SCIENCE!

[catsidhe]

Nikola Tesla is vindicated:

Then it started getting weird, before getting just plain scary.

Intel researchers demonstrated a Wireless Resonant Energy Link. Think of two antennas, one hooked to a a power source, the other hooked to a nothing else but a lightbulb. By using resonant coupling, power was transmitted from the power source to the light bulb, to the tune of 60W at 75 per cent efficiency. Or put simply, the lightbulb lit up, purely on wirelessly transmitted power.

Rattner said the firm envisioned receiving resonators being built into laptops and mobile phones, so that they could be recharged quickly simply by being placed next to a power transmitter. He added that the technology was – probably – perfectly safe, as it relied on resonant coupling, not anything nasty like inductive coupling.

Tesla was working on this a hundred years ago. It's good to see that the rest of humanity is catching up.

Comments

[drjon.livejournal.com]

I bet these guys try and patent it, too.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

But where will the put the meter?

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

They're designing it for charging pads: you just put your {mobile,pda,ipod,laptop} on the pad and the wireless power charges them without plugging anything in. House metering continues as normal.

I suspect widespread adoption of wireless mains would have to wait for something closer to a post-scarcity economy, where the provision of power is a right, and it is too cheap to meter.

I'm not holding my breath.


But now you mention it, I'm envisioning a Wireless Power Protocol, where you have a WPP (Wireless Power Point) broadcasting power to your house, and your appliances can be moved around anywhere in range (and within the power capacity of the local broadcast point) without trailing wires... but in builtup areas you might want to set up a password protocol (somehow) so that you don't get leechers in the next house over using your power without paying. Unless you want to set up a free local service out of the goodness of your heart...

[drjon.livejournal.com]

I was thinking something similar as soon as I read tcpip's comment... you watch, they'll have an ERM system patented soon, and an Association with Big Sticks...