MIT makes case for wireless power

We all know and love our WiFi laptops, 3G and DECT phones, and wireless TVs, keyboards, and mice. Thing is, that freedom is always interrupted by the need to re-tether and juice-up the rechargeables. So someone, somewhere must be seeking the Holy Grail of wireless power right? Oh, you betcha. In fact, Nikola Tesla (of AC power and 80's glam-band fame) was working on his Wardenclyffe Tower for long-range wireless energy transfer back in the 19th century. Now, MIT's Marin Soljacic, Aristeidis Karalis, and John Joannopoulos have outlined a relatively simple (for physicists) system that could deliver power wirelessly by harnessing the properties of resonance. You know, that phenomena which causes a played instrument to vibrate another of the same acoustic resonance or collapse bridges spanning the Tacoma Narrows when its mechanical resonance is exploited by a bit of wind. However, MIT's solution is based on the resonance associated with electromagnetic waves. Notably, they've investigated a special class of non-radiative objects with long-lived resonances that won't scatter energy like radio waves or infrared. When energy is applied to these objects, it remains bound to them allowing, in theory, for a simple copper antenna with a long-lived resonance to transfer energy to say, a laptop antenna resonating at the same frequency up to about 5-meters away -- any unused energy is simply reabsorbed. Hmmm, "reabsorbed" you say, into what? No worries, they haven't built a test system yet and besides, when the robots hear about this we'll have bigger concerns than infertility.

[Thanks, Shig]

[Jonathan Sundy @ Nov 15th 2006 7:54AM]

Anyone else starting to be bothered by the amount of invisible things passing through us more and more on a daily basis?

I don't want to be sterile :/

[b00da @ Nov 15th 2006 4:41PM]

I already am. No kids means lots more money can be spent on gadgets.

Bring on the waves, electromagnetic or otherwise!

[SurfedToTheEndAndBack @ Nov 15th 2006 8:05AM]

The newest way to get cancer! Yay! I myself got a great bunch of cancerous cysts not far from where I kept my cell phone in my pocket; which, I think, is no small coincidence. Now we can all get it from head to toe just so we dont have to recharge batteries anymore.

[Michael @ Nov 15th 2006 8:18AM]

I would still like to see a surface "mat" that just covers the desk or surface area of dressers, etc. and you just have to place your object on the mat to charge. How hard would it be to build contacts on the outer surface of objects and just place them on the mat to charge. We have to put our stuff down anyway, and you just throw it on your desk and it's charging. Then you only have one wire running off your desk for charging the whole mat, and I am sure they can design it to withstand moisture and skin contact. Then you just set your laptop down on your desk, anywhere, and it charges.

Yes wireless power is a cool idea, and I am sure in 20 years that we won't have cords, but start getting a technology we can use today for us gadget freaks so we can get rid of a few wires.

[Snorre Milde @ Nov 15th 2006 8:28AM]

This has been in the works for the last couple of years. Uses induction, like most electrict toothbrush charging stations:

http://www.splashpower.com/

[Sheldon @ Nov 15th 2006 8:34AM]

Have a look for "Splashpower" (they're mentioned in the bbc page to which this article refers) http://www.splashpower.com/
They produce something not entirely different to what you have described except it doesn't require any contact points (it's based on inductive pickup) so no need to worry about moisture or skin contact.

[EdZ @ Nov 15th 2006 8:36AM]

They already have those. They work on inductance, not external contacts. Your electric toothbrush (unless it runs on non-rechargeable batteries) also uses this method.

The problem is with the power level. Enough to power anything larger than a mouse, keyboard or toothbrush is alright, anything more interferes with other electrical equipment. Enough to power a laptop would likely mess up even shielded equipment, including said laptop.

[Dae @ Nov 15th 2006 8:20AM]

We can wirelessly microwave our food. no comment on my comment please.

[jimmy @ Nov 15th 2006 8:30AM]

I can't wait to steal electricity the same way I steal internet. I, for one, welcome our wireless overlords.

[tokamac @ Nov 15th 2006 8:33AM]

It seems this is just... electromagnetic induction, between two separate conducting circuits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction

[Ryan @ Nov 15th 2006 8:40AM]

too soon for a tacoma narrows joke guys.... too soon......

[little willy @ Nov 15th 2006 9:00AM]

Nikola Tesla also wanted to make electricity free - and had developed ways to do this. It was only when the bankers (the money men) realised they could make money out of selling something that could be done for nothing they moved in - and that's why you have energy bills today.

[Chir @ Nov 15th 2006 12:02PM]

"Nikola Tesla also wanted to make electricity free - and had developed ways to do this. It was only when the bankers (the money men) realised they could make money out of selling something that could be done for nothing they moved in - and that's why you have energy bills today."

There's nothing fundamentally different about electricity that should make it free. Electrical current is merely a way to transfer energy. You are paying for a company to generate the energy so you don't have to power your devices yourself. In this way paying for electricity is no different from, say, paying for a farmhand to grind your grains. Sure, you can do the job yourself or build a windmill to do it, but these means are not always feasible and that's why you hire someone else to do it. The same reasoning applies to electricity. You could handcrank your radio or build a windfarm or solarfarm, but most people pay the electrical company out of convenience. The only difference is electrical energy can be transferred cheaply over long distances.

[NHAnimator @ Nov 15th 2006 9:04AM]

So that rumble in my tummy doesn't mean I'm hungry? Damn you, wireless tablet! Damn you!

[francis lollonais @ Nov 15th 2006 9:26AM]

I am just glad that an article mentions Tesla as the fore father of this technology. All this inventions, cell phone, electricity and none you hear his name being mentioned. The man was a genius and no one cares to give credit when credit is due.

[Dave @ Nov 15th 2006 10:10AM]

So true. He's the inventor of radio, holds the patents to it, and Marconi gets the glory. Tesla deserves more credit and recognition for his genius than he's gotten.

[tokamac @ Nov 15th 2006 9:57AM]

Highly energetic varying magnetic fields are unhealthy on long term, which Tesla didn't know. He had some light bulbs illuminated by EM induction (and thus was freely walking around in his lab, carrying these "wireless electric lanterns") using EM induction with a big coil.

But it can even be dangerous instantaneously, if you approach an emissive RF inductive coil while having a closed conducting circuit on you, for example a metalic ring. The ring can heat very quickly (think about induction hob in kitchens cooktop, which rely basically on the same basis) and it can cut your finger like a lightsaber before you notice, if powerful enough. Some married scientists has already been hurt in such a way while working on big induction coils in their labs.

[jmunoz148 @ Nov 15th 2006 10:03AM]

who knew marriege could cause physical damage?

[NeoteriX @ Nov 15th 2006 10:13AM]

"But it can even be dangerous instantaneously, if you approach an emissive RF inductive coil while having a closed conducting circuit on you, for example a metalic ring. The ring can heat very quickly (think about induction hob in kitchens cooktop, which rely basically on the same basis) and it can cut your finger like a lightsaber before you notice, if powerful enough. Some married scientists has already been hurt in such a way while working on big induction coils in their labs."

All I out of that was "light saber", and that said, I'm ready to embrace this technology 110%

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 15th 2006 10:19AM]

Tesla was so far out ahead that it's taking THIS long for the rest of us dullards to catch up.

I think I have a new hero.

[Parker @ Nov 15th 2006 10:26AM]

Yes, but can it illuminate a field of light bulbs in the ground? Or teleport a cat?

Keep working, MIT. Until then, we'll just have to fake things with wires.

[Anooon @ Nov 15th 2006 11:13AM]

Pah, Tesla had a way to take unlimited energy from the cosmic barrier around earth or something like that but he realised it would do more bad than good, he didnt want people using it for weapons and so on, so he gave parts of the design to many different countries so that they'd have to work together to get this unlimited source, and it never happened... Or at least thats what the Tesla documentaries told me, truly a fantastic man, yet no-ones heard of him... Odd...

[Matt B @ Nov 15th 2006 11:17AM]

I loved that album 'The Great Radio Controversy' back in the day.

[tokamac @ Nov 15th 2006 11:44AM]

Common people know much more about Tesla's main competitor of that time, Thomas Edison. Ironically Edison pushed towards direct current (DC) devices evrywhere, against Tesla's work on alternative current (AC). Edison didn't understood how a current changing its direction several times per second could be practical. Thus he didn't envision the benefit of AC for economical electric transport in wires through long distance, nor the possibility of electrodeless induction machines it offers. Because of this obstination he tried to discredit Tesla's work. Sad.

[A9 @ Nov 15th 2006 11:45AM]

I think having your laptop/cellphone powered by the device, like company "Steorn" claims to have developed, would be a bit safer...

"Batteries not included"

www.steorn.com - for the half of the world that still doesn't know.

[flamer's grill @ Nov 15th 2006 11:55AM]

Tesla is featured sem-prominently in The Prestige, which is a great movie and made me curious about Tesla and his works.

Interestingly, Tesla allegedly worked on a 'death ray' that, when tested, overshot it's artic target and was the cause of the Tunguska explosion in Siberia in 1908. Often credited to a meteorite airburst, some paranormalists credit this to Tesla's death ray. Tesla supposedly read about the explosion in the newspaper and dismantled the device immediately.

Pretty cool story. I like paranormal stuff so, until proven otherwise, this is what i will believe. Go see The Prestige for some awesome David-Bowie-as-Tesla action and a darn good flick, too.

[b00da @ Nov 15th 2006 4:47PM]

How does a ray follow the earth's curvature? If he truly had such a ray, it would have blasted straight out into space, not come back down on the other side of the world.

Bullets and missles have ballistic trajectories, not rays.

[Elliot @ Nov 15th 2006 12:06PM]

Mad ups to Tacoma. Go T-Town. Woo. Yeah.

[HairFarmer @ Nov 15th 2006 12:16PM]

Tesla? Man, they ROCK!!

[Dan @ Nov 15th 2006 1:43PM]

It's funny that we are now catching up to the ideas of a man that lived almost 100 years ago.

[DJDoc @ Nov 15th 2006 2:10PM]

Unless they have some serious tricks up their sleeve, they are going to have multiple major problems:

1) Pace makers and much of modern electronics is not gonna love this stuff.

2) Widespread wireless power gives people the ability to build extremely small incendiary devices you could plant anywhere.

3) Every person who ever gets cancer anywhere (or chronic fatigue or RSD ro Fibromyalgia) is gonna blame your power source on it.

[Tim Eaton @ Nov 15th 2006 4:43PM]

For your general Tesla edification:

http://www.netsense.net/tesla/

Epic Biopic Demo
http://72.21.11.50/dw/tesla.avi

Articles by my Co-Screenwriter:
http://www.teslatech.info/ttmagazine/v4n1/seifer.htm

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.10/tesla.html

http://www.peo.on.ca/publications/DIMENSIONS/JanFeb2006/Profile.pdf

[justdave @ Nov 15th 2006 10:13PM]

"How does a ray follow the earth's curvature? If he truly had such a ray, it would have blasted straight out into space, not come back down on the other side of the world.

Bullets and missles have ballistic trajectories, not rays."

noooo, lies! You've never seen the curvy teslat ray of death? Where have you been?

[furtim @ Nov 15th 2006 4:50PM]

Thanks for the links, Tim. Tesla was a really cool guy. Along with Claude Shannon, I identify him as one of the unappreciated inventors of the modern world.

But there are a lot of Tesla kooks out there (sadly including Tesla himself, after the Wardenclyffe project tanked and he went into a deep depression for not being able to fund his research any longer), as well, and it's good to have some solid references. Frankly, Tesla is one of those cases where the reality is so endlessly fascinating that one wonders why anyone ever thought it necessary to tack on the weird "death ray" or Philadelphia Experiment stories... the real man was amazing enough, it just seems so superfluous. A gilded lily, as they say.

[Kate @ Nov 15th 2006 5:31PM]

I see a couple of people are considering the potential impacts of this technology on the body. It seems like a pretty critical consideration if we are talking about making 'advances' I just voted on the poll at ChangeEverything

[Kate @ Nov 15th 2006 5:33PM]

http://www.changeeverything.ca

[Stellar @ Nov 15th 2006 7:36PM]

francis.... thank god someone else recognizes this! hell everyone, how do you think the US got to be so damn powerful so quick? it wasnt from killing off indians, thats for sure. and it wasnt from edisons 50 gadgets in a pocketknife either

[dee-dee-deetarded @ Nov 15th 2006 9:40PM]

oh, and yeah my watertight uniden submersible landline already has this on the chrager

[Z @ Nov 16th 2006 6:25AM]

Throwing that wireless toaster in the tub will be all that much easier.

Yikes!

[Tom Allen @ Nov 16th 2006 12:36PM]

I'm going to nick my neighbours wifi. Oh wait i don't mean wifi, i mean power. lol.

[matbrady @ Jun 7th 2007 11:21PM]

The principle of the Wardenclyffe Tower was that it would resonate with the electomagnetic field of the earth- which is why the tower had a tunnel straight down beneath it a mile deep (it would use this to resonate with the earth's crust).

In the article it discreetly says, "but [Tesla's] most ambitious attempt [Wardenclyffe] failed when he ran out of money."

This is laughable. Science needs money to work. This is false. E!=mc$

Has anyone made any serious attempts to recreate the Wardenclyffe Tower? I would seriously appreciate if anyone has an answer to this.

[Dom @ Jun 17th 2007 8:57PM]

Idealy this would be convenient to to users with lightweight modern technology e.g. Laptops that can virtually stay without wires forever while within a closed location...or something forth coming such as your brand new HD telelvision stuck in the wall with out a connection wire...

Ofcourse alot of companys arent gona like this until they find a way to implment this into there products...

Funny enuff i cant see this going pass light weight devices as your washing machine doesnt exaclty draw the same amount of power as your cell phone...

[vinbeazel @ Oct 16th 2007 9:24AM]

I have enjoyed reading this discussion and following the links...it is interesting to see the discussion on wireless power; the Goldstone Project video on wireless power can be found at www.liftportenergy.com and also on YouTube by searching on liftport, goldstone or "wireless power".

Last week I watched a video on a Tesla Coil demo in a Science Museum, that explained how the coil converts household current 120 VAC to 120,000 VAC, and 60 Hertz cycles into 120 Hertz...to convert random electrons into radio waves. The most impressive part of the video demo was the young tour guide holding a flourescent bulb, which lit up outside the glass enclosure, while he was holding the light bulb! That short video taught me more than I had learned by reading about TesLA, and that is why we use videos to teach students through free education sites like www.greenenergytv.com

Stop by and share a video and your comments.

[Abhishek kumar @ Oct 8th 2008 12:19PM]

im so much interested in this technology.even ihv started to give my contribution in this field.