A new system for transmitting power could get rid of the tangle of cables that keep alive our cell phones, laptops and other devices, researchers report.
Physicists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. found that power could be transmitted without wires using special “resonant” antennas. The researchers used the system to power a 60-watt light bulb more than two meters (about two yards) from a wireless transmitter at 40 percent efficiency.
The MIT concept, called “WiTricity” for wireless electricity, involves using so-called coupled resonators. These are objects that, if struck or disturbed, tend to naturally oscillate at a definite rhythm. If two of them tend to have matching rhythms, they actually enhance each others’ oscillations.
1 comment:
Hate to rain on anyone's parade, but I can see two major problems:
1. Because electricity travels with less resistance in a wire, the cost (in energy) to power any given device HAS to be greater, thus requiring a greater input of power, greater use of resources, renewable or otherwise, etc., for any given usage.
2. There is a growing body of evidence that cancers and other genetic diseases are either caused by or exacerbated by increased ambient electromagnetic radiation (such as powerlines, radio & TV, cell phones, etc.) Note: this is not the same as radioactivity, but can have similar effects on living cells. In Russia, it is illegal to build dwellings for humans anyw;here close to high-tension powerlines, for just this reason.
So, I think it's impractical for most applications, due to reduced efficiency of power transmission, and unsafe for everyone exposed to yet more, high-power radiation.
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