Tesla's name and zero-point energy often come up around here. Upon taking time to read what he wrote, I found a potentially substantial, untapped source of energy that his work revealed. I can't say if it's enormous, miniscule, or somewhere in between. I'm not bullshitting you.

What I request: (1) Copy this into whatever is the most appropriate thread. (2) Forward this text to somebody who has a clue about electrical engineering.

I will not post on this subject here again. If you want to see anything come of this, you'll need to do your part in drawing attention to this topic. The following details are not deeply mathematical. They are not religious. They are just observations based on my limited knowledge of physics. Somebody with deeper knowledge will need to take it from here. It's up to you to make that happen.

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In "The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla," which Tesla co-authored with David Childress (ISBN 0932813194 http://archive.is/S2qsl ), Tesla wrote about his experiences in Colorado Springs with "Transmission of Electric Energy Without Wires." This chapter also covers discoveries that subsequently formed the basis for a subsequent patent (US645576) on energy transmission (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower), which does not concern the current discussion at all. (Incidentally, the book also covers some of his more extraordinary patents, such as the deathray.)

The chapter mentions that Testla observed standing waves of electric field that moved along the earth as thunderstorms traversed his region (pp. 222-227). The shell of the ionosphere is known to hold, against the conductive skin of the earth, what are now generally called Schumann Resonances (which, incidentally, are a real thing even apart from New Age "stuff" http://archive.is/vfBLe ). Tesla obtained direct evidence of massive electric fields also consisting of similar resonances, apparently powered by the thunderstorms in his region. Lightning strikes are one source of energy captured in Schumann resonances, but certainly not the only one. This led him toward ideas about energy transmission (see patent above)

However, transmission is not what I'm writing about. I'm talking about energy harvesting rather than transmission.

What is most striking is that the electric fields detected by Tesla were non-trivial in magnitude even very far away from the actual locations of the lightning strikes (up to 300km!) They also were far larger than the ambient electrical fields in the absence of specific thunderstorms (i.e., larger than Schumann resonance fields). It was as if the atmosphere was filled with fields significantly larger than standing Schumann resonances, yet similar in structure and somehow driven to the thunderstorms.

What can we say about this? Whenever a standing wave appears within a region, it creates an energy density. This energy density is in some ways similar to the standing photon waves possible in any empty conductive cavity, which lead to what is commonly referred to as "zero-point energy." But the energy that could be harvested from these standing waves from space itself via the Casimir effect is quite a bit smaller than what Tesla appears to have reported.

We are thus left with a number of questions, which somebody knowledgeable in electrical engineering might be able to answer…

1. What is the energy density of the Schumann Resonances, eg in Joules per cubic meter?

1. Does the energy density of the atmosphere increase in regions around thunderstorms and, if so, then by how much and to what radius?

1. What is the frequency-space power spectrum for standing waves in these energetic regions of the atmosphere?

1. To what extent is this power spectrum stable enough, both in frequency and over time, to be harvested via antennae?

Finally, a few comments about the plausibility of harvesting standing electrical waves from the atmosphere as a means of generating electricity.

a) If it is plausible to harvest large amounts of electrical energy from the atmosphere in regions with many thunderstorms, then it should be possible to harvest small amounts using small antennae even in regions without thunderstorms. The practicality–and even the commercial potential–for this has already in fact been demonstrated. http://archive.is/M5bsx http://archive.is/vM88J http://archive.is/wNNdm

b) If energy-harvesting were to be initiated by coupling an inductive load to the atmosphere, such as to harvest energy from the atmosphere in the region of thunderstorms, then one would expect the power spectra of Schumann resonances to measureably shift because both Tesla's standing waves as well as Schumann waves occupy the same electromagnetic cavity–so coupling to the cavity for collecting energy from one set of waves would necessarily also couple to the other set of waves. Such a shift has, in fact, been reported of late. It is thus conceivable that somebody already has begun experimenting on a means of coupling to Schumann resonances. http://archive.is/bxm3z

c) Any energy-harvesting circuit coupled to the atmosphere would, likely, not be perfectly tuned to the frequency of the standing waves. Thus, the power drawn out of the atmosphere would vary with time. This varying draw would induce oscillations on the ions of the air which, in turn, would oscillate in their collisions with non-ionized molecules of the air–i.e., create sound. Due to its origin as the difference in frequencies between driving waves and receiving circuits, this sound would manifest as beats. Or, given the nature of the driving waves, the sound might be at or around 196Hz–the cavity resonance frequency of the atmosphere in terms of the physical/auditory waves, rather than electromagnetic waves. http://archive.is/vfBLe From an audible standpoint, depending on the timbre of the beats, this might sound like a large, deep brass instrument or massive humming in the sky. In fact, such hums have been recorded. http://archive.is/5aGES

d) Closing or opening on an energy-harvesting circuit, particular a distributed one where energy from the sky strikes the circuit over a large region (i.e., spanning many kilometers) could generate a significant DC shift in the atmosphere, relative to adjoining regions. This would shove charged particles near to the region toward or away from the circuit–generating a massive "boom" heard throughout the electrically-affected region. Such booms have been reported. http://archive.is/UD4he

e) Finally, somebody calling himself "Rofschild" said Tesla was the "real deal." No convincing evidence was presented that the speaker was a Rothschild, but he did demonstrate exceptional levels of knowledge about a huge range of political, philosophical, social, and biological topics. Tesla was of such interest to this "Rofschild" and other discussants that Tesla is mentioned by name 106 times. Given the other notes above, isn't it time that the electrical engineers among us returned to Tesla's work and looked for new ways to adapt and apply his insights? http://archive.is/qERv5