Why hasn't anyone built that tower Nikola Tesla was building?

Question

Is it because we don't understand his technology, or couldn't anyone bother?

Answer 1

What tower are you talking about? Tesla was an intelligent man but many of his ideas don't work as well as you'd hope. The end doesn't justify the means.

If you're talking about wireless transmission of electricity that is your answer. Darpa has/may still be worked on this and has not came up with a viable result.

Answer 2

I am assuming that you are referring to his tower at Wardyncliffe in Shoreham, Long Island. The building of the tower was cancelled due to budget cuts (finishing the tower would have cost millions back then.)

It is probably a good thing that it was cancelled, too, because he would have died before its completion, leaving no record of how to safely work the thing. The tower was essentially a giant Tesla coil, designed to transmit power wirelessly via EM waves. One of the safety hazards of Tesla coils is that they create such a large electric feild around them due to this that any grounded object anywhere near the tower would get shocked, even if it was not struck directly by a spark from the machine. The electric feild would also consume a remarkable amount of power, and it would jam all radio signals within 50 miles.

Because of the aforementioned flaws, recreating such a device would be too costly and dangerous in todays world, especially considering all the electrical devices that could be interfered with by the tower, such as pacemakers, communication equipment, navigation on passing planes, and so on. The FCC even has a ban on the size tesla coil that you can legally build because of these problems.

I am sure that if Tesla had recorded all of his thoughts, he would have ways around all of these problems. But, sadly, his attempt at wireless power was eventually quelled by the forces of cost-effectiveness. He died, penniless and alone, in New York, leaving behind only his beloved pigeons.

Answer 3

I am also a 'student' of Nikola Tesla's work. He is responsible for much of our electronic technology. If I had to guess why no one has tried to rebuild any/many of his experiments, it would be that he took most of the ideas with him to the grave. Along with his ideas, he also took with him any of the 'safeguards' that would have been in his head. Some, if not all, of his experiments were potentially very deadly. One of his structures was even ordered to be demolished/decommissioned by the U.S. Govt.
Another guess of mine why no one has tried to build another tower- maybe the majority of the scientists believe the technology is outdated. Maybe someone has built a tower, and hasn't told the rest of us. I read that Nikola Tesla never filed for a Patent for any of his inventions, and died a poor man.
I think you answered your own question.
He did come up with a plan to build many towers to harness the power of the earth's magnetic field, and convert it into electricity. I don't know if he, or anyone, ever built any of them. GOOD QUESTION!

Answer 4

A team at MIT has recently turned Wireless Electricity into reality.

Tesla also said it was possible to control weather, the US and the Soviets built such systems during the Cold War. For more, Google HAARP.