, and one can only speculate as to the reasons why.  The principles of lasers and the technology for constructing them were not available to Tesla.  Therefore, he must have taken a different approach.

Many have speculated that Tesla’s weapon was a directed plasma beam. Regardless, another approach to the death ray is about to be implemented.  This time, it’s based on lasers.

You may recall the hoopla associated with the Star Wars defense system during the Reagan years. Unfortunately, those efforts never lived up to their promise because of certain pragmatic difficulties.

The megawatts of power needed to generate a laser burst capable of instantly obliterating a target depended on hundreds of gallons of bulky toxic chemicals. Even more daunting, the beams could lose their potency in inclement weather — or a sandstorm.

But now, reports Popular Science, military planners at the Pentagon have concluded that these weapons do indeed have potential even if they’re not yet serviceable as an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) type of deterrent.

They can still be used to take out a mortar, or a tank. In particular, solid-state and free-electron lasers seem capable of delivering the kind of high energy pulses needed without a huge chemical stockpile in tow.

The free electron laser (FEL) relies on an intense stream of electrons to power the beam.

Bob Yamamoto, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has developed a solid-state laser that relies on four-inch blocks of a neodymium-doped ceramic. Just 30 feet long, the machine could fit into a truck and be deployed in the field.

The destruction of an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile depends on megawatts of power.  That’s considerably beyond what either free electron laser or a solid-state laser can achieve at this point. On the other hand, a laser such as Yamamoto’s can be powered up to just 100 kW, and used to heat a mortar from a mile away until its explosives combust, thereby destroying the mortar.

George Neil is focused on free electron laser research at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator.  At just 10 kW, his prototype unit isn’t yet as strong as that of Yamamoto. However, it shows potential of reaching comparable wattage levels.

FEL’s have one major advantage over solid-state lasers, and that’s their tunability.  This means that the laser can be set to the frequency that’s currently appropriate to ambient conditions.

For example, the tuning would be quite different in fog than in a bright sunny day.  This means that this laser has the potential to work in battlefield conditions more effectively than any known alternative.

The US Department of Defense has been supporting Neil’s research to the tune of $14 million a year. They are particularly intrigued with the possibility of naval use whereby these lasers could stop attacks by rockets and small suicide vessels. Based on Neil’s recent successes, the Navy is now committing $180 million for an eight-year development project.

Other agencies and companies, including Northrop Grumman, are pursuing variants on the solid-state laser.  But right now it looks like the free electron light laser is the horse to bet on.

Will death rays someday end the terror of nuclear destruction from the skies? Perhaps.  It’s now possible to envision President Reagan’s Star Wars system fully functional, picking off missiles in flight, one after another.

First, we’ll see deployment of “laser trucks” in the battlefield, both on land and at sea.  As these tools prove to be an effective addition to the military’s armamentarium, research will gain momentum towards the Holy Grail of nuclear missile defense.

Nevertheless, the super laser offers no solution to the greater threat of nuclear weapons smuggling. Even as “Homeland Security” has been touted as a basis for reducing our civil liberties and eviscerating the Constitution, our elected officials have done almost nothing to reduce the threat of nuclear bombs smuggled in through our ports or even airplane cargo bays. (Think about that the next time you’re searched for a penknife.)

Fortunately, technology once again offers a solution where politicians seem to only grasp for power or posture. Transformational Technologies Portfolio holding Nuclear Solutions, Inc. (NSOL: OTC BB) has a patent pending technology that detects shielded nuclear weapons.

The stock has risen 1,000% since I initially recommended it, and I’ll be amazed if investors don’t multiply their money again at least fivefold in the next several years.

To your profitable future,

Jonathan Kolber
April 19, 2006

Finally, the Death Ray? was originally featured in the Penny Sleuth.