Religious nutcases pressure family to bury Tesla's ashes! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2014, 11:55:37 pm
content: https://www.facebook.com/OstaviteTesluNaMiruFrom Gizmodo:The gold-plated sphere that holds free energy pioneer/mad scientist/fan fiction staple Nikola Tesla's ashes has been on display in a Belgrade museum for over half a century, but now church officials have successfully pressured the Serbian government to intern Tesla's remains in a churchyard.The Croatia-born Tesla spent most of his life in the United States where he dreamed up countless scientific innovations, many of which still seem like science fiction today. After his death in 1943, Tesla's ashes were moved back to his native Europe where they were put on display in a museum that carried his name. The iconic urn has remained a symbol of Tesla's devotion to science during his life, but now, under pressure from members of the Serbian Orthodox church and Tesla's ancestors, the Serbian government has approved a measure to intern the golden sphere on the grounds of St. Sava Church, the largest Orthodox church in the world.Despite objections from scientific groups who point out that Tesla was not a religious man, the reburial is scheduled to take place this July. While the move has already been approved, a number of groups are fighting back against the transfer, including the Facebook group, Leave Tesla Alone which has managed to garner over 30,000 fans who think Tesla belongs in a museum, not a mausoleum.http://atlasobscura.gizmodo.com/sparks-fly-in-a-debate-over-where-to-place-nikola-tesla-1536119861/@gmanaughfull articlehttp://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/04/nikola-tesla-ashes-serbian-scientists-church-belgrade

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 12:24:20 am
content: Wood ash, grass ash, pig ash, human ash. I don't much see the difference, so I'm not too chuffed either way. As long as they don't try to make a big religious ceremony out of it and try to portray Tesla as a "man of god", which would be a lie, I don't think it's a big deal.Does seem a waste to bury all that gold.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 08:14:22 am
content: Oh, that will bring out the nutcases on all sides. The religious myth nutcases and the Tesla myth nutcases. But also the Serbia nationalist nutcases. The later will likely sit with the church.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 09:28:43 am
content: So who is the physic involved in this, that has been talking to Tesla's ancestors.I would suspect that the orthodox church is trying to get back it's pre communist era power and has been bending the ears of Tesla's descendants.Keeping his ashes in the museum is almost as creepy as Jeremiah Bentham being kept in the library. at UCL.http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/about/benthamiana/odds_ends/UCL_College_Song_Take_4.mp3

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 10:37:24 am
content: IMO ashes are as meaningful as they are useful. Once dead, who the hell cares?Picking sides though, his memory lives on just fine where he currently is, no change needed.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 11:22:16 am
content: The atheists are just as stupid as those "religious nutcases" you blame.When humans die, they should be turned into fertiliser (after the amalgam fillings are removed of course). Burying people is a waste of money, a waste of land and a waste of good quality blood and bone. Cremation just creates pollution. The fertiliser can be reused to grow crops and help support those still living. That way everyone can be useful after the die. It will also encourages organ donation prior to being turned the into best organic fertiliser money can buy. This idea would yield about ONE HUNDRED MILLION bodies of high grade fertiliser each year. What is the point of having guts rotting in the ground when they can be put to good use?When I kick the bucket, I want to be turned into fertiliser but because do-gooders would ensure that remains illegal, I'll be planted under a tree - with my Fluke 179 multimeter.Just remember there was a huge moral debate in the early days of the phonograph about the morals of hearing dead people sing. Now, you all listen to dead people without blinking an eyelid. You may think this idea is grotesque, but sometime in the future it won't be.

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 03:58:28 pm
content: Quote from: Dawgie on March 08, 2014, 01:27:54 pmOnly if they aren't embalmed and entombed, the way the US does it. A burial in the US pollutes the soil heavily due to all the embalming fluid, and requires a lot of space due to the concrete/steel vault which the casket is lowered into.US burial traditions are stupid, and most people don't even realize it.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 04:34:56 pm
content: I want my body rendered into biodiesel.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 04:36:51 pm
content: Quote from: Phaedrus on March 08, 2014, 03:58:28 pmI thought that they are taken up boot hill (wherever that is it must be crowded by now) and lowered into a bare hole while it is raining, at least that's what Hollywood depicts.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 04:43:40 pm
content: Actually no, not diesel fuel. I remember I changed my mind about that after I saw this video. I told my wife this is how I want to go. Total immersion in Potassium Chlorate.She was not amused.

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 05:00:36 pm
content: I told my wife I want to be buried in the front yard next to the dogs. I doubt she'll be able to comply.Agreed that embalming and concrete vaults are ecologically disastrous, but direct use of composted human tissue as fertilizer for food crops might not turn out well (kuru or bovine spongiform encephalopathy are more direct, but who knows what will happen: it's never been tried on a big scale). I have no problem with being crow or vulture food, or being gnawed on by coyotes or mice after I'm gone.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 05:04:51 pm
content: Quote from: dfmischler on March 08, 2014, 05:00:36 pmIn the US it's illegal to use human waste or human remains as fertilizer for human food. However human waste may be used as fertilizer for livestock feed and the resulting livestock can be consumed by humans.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 05:25:22 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on March 08, 2014, 04:34:56 pmOk, I am sending a crew.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 06:01:29 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on March 08, 2014, 05:25:22 pmAnd I want it put in a Dodge truck with the DPF removed so it belches greasy black smoke and I want them to drive by a Prius and leave a greasy black stripe down the side.

author: Speleocaver
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 06:07:25 pm
content: "Burying does turn them into fertilizer, it's far from wasted. Their remains slowly re-enter back into the bio-system, hence the cycle completes itself. Yes it takes a while but on the scale of things it's still in the blink of an eye."Here is a twist... they also turn into SOAP! Now you can wash your hands of the whole thing!http://www.neatorama.com/2011/01/04/soapman-corpse-turned-completely-into-soap/#!yZVoK

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 06:29:47 pm
content: I think Dave Allen said "When I go I want to be cremated... And have my ashes spread all over the mother-in-laws living room carpet."

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 09:38:07 pm
content: The thing is that Tesla's remains have been in a museum dedicated tohim. The museum wants to keep him there , so does his family. everyone s fine.it's just the orthodox dudes that want him buried on 'their holiest place on earth'. So instead of people paying to visit the museum people will deposit money as offerings to the church. i guess they need money to pay for thatnew cathedral they built.i'd say let the ashes ( personally, i have no attachment to the ashes. the guy is dead anyway) in that museum.The ashes of James Lick are buried in the pedestal of the telescope he funded on Mt Hamilton.Belgian joke , difficult to translate. the word 'uitgestrooid' means literally : to be scattered around. but can have the meaning of 'thrown'Belgian comedian (urbanus): I had an uncle that despised me. His dying wish was that his ashes would be 'uitgestrooid' in my face.You also have to be careful when attending an ash dispersal. if you stand in the wrong place, a strong wind gust may make it that you leave with half of the deceased on your pants and jacket ...

author: linux-works
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 10:38:28 pm
content: this is a shocking development. but then again, I don't follow current events. his family should resist. hopefully they can hire a powerful lawyer who knows watt's watt..

author: Zbig
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 10:47:14 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on March 08, 2014, 09:38:07 pm

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 10:55:57 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on March 08, 2014, 09:38:07 pmThis is probably safer then:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2023818/Woman-eats-husbands-ashes-Is-strangest-addiction-all.html

author: linux-works
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 08, 2014, 11:15:50 pm
content: "the tesla abides"(I KNEW someone would post a lebowski video. lol)

author: nihilism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 03:32:10 am
content: This is the problem with religion. Those that are religious think that their beliefs apply to everyone in the world, not just those that follow their particular religion. Where as those that aren't, generally don't care what those that are believe.

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 03:53:11 am
content: When I die, I want my ashes to be scattered on an irate Jeff Bridges.

author: linux-works
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 04:00:24 am
content: Quote from: Phaedrus on March 09, 2014, 03:53:11 am"this aggression will not stand, man!"(could not resist)

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 04:34:28 am
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on March 08, 2014, 08:14:22 amI predict nothing short of:

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 04:50:55 am
content: Quote from: nihilism on March 09, 2014, 03:32:10 amSame goes for environmentalists

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 11:26:26 am
content: Quote from: zapta on March 09, 2014, 04:50:55 amEnvironmentalists sometimes have a point. Based on science. Like "Inhaling asbestos fibers is not good for you".

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 11:41:12 am
content: Google "regulatory capture" and you will find out amazing things......

author: AndrejaKo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 12:51:01 pm
content: I'd like to offer a bit of local perspective.The whole campaign for relocation of Tesla's remains here suffers from a great dose of fear, uncertainty and doubt. For example, the local media didn't mention the "church pressure" at all. Instead, the official report was that temporary Belgrade City council and Serbian Orthodox church reached an agreement to relocate the urn to temple of Saint Sava. Early reports also said that the museum administration and family fully agree to that. As part of the process, a statue of Nikola Tesla is supposed to be erected in the park in front of the church.Then the FUD came. First, reports came that the idea is to actually "bury" the urn inside of the statue, next there came conflicting reports about support of his family, then the director of the Nikola Tesla museum stated that he's against the relocation, then came the name calling and accusations of treason an so on and so on...In "completely unrelated" news, mayor of Belgrade was impeached several months ago and we have local elections on the 16th March. Due to politicking, what were only supposed to be elections for city council, became elections for the republic parliament as well. Another thing which is a bit unusual about this elections is that several right-wing, pro-church "popular movements" became political parties and are running for elections. One of them even received significant support from the church. At the same time, the temporary Belgrade city council didn't produce much results before the elections and the decision to move Tesla's urn was made at the height of elections campaign. So to me the whole story looks like an attempt of the temporary Belgrade city council to get support from religious voters at the upcoming elections and show that it did actually do something.Also the most up to date news are that the urn won't be moved until new city council is formed. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole issue is forgotten, until the next elections at least.EDIT: I forgot to mention that there's also a plan to actually evict the Tesla's museum from its current location, since apparently the building was nationalized by the communist authorities after the Second World War. That story needs checking as well, since some (pre-urn-relocation story) sources claim that the original owner donated the house to the city before the WWII and that after the war, building was already property of the city.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 03:07:59 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on March 09, 2014, 11:26:26 amAnd sometimes not, like the ice age they predicted in the 70's or a decline in fusil energy reserves.

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 06:17:03 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on March 08, 2014, 05:04:51 pmA local waste treatment plant tried marketing fertilizer based on the solids they extract during processing. They say it is not for food. It is really much higher in metals than fertilizer should be. No farmer or landscaper will touch the stuff because they are afraid that future regulations will condemn any land they use it on.This statue of Teslais in Niagara Falls, NY, about an hour from my house.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 07:05:22 pm
content: Send the urn to Fremont. We'll put it on top of the factory.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 09:19:46 pm
content: Quote from: Dawgie on March 09, 2014, 03:14:05 pmAd hominem is the refuge of the argumentless.If you think that scientists are infallible and everything a scientist says has the ultimate level of certainty you just replaced one religion with another.

author: CM800
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 09:55:36 pm
content: Quote from: Dawgie on March 09, 2014, 09:23:30 pmAccording to some people (that are not me)"Morals", "Hope" and "Comfort"

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 10:00:24 pm
content: As anybody even looked, are the ashes even in the Urn?Ashes to Family, Urn stays put. Everyone is "essentially" happy, or ignorant, but still happy.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 09, 2014, 10:10:53 pm
content: I'm an atheist but I quite like the Zoroastrian method of dead body disposal - take the cadavers to the top of mountains and leave the raptors to feed on the flesh. When the vultures have picked the carrion off the bones, a nice chap sweeps them into a lime pit.It seems more "green" than burial or cremation.Having said that - there is a lot of important historical information preserved by burials and embalming (mummification). but perhaps we no longer need such as we have databases and stuff.So yeah, leave my cadaver on a mountain full of eagles and vultures. That is how I want to go.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2014, 12:07:18 am
content: Quote from: zapta on March 09, 2014, 03:07:59 pmIn the interests of 'good science', you might like to look a bit deeper into that. It's not particularly true...The 70's predictions of global cooling basically boil down to "a fringe theory by a few scientists, mentioned in passing in a couple of major reports of the time, taken out of context & overhyped by Time & Newsweek, & spread by populist books & 'In Search Of ...' TV".Of course if your total exposure to rigorous scientific theory is a few shows by Leonard Nimoy, then ...

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2014, 12:10:51 am
content: Quote from: VK3DRB on March 08, 2014, 11:22:16 amI occasionally find it creepy when I watch a very old film, specially the ones about everyday life, not acted. Everybody there is doing their thing and now evrybody is dead

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2014, 10:03:43 am
content: Quote from: ivan747 on March 10, 2014, 12:10:51 amDoes not have to be an old film. Michael Jackson was pretty creepy when he was alive. Just ask Bubbles.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2014, 04:11:12 pm
content: Quote from: Tac Eht Xilef on March 10, 2014, 12:07:18 amHindsight is 20/20.Science is good it is done vigorously and you understand its limitation. However, when it is biased, sensationalized, and politicized and becomes just another propaganda tool which some fools follow blindly because 'it is science'.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 10, 2014, 11:51:07 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on March 10, 2014, 04:11:12 pmYou left out the most important part of my comment:Quote from: Tac Eht Xilef on March 10, 2014, 12:07:18 amSo, have you? Or are you still basing your opinion on a TV show hosted by Spock (who, by the way, was not a real scientist)?Quote from: zapta on March 10, 2014, 04:11:12 pmThank you for making my point for me.