Wireless Laptop Power

Coming Soon?

[smells so good]

news Item [informationweek.com]

MIT researchers are working to provide wireless power over short distances (several meters), using resonance to tune the power to the device.

Soljacic and his colleagues have come up with a way to transfer energy over several meters by tuning electronic gadgets to "resonate" with a magnetic field put out by a power transmitter. Most of the energy not used by attuned gadgets would be reabsorbed by the emitting device. The result, once the technology is commercialized, could be power outlets that transmit power wirelessly to any device in the room.

Some questions remain. Among them is how safe will this be for the human body. There are already concerns about electromagnetic fields associated with high power transmission lines, among others. It seems like the new technology will be generating more than a bit of an electromagnetic field in the area where this wireless power will be used. Is that safe? No one seems to have an answer to that question.

Comments?

[commanderW]

Nikola Tesla spent his life working out this very process. One of his major projects & lifelong dreams was transmitted power this way. For some reason his working devices never made it into public. He was the father of magnetic resonance technology. One of his devices blacked out colorado & several other areas. Sparks jumped from shovels 20 some miles away. There are pictures of him sitting in his lab w/ bolts of lightning shooting over his head while he sat in a chair reading. He did many demonstrations showing no ill effects & lived to a ripe old age. Died alone feeding the pidgeons. His notes were confiscated by feds when he died. The tesla coil uses resonance. The microwave oven also. depends on the frequency & what you are resonating. Resonate water & poach your brain. I hope they don't try to pretend like they figured this all out out of the blue. Tesla registered many many patents for devices utilizing magnetic resonance in many different ways (especially for wireless transmission of power), way back at the turn of the century.

[nakulgoyal]

Awesome idea, that will be great if it happens. Then I can use my laptop on my Lufthansa Flights on long travels, and be on webmasterworld.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

If they start transmitting power on Lufthansa flights I for one will not be on them ... tooooo risky!

Oh and by the way, this is nothing new. They were doing it on Star Trek years ago. :)

[smells so good]

magnetic resonance technology

I won't claim to understand this technology, perhaps someone can help. Is the magnetic resonant frequency controlled, or tuned, to a specific frequency for a specific application? So, frying my breakfast bacon would use a different frequency than for frying my brain, or powering my laptop? At first glance this seems to be the case. If true then I can see where the human harm factor would be reduced or possibly eliminated. On the other hand, my left brain is still telling me to be cautious and avoid prolonged exposure to high tension wires and large resonant magnetic fields.

Bacon, mmmmmmmm

[commanderW]

There are lots of studies on the effects of all kinds of electromagnetic phenomenon on biological systems. Cell phones causing cancer for instance. It's a gray area w/ ardent opinions on all sides. There is no doubt however, that some electro magnetic fields are relatively safe while others are definitely not.
My guess is that , since the brain is mostly fat, the same frequency that fries your bacon will fry your brain.
Probably everything that exists will vibrate when 'struck'. If you strike that thing over & over at it's natural frequency of vibration, things happen. Remember the memorex commercial where the opera singer shatters the glass?
The earths magnetic field has a natural frequency of around 7 hertz ( i forget the details). One of tesla projects was to build a coil that would cause the earths field to vibrate more strongly by resonating frequencies, thus causing an electrical current in any device set to vibrate itself at that frequency. Universal power for all mankind was his lifelong ambition ( this guy once worked for thomas edison!). He wasn't a nut, he was the inventor of alternating current & the electric dynamo that powers our world ( or the part that doesn't run on batteries at least.).
The technology is real. Like i say though, it's been around for a long time, Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging vibrates atoms this way at the doctors office. Microwaves cook food. etc. I just wonder why the news item posted reads as if MIT scientists pulled it right out of their own hats.

[Fiver]

glad to see Tesla was acknowledged instantly on this thread at least.... what I wouldn't give to understand what that man understood.

[tbear]

Reminds me of my Robert Heinlein books......

....mmmm, must dig them out!

[mcavic]

how safe will this be for the human body

That's my concern too, and I think wireless transmitters should be avoided where they're not necessary. Cell phones are necessary. Wi-Fi is often necessary when connecting devices in different rooms. But transmitting power within a room just isn't.

He did many demonstrations showing no ill effects & lived to a ripe old age

He also repetedly over-exposed himself to x-rays, studying the severe burns that they caused. Cancer is a statistical proposition. Someone with high risk can sometimes live to 90, while someone with low risk can die early.