Intel is pretty sure that even with cell phone signals, Wi-Fi, over-the-air HDTV, and background radiation, we’re just not pumping enough stuff through the air. So they aim to add yet another set of waves to the mix: wireless power.
At the Intel Developer Forum this week, the company showed off their prototype wireless power transmission system. Based on work done at MIT, the system uses magnetic induction to send 60 watts of power through the air at a distance of up to 3 feet. Alright, so you won’t be able to use your laptop in the middle of a big open field anytime soon, but someday, who knows?
Wireless power isn’t new—famed inventor Nikola Tesla showed off a means for sending electricity over air as far back as the 1890s. Intel’s method reputedly operates at 75% efficiency, which is an improvement over MIT’s tests, which topped out around 50%. Intel’s and MIT’s system differs from many existing magnetic induction methods because it’s not only wireless, it’s also touchless—it doesn’t require the two objects to be in physical contact.
Could this some day lead to laptops that don’t have to be plugged in? At the moment, they’re just powering a 60 watt light bulb, and the set up requires large diameter antennas. But some day, our bodies could be filled with wireless electricity! Well, even more than they are now.
[via Engadget; picture from Geekzone]
Ok - time to get out the lead boxers again.
Now that's just cool!
And people were worried EMR from cell phones could cause cancer? Wait'll they get a load of this!!
I'm sure it's completely harmless! Nothing to worry about! http://notnews.today.com/2008/08/23/intel-demonstrates-wireless-power-for-the-home/
Cool. Glow in the dark testicles.
Over 50 years ago, Robert Heinlein predicted wireless power transmission in his SF/fantasy short story, Waldo.
Interesting enough (and although it was basically a throw away, eccentric characterization), Heinlein predated todays concerns about EMR by having one of his characters (a doctor, BTW) wear metal foil-lined clothing whenever he went outside.
Considering Heinlein's background, he may have been on to something, especially if taken into conjunction with applying Clarke's 1st Law to those who proclaim EMR to be harmless.