Rubes Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 Look Ma No Cords A potentially enormous transformative discovery. Freaky.
agilen Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 The article doesn't have much detail, but are they basically saying they are generating power at the device level with a resonant magnetic field? If so, this is something that we've known is possible for a long time. Its cool to see that there are some practical working applications now, but this isn't a huge discovery.
Pete Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 I believe that is based on blue tooth technology which is old technology (1920's?). I used to trade tech stocks and in the late 90's I speculated on a few companies that dabbled in wireless electricity (Arm Holdings and Atmel were a couple). The next 20 years we are going to see some crazy innovations!
dib Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 wireless electricity. dont they call that lightning?
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 tesla was doing that 100 years ago. he couldn't make it work for long distances at the time, the Tesla coils would have been monstrous.
agilen Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 tesla was doing that 100 years ago. he couldn't make it work for long distances at the time, the Tesla coils would have been monstrous. No, this is different....basically you have some wall unit that generates a magnetic field at a resonant frequency of a little vibrating generator in your device. The magnetic field keeps the generator going as long as you are near it. Tesla was sending actual electricity through the air, this is much safer.
shrader Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 And I'd have to imagine that any testing for whether or not widespread use of anything like this and exposure to it would be safe/healthy will be very hard to do, especially the longterm exposure.
stuckincincy Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 Look Ma No Cords A potentially enormous transformative discovery. Freaky. Potentially raising Intel's stock price in the short term. Kilowatts over the air - right...
agilen Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 And I'd have to imagine that any testing for whether or not widespread use of anything like this and exposure to it would be safe/healthy will be very hard to do, especially the longterm exposure. To some extent....this is already done. You are exposed to magnetic fields all the time just by being on earth.... This would be more like sitting in a really low-power MRI machine all day. Much of the research around MRI side-effects would be applicable to this technology as well, and I think they are basically considered harmless. This is a very clean, efficient method of "transmitting" energy. The difficulty is in creating the "generator" portion that lives in the device.
PromoTheRobot Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 I wonder if this could be applied to electric cars? PTR
agilen Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 I wonder if this could be applied to electric cars? PTR Only if you placed the actual power source (whatever generates the magnetic field) in the road. The question then is....who pays for the energy? While this is a really cool technology, it isn't a perpetual motion machine and still requires an energy input. Could be cool though if your garage charged your hybrid's battery overnight. You would never have to mess with a plug.
stuckincincy Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 To some extent....this is already done. You are exposed to magnetic fields all the time just by being on earth.... This would be more like sitting in a really low-power MRI machine all day. Much of the research around MRI side-effects would be applicable to this technology as well, and I think they are basically considered harmless. This is a very clean, efficient method of "transmitting" energy. The difficulty is in creating the "generator" portion that lives in the device. MRI electromagnets need energy. As does the attendant RF sweep. There are thermodynamic thresholds to be overcome to make protons change their spin and state.
Steely Dan Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 Linkage Tesla spent his remaining funds on his other inventions and culminated his efforts in a major breakthrough in 1899 at Colorado Springs by transmitting 100 million volts of high-frequency electric power wirelessly over a distance of 26 miles at which he lit up a bank of 200 light bulbs and ran one electric motor! With this souped up version of his Tesla coil, Tesla claimed that only 5% of the transmitted energy was lost in the process. But broke of funds again, he looked for investors to back his project of broadcasting electric power in almost unlimited amounts to any point on the globe. The method he would use to produce this wireless power was to employ the earth's own resonance with its specific vibrational frequency to conduct AC electricity via a large electric oscillator. When J.P. Morgan agreed to underwrite Tesla's project, a strange structure was begun and almost completed near Wardenclyffe in Long Island, N.Y. Looking like a huge lattice-like, wooden oil derrick with a mushroom cap, it had a total height of 200 feet. Then suddenly, Morgan withdrew his support to the project in 1906, and eventually the structure was dynamited and brought down in 1917. I saw a Modern Marvels recently on Tesla and it said the electricity sent across miles would only be as damaging as radio waves that go through us are now.
agilen Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 MRI electromagnets need energy. As does the attendant RF sweep. There are thermodynamic thresholds to be overcome to make protons change their spin and state. Yeah, there is an energy input in this instance. No perpetual motion or cold fusion or anything here....just good old-fashioned tuning-fork like resonance.
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 Linkage Tesla spent his remaining funds on his other inventions and culminated his efforts in a major breakthrough in 1899 at Colorado Springs by transmitting 100 million volts of high-frequency electric power wirelessly over a distance of 26 miles at which he lit up a bank of 200 light bulbs and ran one electric motor! With this souped up version of his Tesla coil, Tesla claimed that only 5% of the transmitted energy was lost in the process. But broke of funds again, he looked for investors to back his project of broadcasting electric power in almost unlimited amounts to any point on the globe. The method he would use to produce this wireless power was to employ the earth's own resonance with its specific vibrational frequency to conduct AC electricity via a large electric oscillator. When J.P. Morgan agreed to underwrite Tesla's project, a strange structure was begun and almost completed near Wardenclyffe in Long Island, N.Y. Looking like a huge lattice-like, wooden oil derrick with a mushroom cap, it had a total height of 200 feet. Then suddenly, Morgan withdrew his support to the project in 1906, and eventually the structure was dynamited and brought down in 1917. I saw a Modern Marvels recently on Tesla and it said the electricity sent across miles would only be as damaging as radio waves that go through us are now. That, and it would look cool as hell.
shrader Posted August 22, 2008 Posted August 22, 2008 To some extent....this is already done. You are exposed to magnetic fields all the time just by being on earth.... This would be more like sitting in a really low-power MRI machine all day. Much of the research around MRI side-effects would be applicable to this technology as well, and I think they are basically considered harmless. This is a very clean, efficient method of "transmitting" energy. The difficulty is in creating the "generator" portion that lives in the device. But its not just sitting in an MRI all day, its sitting there all day for 20+ years. I have no idea how they ever test something like that. I didn't read the link at first, but originally, I was picturing some kind of power transfer on a large scale, not just inside a house, covering a small range. After reading it, my question doesn't seem like as big of a deal as I first thought.
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