

Episode 60: Earthquake Machine, Exploding Lava Lamp

    • canned meat (spam): probably non-lethal


Tesla's Earthquake Machine

Myth: Nicola Tesla invented a working earthquake machine







Prototype 1


Prototype 2: Mechanical springs


Wave tank


Prototype 3: air-powered autotool


Prototype 4: Grant's electromagnetic linear motor


1/6 scale test


Bridge Test






Exploding Lava Lamp





  • lava lamp bottle
  • portable stove
  • ballistics gel chest positioned close to the stove

Test 1: safety-cap-style lava lamp


Test 2: bottle-cap-style lava lamp


Test 3: securely fastened bottle top








I was wondering if the machine would have done more if it had been placed somewhere different. Such as a beam that supported the base of the bridge.

What company made the "electromagnetic linear motor"?

So what are the chances that the bridge colaspe was some one trying to duplicate the Tesla experiment using more weight??

Well here is a hypothesis, resonating frequency according to Tesla, "vibrations could destroy anything" could it be possible that the horrible tragedy in Minnesota, could have been a combination of the vehicle traffic as well as the construction crews working on the bridge with jack hammers. Could somehow the frequency of the structure "bridge" was met and due to this action caused a chain reaction and basically the bridge destroyed itself, I know sounds kinda crazy but look at 2 episodes of Mythbusters to which they demonstrated that it was potentially possible. 1. Break step Bridge and 2. Earthquake machine. and read some of Nikola Tesla's publishings.

The Mythbusters should have replicated the design. There is a book that details on how to do so, called "Tesla's Earthquake Machine."

With regards to Tesla's earthquake machine, Mythbusters cannot replicate it because they cannot replicate the genius that was Tesla.

Not saying that Tesla did create an earthquake device, but I'd like to say that Adam and Jamie are far more intelligent than I am. However, as much as they know I am sure that Tesla dwarfs there scientific prowess. What the Mythbusters did was test their own creations and that's where the busted verdict came from not Tesla's device.

Yeah, I'm at the very least a year late to this topic. Probably no one will even read this, and that may not be a bad thing. Regardless, has anyone bothered to go back and study HOW Adam and Jamie LOOKED when they declared the Earthquake Machine busted when compared to things that were most definitely, without shadow of doubt, busted?

I've only recently started regularly watching Mythbusters, as it's available on demand via Netflix, but the first thing I noticed on this particular episode was that they both appear to have lied. In fact, Jamie, even as unshakeable as he normally seems, did a lot of shrugging and minimising of the results. This, as well as how they decided to shift from the actual topic over to pseudo-speculations about Tesla's inspiration of Mark Twain and other pointless noninformation (a common tactic used by politicians and PR persons to obscure the actual facts), has led me to my conclusion. It seems to me that they had a different opinion, perhaps plausible, but for whatever reason, (maybe a social liability clause or some other such thing in their contracts with Discovery,) they decided to halt the experiment after what wasn't even deemed a full hour before declaring the whole concept busted.

I also think it's interesting that they chose a bridge for this experiment. It seems to me that they could've done better had they stuck to the scale constructions. Bridges are designed with conflicts in frequency to avoid just such an occurrence.

Seriously, through, at first I thought it was kind'a strange how something with "unexpected" and "spooky" results would be declared busted simply because they didn't achieve a full-blown earthquake on such a large scale in what amounted to less than a full hour. But when I saw the conclusion, with their personal mannerisms and all the distracting and irrelevant details thrown in, I immediately noticed that they didn't seem to possess as firm a conviction as they do when busting a myth that was totally, undeniably obliterated.

Great episode, especially interesting to me as I had had a lava lamp explode three feet from me on a desk. Sounded like a bomb, glass shards flew by my ear, and very hot "lava" went everywhere including ruining my company's external modem and my keyboard. I'll never have one in the house again.

What makes me curious is what would happen if they had used a bigger earthquake machine? They said the 5pound machine could move a bar of steel with more force than a 150-200pound man jumping on it. It was able to create enogh vibration on a bridge where you could feel it hundreds of feet away. What would a 100pound machine do? Thats still pretty small scale (1 man could carry it) but 20times more weight.

Also bridges will handle vibrations better than buildings will.