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[glossary]


DEATH BEAM—
A charged particle beam projector of fantastic destructive force, which Nikola Tesla claimed to have invented, and which, if put into use, would make war "impossible".

In 1934, at the age of 78, Tesla announced that he had perfected a device which could "destroy anything, men or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles." Tesla discovered the principles that precipitated the invention of the death beam while conducting a series of experiments 35 years earlier in Colorado Springs, Colorado in which Tesla, with the aid of a large copper sphere situated atop a 200-foot pole, generated several bolts of lightning up to 135 feet in length. During the tests, sparks were reported to leap out of several local water faucets as butterflies flew in aimless curlicues, halo'd in blue.

≠ All texte © R. M. O'Brien except where otherwise noted ≠