Had the reporter ignored Tesla's advice, the review would have been tainted. It's either "do what Tesla says, they're the experts" or "I'm doing to do my own thing sgainst Tesla's advice, invalidating all conclusions in this article." The journalist chose the former.
Welcome to Earth. Sixth-grade physics, for most people, is for passing the 6th-grade physics test. It has no relation to the real world or their behaviour.
