2) Electric Man And The Tesla Museum

You might have seen that programme on Channel 4 the other day with a Serbian dude – Biba Struja – that can withstand insane levels of electricity in his body. He can even store energy up in his body to power light bulbs and cook food and loads of other awesome stuff. You could visit him? I don’t know where he lives though. Here he is in action:

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jCVDXARSGs’]

Failing that, and I’m not sure you should pester Mr Struja really, you could get some science in your brain pipes at the Nikola Tesla Museum. It might be a bit much the day after the festival, but after a couple of sleeps and a minor detox I reckon your brain will take it.

Tesla (10 July 1856 — 7 January 1943) was born to Serbian parents in modern-day Croatia. He’s best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system. He was a bright spark and no mistake (pun very much intended, I hope you enjoyed it). Anyone who received a congratulatory letter from Albert Einstein must have been pretty special.

Tesla was known as an eccentric and became the archetypal “mad scientist”. He earned a lot of cash by ably and entertainingly demonstrating his inventions to crowds, but he also spent a lot developing more contraptions, getting patents (300 in total )and living in hotels in New York pretty much full-time. He ended up bankrupt, but no less fascinating and creative.

The museum is in central Belgrade and looks pretty darned interesting. Give it a bash.

☛ Next: Alan Turing: The Genius Who Was Chemically Castrated