7 Comments

How did Bose generate 60 GHz radiation in the 1800s?

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Did anyone else get two copies of this in their inbox? Trying to figure out if it's something I did.

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I only got one copy

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"The scope of this gilded-age radio science was truly remarkable, and anticipated work brought to fruition decades or even a century later."

When I worked for Lucent Technologies over 20 years ago, I was privileged to work with some real researchers in fundamental materials science for communications applications, and I got to see the first design for a mobile telephony system. IIRC it was designed in 1944.

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Bell Labs was responsible for the best research in language and hearing for many decades. I worked in hearing research and relied constantly on the foundations laid by Fletcher and others at Bell. When Bell was destroyed by corporate predators, we lost the best REAL science in this country.

I have huge respect for materials science. Materials are where innovation happens. We believe that ideas are inventions, but in fact ideas are a dime a dozen. Inventions happen when materials and methods are ready.

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The old Bell Labs was a remarkable place. Sergei Schelkunoff and Harald Friis were two of the last great innovators in theoretical and applied electromagnetism.

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My wife’s grandfather worked there for decades (after going to Europe as part of Operation Alsos). Brilliant man, very humble.

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