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That's really amazing.

Hmmm....Wireless Power.... this sounds strangely like something Nikola Tesla did almost one hundred years ago. Glad to see that modern science is starting to catch up with him.

I was wondering about this technology a few weeks ago. I am not convinced about its relative safety.

Dr. Marin Soljacic also stated, "We are quite certain there are no safety issues. I've been keeping my three eyes on the data we've compiled. I can count the number of studies we've had indicating no safety risk on my finger--twelve studies total!"

Solijacic also stated he has great confidence in the commercial value of the invention, particularly now that he can see three years into the future.

I want my teleporting/cloning machine next.

This idea is very old. A transformer works on this very idea. This idea has also been done with inductive power. Many underwater pumps work off inductive power.

The idea is a bummer, because of the massive lose of power. On the order of 50% or more.

You could put a large electromagnet on both sides of your house and have the poles switch rapidly causing the fields to switch rapidly, too. Now, every device could get its power from the changing fields.

Yes, you too can have no wires in your house, but we double your power for free.

Sounds to me like a 9 foot power cord would be cheaper and less of a health risk.

Or we could all wear tinfoil hats.

Yeah, it's called lightining...

har har

Yay, third nipples for everyone! Muta-tricity is here!

The method requires the transmitter and receiver to aligned. If they are out of alignment, this limits the transmission of power even more.

Hmm ok, now we need to stay on topic, ok?

This is a Mac website, ok? Other technologies are not acceptable, hmm ok?

You see children, Windows is bad, ok?

Apple is good, Microsoft, Microsoft is bad

Hmmm ok?

http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/southpark/

Tesla invented this... luckely edison is dead or otherwise he would have stolen that also..

i asked my stepfather, who is now dead, when i was 9 or 10 how important something like this would be.

this is gonna be a really big deal, imagine electric cars on highways equipped with a beamed electricity grid on roadways...adios OPEC.

As others have noted, get ready for the Wardenclyffe towers... or perhaps the DeKalb antennas from Heinlein's "Waldo." And you thought the screaming frequencies of your CPU were the only reason you had to wear lead undies.

If you wear a pacemaker, is this going to be a good idea?

Bloody shocking that is.

Soon someone will invent the "electrocute yourself ring" to wear...

@7over, et.al.
You know it isn't about who invents it, good inventions get to market because somebody knows how to market those good inventions.

I'm not totally convinced of the safetly either, but we live on top of a giant magnetic field all of our lives - gravity. As it is a significant fraction of the population lives near enough to high power lines and cellular towers that they are already getting higher continuous concentrations of radio wave and emi radiation than this technology would induce in a given space over time, so from the outset I think the real negative potential is relative at best. (Don't forget that a regular power cord emits potentially harmful radiation at a given distance over time).

I think people with electronic implants like pace maker, etc. would have to be very cautious about technology like this - probably at the level of being cautious around microwave ovens and cellular devices for instance.

Maybe someday superconductivity will be a commercially viable technology which, among many other things, will allow everthing that requires the use of conductive and inductive technologies to be run at much lower powers helping to create a world with less extemporaneous radiation and less overall power consumption.

It's a Parlor trick.
You can get the same effect standing under high tension power lines when they run too low to the ground.
It's also not healthy
Nothing to see...move along, quickly now!

Tesla was doing this over MILES over 75 years ago. Big deal

nothing is safe when you wear a pacemaker...clearly pacemaker wearers should spend the rest of their life living in a bubble...seeing as everywhere they go they are constantly reminded about how unsafe it is for them to be there.

First "WiFi", now "WiTricity". Don't these people realize the "wi" comes from the "wire" part of "wireless'??

P.S. They shoulda taken a leaf out of Apple's book and called it AirTricity.

I too am not impressed. Tesla did this years and years ago. Saturating the room with electromagnetic radiation is not a good idea for anyone's health. I think we have enough artificial radiation to keep us worrying about our health without adding anything else to the mix. I'd like to see some longitudinal studies, gentlemen.

The sound you hear is the world's militaries salivating.

Can't take the time to rtfa but I wonder what the waste energy is, they are powering a 60 watt bulb, I wonder how many watts they are pumping out...

Mr. Peabody,

Not to bust your balls, but gravity occurs because matter attracts other matter as prescribed in the general theory of relativity, not magnetism. Magnetism occurs on earth thanks to the huge amounts of iron contained within the earth's core itself, among other causes.

People, the key words in here are "beaming" and "non-radiative". Tesla dreamed with a wireless electricity and, as much as I know, he made it. However, the energy losses are real big. Here, this guys are talking of a "beaming" electromagnetic field, a non-radiative one.

MW term, as in "that's the key"

Hmmmm,
" The researchers believe there is little to worry about on safety grounds, saying that magnetic fields interact weakly with living organisms and are unlikely to have any serious side effects," Derbyshire reports."

Little worry, means there is some worry,
interacts weakly, means that in interacts,
unlikely to have any serious side effects, means that it has sideeffects but we don't think that they will be to bad, over a short period, if you not too close. OH yea, it is your home and you live there. OOOoooppppppps sorry about that. :-(

en

Let the tumors, er, rumors begin.

Has anyone seen a light bulb powered by a potato?
Has anyone seen a 50" HDTV powered by a potato?

Exactly, there is a huge difference in powering a low wattage bulb compared to TVs/computers/etc etc. As others have mentioned, heath factors would also be an issue I would imagine. Wondered if they tried to use a cordless phone or wireless internet in that room (even if they wern't powered by the energy field) because if they did, I believe they would find several frequency issues.

It's the wave of the future alright, a laptop that doesn't need a power cord but now it need an ethernet cord!!!!

You're all talking like this was a finished product. It was a technology demo. You don't think the technology will be refined and improved?

Compare the technology of automobiles from the early 1900s to the early 2000s.

Indeed, sounds like the good ols Tesla coil.

Perhaps without the crackling sound....

Still, pretty cool stuff!!

@drew_ill

Not to commit a reverse ball buster, but your information sure sounds definitive for something that is still only beginning to really be understood by the worlds leading scientists.

And for your information, the iron core is not in and of itself what causes terrestrial "gravity", its the fact that the iron core is molten, AND moving.

Now, back to your science books and stop trying to use my lack of knowledge to artificially bolster your lack of knowledge.

They ought to devise an automatic feeding mechanism for geeks too. You just sit on the chair, and soon you're feeling full. No need to take your eyes of the screen or your fingers off the keyboard. The next version could even take traffic both ways.

@M.A.D Har Har Har

In an era when people are moving towards energy efficiency, it seems counter-intuitive to be dumping endless amounts of electricity into the air, to be used only occasionally. Unless, of course, it's all powered by solar cells or a big ol' windmill in your backyard.

MW: Surface: It seems like a cool idea on the surface.

As pointed out Tesla did this early 20thC.

We have magnetic particles in our brains.

The whole theory of how the universe works, that gravity is the driving force, is just a theory and it really doesn't add up. It so doesn't add up that 90% of the energy can't be explained so dark matter has been invented, stuff we can't detect but must be there to maintain the theory.

And recently matter was detected coming out of black holes, err, how does that happen?

The science media is just like most of the rest. Paid for by the marketing guys, and the oil industry etc

Eric Laithwaite demonstrated an anti-gravity device (over-simplified remark) at the Royal Institution late last century, his lecture was the only one to be expunged from the record.

Some individuals must have a clue but they generally get closed down, like happened to Tesla. It seems to me that there is free energy everywhere but that means there's no profit in it.

"They ought to devise an automatic feeding mechanism for geeks too."

This clever invention has been around for centuries.

Known more commonly as a "wife."

ORIGIN Old English wīf [woman,] of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijf and German Weib.

Coming up next: two freshmen gain access to the lab and create the first death ray...

@No Squirt For You:

With that kind of talk, there'll be no squirt for you either...

MW: "the". Ok, that's just plain lazy.

Disclaimer: Blatantly sexist comments intended for sarcasm and humor only.

For example, I could have mentioned that this invention can only be activated by repeated voice commands combined with slapping rear-mounted triggers.

MW: length. Yeah.

technology such as this would only add to the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder problem?

Anyone looking into THAT? We needs our pollinations.

Mr. Peabody,

Which education establishment did you go to? Seems like none, because you're making yourself a fool.

Gravity is NOT magnetism, or a product of magnetism. You even misunderstood drew_ill's response, he (or she) never mentioned terrestial gravity was a result of the earth's iron core, the reference was magnetism.....do you not know the difference?

Gravity is directly proportional to mass. This is basic stuff that's taught in high school. How you missed this I don't know. At a slightly higher level the force of gravity can be described as inversey related to the square of a distance. Sounds a little complicated but this is taught in high school physics, not something "only beginning to be understood by the world's leading scientists."

Two identical planets both in size and mass, but one has a magentic field and the other doesn't. The force of gravity is the same. Magnetic fields don't cause the gravity that keeps you planted to the ground.

I suggest you do some research instead of making yourself look like an ignorant, pompous fool in that response you posted.

No Squirt For You:

Thanks for the Friday enjoyment. Too funny.

Now beam me a chicken pot pie!

Aahhh!

Rear mounted triggers.

Yes, Big Al.
Some are hair triggers but most are pressure sensitive.
Also, there's a delicate off switch buried between them.
Check first before digging or laying cable.

Gandalf:

"As pointed out Tesla did this early 20thC."
Yes -- and -- no.

"We have magnetic particles in our brains." Most things are paramagnetic or diamagnetic. What's your point?

"The whole theory of how the universe works, that gravity is the driving force, is just a theory and it really doesn't add up. It so doesn't add up that 90% of the energy can't be explained so dark matter has been invented, stuff we can't detect but must be there to maintain the theory."

Gravity exists. It's supported by evidence every day. If you don't believe it exists climb to the top of any 100+ story building and jump off.

Dark matter is a convenient construct, just as is quantum mechanics. It is a means to consistently explain things. As more detailed information becomes available the theories will be modified. This has happened since before Archimedes.

"And recently matter was detected coming out of black holes, err, how does that happen?"

No, the matter was coming from the accretion region. It has been shown by Hawking that particles will be created and expelled from the accretion region.

"The science media is just like most of the rest. Paid for by the marketing guys, and the oil industry etc"

Keep believing that -- and make sure you wear your tin foil hat 100% of the time too.

"Eric Laithwaite demonstrated an anti-gravity device (over-simplified remark) at the Royal Institution late last century, his lecture was the only one to be expunged from the record."

Wow only one item has ever been expunged from the records and YOU know about it? How old are you? Were you there? Everything I have ever heard/read about this is that it was like all the rest of the "anti gravity" machines I have ever seen. There is a nearby "black box" that the "inventor" will not let you near. That is where all the "magic" happens. Anything that can't be 100% investigated by other observers means the demonstration is a hoax.

"Some individuals must have a clue but they generally get closed down, like happened to Tesla. It seems to me that there is free energy everywhere but that means there's no profit in it."

There is free energy everywhere (we're not all at absolute zero are we?). The problem is doing useful work with that energy. There's those pesky three laws of thermodynamics you have to live with that make using that "free" energy just a tad bit difficult.

The real issue with Tesla what that he could do things he couldn't adequately explain. He couldn't adequately explain his experiments to others so they could reproduce his results. When people were skeptical about his claims because of this minimal explanation he became paranoid. This led him to refuse to even try to explain things. Which only made things worse. He was a brilliant man, but even he did not fully understand what he was doing.

".......The whole theory of how the universe works, that gravity is the driving force, is just a theory and it really doesn't add up. It so doesn't add up that 90% of the energy can't be explained so dark matter has been invented, stuff we can't detect but must be there to maintain the theory....."

What doesn't add up? Einstein's general theory of relativity has so far passed every observational trial and continues to do so with every experimental setup designed to test the predictions of General Relativity. Dark Matter isn't something that's been "invented", we can't see Dark Matter but we can infer its existence based on the gravitational effects it has among its surroundings. Dark Energy, on the other hand, is an element "invented" that we cannot detect that is used to explain the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. Dark Matter on the other hand, we know it's there, we just can't see it. Like feeling someone in a dark closet.

....."And recently matter was detected coming out of black holes, err, how does that happen?....."

I'm not sure what you're referring to but you seem confused about the nature of black holes. Nothing "escapes" a black hole inside the even horizon. However, black holes "evaporate" over time by losing a partner from a particle/antiparticle pair just outside the event horizon in a complex process called "hawking radiation". Or you must be referring to jets from both sides of a black hole, which is simply highly energetic particles from the black hole's accretion disk that is accelerated to very high velocities and eventually "ejected". In both cases, the action occurs outside the event horizon, not inside and therefore not "escaping from inside a black hole".


...."Eric Laithwaite demonstrated an anti-gravity device (over-simplified remark) at the Royal Institution late last century, his lecture was the only one to be expunged from the record...."

Let's keep the conspiracy theories out of general science, because when it comes to physics and mathematics, there is no "conspiracy". "Anti-gravity" devices and time machines being hidden in basements or "expunged from records" make great science fiction and conspiracy stories, but are myths in reality.

And more often than not, a rejection of a scientific journal is simply because it failed to stand up to scrutinity (and it happens alot in the scientific community). I guess people need conspiracies to romanticize such trivial occurances.

Tesla did this already a long time ago.