9 ms·

Nikola Tesla invention from 100 years ago suddenly makes more sense today

223 points by hirundo 5y ago

Proven 5y ago
It made sense to Tesla then. It may be better "understood by general public today", but it sure as hell wasn't a random, pointless invention 100 years ago.
gallego2007 5y ago
That's pretty cool that it doesn't require any moving parts and manages to reduces the flow to almost a trickle when the direction is reversed.
zelon88 5y ago
The paper itself is quite interesting. [1] They describe using 4 of these Tesla valves in a configuration similar to a bridge rectifier for liquids which would take oscillating flow input and produce a constant output. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23009-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23009-y
Geee 5y ago
Another cool (but useless?) invention is the Tesla turbine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DNKIsdBZc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DNKIsdBZc
- detaro 5y ago
  apparently they see some limited use in reverse, as pumps.
- loarabia 5y ago
  If I recall correctly, these are actually used today but with more viscous fluids like oil and in reverse as a pump.
jcims 5y ago
Integza is a really fun YouTube channel that does a lot of experimentation with a variety of Tesla designs: https://www.youtube.com/c/Integza/search?query=tesla https://www.youtube.com/c/Integza/search?query=tesla
neither_color 5y ago
If you want to get into the mind of Tesla a bit I highly recommend "My Inventions", his sort of autobiography where he described how his mind worked. He spent a lot of time developing his imagination at a young age and "traveling" in his head. I was surprised to read that he would visualize entire designs in his imagination and then go through prototypes and iterations several times before bringing that idea into the physical world. http://www.tfcbooks.com/e-books/my_inventions.pdf http://www.tfcbooks.com/e-books/my_inventions.pdf My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever, the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final product of my brain.
- irrational 5y ago
  This reminds me of Albert Einstein's thought experiments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%27s_thought_experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%27s_thought_experimen...
- totetsu 5y ago
  If this weren't HN someone might attempt to draw a humorous connection between this passage and his reported lack of need of romantic relationships.
  - Judgmentality 5y ago
    Well you brought it up via apophasis instead. Apophasis: the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it (as in "we won't discuss his past crimes")
- ptr2voidStar 5y ago
  Fascinating! Thanks for the book recommendation.
glenngillen 5y ago
My headphones apparently use them as part of the cooling system: https://www.nuraphone.com/backstage/how-the-nuraphone-uses-music-to-cool-your-ears https://www.nuraphone.com/backstage/how-the-nuraphone-uses-m...
- qnm 5y ago
  Was about to write the same thing! I had never heard of a Tesla valve prior to Nuraphone, but it’s a brilliantly simple design that works really well for this case.
- irjustin 5y ago
  Huh that's pretty cool. It's the exact sort of application the tesla valve was designed for. An unpredictable air flow driven by the speaker's diaphragm around the earcup used to cool the silicone.
- mckirk 5y ago
  That's fascinating, I'd never heard of those! I'm still looking for the 'perfect' wireless headphones, so I'll definitely research them some more. How is their sound, in your experience? And is the cooling effect actually noticeable?
  - glenngillen 5y ago
    Despite my extensive headphone collection I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile. They’re good, I think the demo/test they do if you try them in person or after first setting them up is really disingenuous. They’ll tell you is the mid point of all profiles, but it sounds muddy and like no headphones I’ve ever heard. Customise them though and everything sounds amazing. Where it got interesting for me though I’d have a few friends customise and setup their own profiles and they’ll report the same thing. Yet switch between each other’s profiles and you think everyone else’s sounds like trash too. So to me it seems clear the customisation is definitely working and highly personalised. All that said I couldn’t say with confidence I’d immediately notice the difference between them and my Bose QC unless I was switching back and forth and testing them side by side. For daily use I’ve found most headphones in that price range to be great. For long haul flights the Bose still win for me. I find the in ear and over ear combined designed of the Nura to be very uncomfortable after 10hrs. Any shorter time and the Nura are my goto now. I was impressed enough that I recently bought a pair of Nuraloops for running too. I don’t think they’re as well designed. They’re difficult to fit, difficult to keep in, and ultimately I had to get aftermarket Comply ear tips to have them be in any way usable. They’re fine now, but I expect I’ll have to be replacing ear tips monthly at this rate which isn’t what I expect for a product at this price point.
graderjs 5y ago
Because this offers different obstruction levels to different rates of flow and because it works in one direction could it somehow be used to create a version that could operate like Maxwell's demon with particles with a certain temperature rather than a fluid? Temperature being a mscroscopic measure of the microscopic velocities of particles.
- totalZero 5y ago
  Where temperature affects density or viscosity, there would obviously be applications of any technology that changes function as inertia or viscosity are modulated. But I don't think there's anything about this valve that would unlock the key to violating the second law of thermodynamics.
  - graderjs 5y ago
    I also wonder what would happen to light if you made optical fibers in this pattern (or some other way made light flow in the same pattern) It would also be cool to etch like a single-atom-wide version on some substrate and see what would happen with particles you put in there :p ;) xx
- jecel 5y ago
  You might find this device interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube It does take energy to separate the hot and cold air - the incoming mixed air is at a high pressure while the outgoing separated air is at normal pressure.
  - graderjs 5y ago
    Fuck...That is fascinating. Thanks! :p ;)xx
RhodoGSA 5y ago
Tesla always seems to be described as eccentric but his autobiography doesn't read that way at all. If there was one person in history i could sit down and have a beer with it'd be him. I wonder what other inventions/ ideas he discovered and toyed around with whose time has come, but where obscure during his lifetime.
hnarn 5y ago
I saw a video about this a few months ago, might be useful for those that prefer an audio/visual description: https://youtu.be/suIAo0EYwOE https://youtu.be/suIAo0EYwOE
d--b 5y ago
Is there any good reason why this valve is flat rather than cylindrical? I would assume you could multiply these loops in 3D (in a star shape maybe)
- defterGoose 5y ago
  A: it would be much harder to build and would gain you little if anything over just using several of the flat versions in parallel.
hankchinaski 5y ago
i came across tesla valves a few months ago after looking at a this youtube video which explains in details the physics of the flow for this valve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIAo0EYwOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIAo0EYwOE
zackees 5y ago
“The eccentric inventor is known for dabbling with electricity“ Wow

223 points by hirundo 5y ago

It made sense to Tesla then. It may be better "understood by general public today", but it sure as hell wasn't a random, pointless invention 100 years ago.

gallego2007 5y ago

That's pretty cool that it doesn't require any moving parts and manages to reduces the flow to almost a trickle when the direction is reversed.

zelon88 5y ago

The paper itself is quite interesting. [1] They describe using 4 of these Tesla valves in a configuration similar to a bridge rectifier for liquids which would take oscillating flow input and produce a constant output. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23009-y https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23009-y

Geee 5y ago

Another cool (but useless?) invention is the Tesla turbine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DNKIsdBZc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DNKIsdBZc

detaro 5y ago
apparently they see some limited use in reverse, as pumps.
loarabia 5y ago
If I recall correctly, these are actually used today but with more viscous fluids like oil and in reverse as a pump.

jcims 5y ago

Integza is a really fun YouTube channel that does a lot of experimentation with a variety of Tesla designs: https://www.youtube.com/c/Integza/search?query=tesla https://www.youtube.com/c/Integza/search?query=tesla

neither_color 5y ago

If you want to get into the mind of Tesla a bit I highly recommend "My Inventions", his sort of autobiography where he described how his mind worked. He spent a lot of time developing his imagination at a young age and "traveling" in his head. I was surprised to read that he would visualize entire designs in his imagination and then go through prototypes and iterations several times before bringing that idea into the physical world. http://www.tfcbooks.com/e-books/my_inventions.pdf http://www.tfcbooks.com/e-books/my_inventions.pdf My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever, the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final product of my brain.

irrational 5y ago
This reminds me of Albert Einstein's thought experiments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%27s_thought_experiments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein%27s_thought_experimen...
totetsu 5y ago
If this weren't HN someone might attempt to draw a humorous connection between this passage and his reported lack of need of romantic relationships.
- Judgmentality 5y ago
  Well you brought it up via apophasis instead. Apophasis: the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it (as in "we won't discuss his past crimes")
ptr2voidStar 5y ago
Fascinating! Thanks for the book recommendation.

glenngillen 5y ago

My headphones apparently use them as part of the cooling system: https://www.nuraphone.com/backstage/how-the-nuraphone-uses-music-to-cool-your-ears https://www.nuraphone.com/backstage/how-the-nuraphone-uses-m...

qnm 5y ago
Was about to write the same thing! I had never heard of a Tesla valve prior to Nuraphone, but it’s a brilliantly simple design that works really well for this case.
irjustin 5y ago
Huh that's pretty cool. It's the exact sort of application the tesla valve was designed for. An unpredictable air flow driven by the speaker's diaphragm around the earcup used to cool the silicone.
mckirk 5y ago
That's fascinating, I'd never heard of those! I'm still looking for the 'perfect' wireless headphones, so I'll definitely research them some more. How is their sound, in your experience? And is the cooling effect actually noticeable?
- glenngillen 5y ago
  Despite my extensive headphone collection I wouldn’t consider myself an audiophile. They’re good, I think the demo/test they do if you try them in person or after first setting them up is really disingenuous. They’ll tell you is the mid point of all profiles, but it sounds muddy and like no headphones I’ve ever heard. Customise them though and everything sounds amazing. Where it got interesting for me though I’d have a few friends customise and setup their own profiles and they’ll report the same thing. Yet switch between each other’s profiles and you think everyone else’s sounds like trash too. So to me it seems clear the customisation is definitely working and highly personalised. All that said I couldn’t say with confidence I’d immediately notice the difference between them and my Bose QC unless I was switching back and forth and testing them side by side. For daily use I’ve found most headphones in that price range to be great. For long haul flights the Bose still win for me. I find the in ear and over ear combined designed of the Nura to be very uncomfortable after 10hrs. Any shorter time and the Nura are my goto now. I was impressed enough that I recently bought a pair of Nuraloops for running too. I don’t think they’re as well designed. They’re difficult to fit, difficult to keep in, and ultimately I had to get aftermarket Comply ear tips to have them be in any way usable. They’re fine now, but I expect I’ll have to be replacing ear tips monthly at this rate which isn’t what I expect for a product at this price point.

graderjs 5y ago

Because this offers different obstruction levels to different rates of flow and because it works in one direction could it somehow be used to create a version that could operate like Maxwell's demon with particles with a certain temperature rather than a fluid? Temperature being a mscroscopic measure of the microscopic velocities of particles.

totalZero 5y ago
Where temperature affects density or viscosity, there would obviously be applications of any technology that changes function as inertia or viscosity are modulated. But I don't think there's anything about this valve that would unlock the key to violating the second law of thermodynamics.
- graderjs 5y ago
  I also wonder what would happen to light if you made optical fibers in this pattern (or some other way made light flow in the same pattern) It would also be cool to etch like a single-atom-wide version on some substrate and see what would happen with particles you put in there :p ;) xx
jecel 5y ago
You might find this device interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_tube It does take energy to separate the hot and cold air - the incoming mixed air is at a high pressure while the outgoing separated air is at normal pressure.
- graderjs 5y ago
  Fuck...That is fascinating. Thanks! :p ;)xx

RhodoGSA 5y ago

Tesla always seems to be described as eccentric but his autobiography doesn't read that way at all. If there was one person in history i could sit down and have a beer with it'd be him. I wonder what other inventions/ ideas he discovered and toyed around with whose time has come, but where obscure during his lifetime.

hnarn 5y ago

I saw a video about this a few months ago, might be useful for those that prefer an audio/visual description: https://youtu.be/suIAo0EYwOE https://youtu.be/suIAo0EYwOE

d--b 5y ago

Is there any good reason why this valve is flat rather than cylindrical? I would assume you could multiply these loops in 3D (in a star shape maybe)

defterGoose 5y ago
A: it would be much harder to build and would gain you little if anything over just using several of the flat versions in parallel.

hankchinaski 5y ago

i came across tesla valves a few months ago after looking at a this youtube video which explains in details the physics of the flow for this valve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIAo0EYwOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIAo0EYwOE

zackees 5y ago

“The eccentric inventor is known for dabbling with electricity“ Wow