Wireless electricity, cool or cool?

[Wedjat]

So a little while ago I found this article an wireless electricity. It's been around for a while, but they seem to be making some progress in the efficiency department. Maybe to the point that we'll have wireless power in our homes by the time I'm old and decrepit, maybe (judging by the exponential growth of technology) even sooner.

Thoughts?

 

[Cabal]

Didn't Tesla come up with this originally?

 

[AV1611VET]

Didn't Tesla come up with this originally?

God did.

Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

 

[Cabal]

God did.

Yeesh, dude, no need to nitpick. I meant academically...

And additionally, lightning isn't quite what's being discussed here. That technically uses a conducting medium - the air, once its breakdown voltage has been exceeded.

Wireless power transfer tends to involve induction or using electromagnetism only.

 

[Alunyel]

God did.

Wrong. That was Zeus.

 

[Cabal]

Wrong. That was Zeus.

Additionally, it's rather interesting that God/Zeus only ever produces lightning when certain types of clouds are present and when sufficient electric potential difference is generated between cloud and groud.

It's almost naturalistic. But that's just crazy talk.

I'm sure random lightning strikes are exactly comparable to a fabricated wireless power grid that operates on demand rather than on whim.

 

[TerranceL]

God did.

MAGIC MAN DONE IT.

 

[bigbadwilf]

Wrong. That was Zeus.

Surely it was Thor?

On a serious note, I'd be surprised if you could get anything more than a battery charger out of magnetic coupling. It's a neat gadget but...

What would be interesting would be a microwave power link as a means of transferring large amounts of energy without cables, which might be handy if it was generated remotely and you either didn't want to or couldn't use cables.

 

[DoubtingJesus]

When I was reading about this a few years ago it didn't seem very impressive, but we'll see how they have improved it. I guess it's supposed to launch next year?

 

[Wedjat]

Didn't Tesla come up with this originally?

With the idea yes, but he was met with very limited success.

 

[Muad Dib]

Wireless electricity -> very cool

Think New Scientist had a picture of a prototype ipod charger that way, although the ipod had to be literally 1-2cm away

Cant wait for it to get good and hit the consumer market, while we are at it we should make USB cables wireless

 

[azmurath]

Tesla did invent the technology, but it would have required massive electric towers, about 4 for every square mile, in order to have effective coverage, and by massive, I mean MASSIVE.

 

[keith99]

Tesla did invent the technology, but it would have required massive electric towers, about 4 for every square mile, in order to have effective coverage, and by massive, I mean MASSIVE.

Not to mention disrupting radio and television. Oh and some very real dangers also. I have several friend who used to work at the Griffith Observatory. It is no longer useful in a scientific sense (far too much light from Los Angeles). It is mainly tours and shows. They have a fair sized Tesla coil that they demonstrate. They always have to check with the park rangers first as it disrupts radio communication. They also had one incident where a guided was either rendered unconscious or clinically dead depending on who you talk to. (They no longer go to the inside of the glass when doing demos).

 

[keith99]

Surely it was Thor?

On a serious note, I'd be surprised if you could get anything more than a battery charger out of magnetic coupling. It's a neat gadget but...

What would be interesting would be a microwave power link as a means of transferring large amounts of energy without cables, which might be handy if it was generated remotely and you either didn't want to or couldn't use cables.

One really useful idea with microwave transmission is having solar power satellites and beaming power down to Earth. Since the Satallite is in space it does not need nearly as strong a superstructure as a similar collector array on Earth would need and the light from the sun would not have the filtering effects of our atmosphere. Of course this is not new by and means. Asimov worte about it in his robotics series The story is either 'Logic' or 'Reason' I never rememebr which.

 

[Cabal]

Not to mention disrupting radio and television. Oh and some very real dangers also. I have several friend who used to work at the Griffith Observatory. It is no longer useful in a scientific sense (far too much light from Los Angeles). It is mainly tours and shows. They have a fair sized Tesla coil that they demonstrate. They always have to check with the park rangers first as it disrupts radio communication. They also had one incident where a guided was either rendered unconscious or clinically dead depending on who you talk to. (They no longer go to the inside of the glass when doing demos).

That sounds like a smarter arrangement...I mean, aren't you supposed to go to the doctor if lightning strikes near you? Being close to such strong electromagnetic fields can interfere with your heart's operation.

 

[Penumbra]

One really useful idea with microwave transmission is having solar power satellites and beaming power down to Earth. Since the Satallite is in space it does not need nearly as strong a superstructure as a similar collector array on Earth would need and the light from the sun would not have the filtering effects of our atmosphere. Of course this is not new by and means. Asimov worte about it in his robotics series The story is either 'Logic' or 'Reason' I never rememebr which.

I saw this before on the Science Channel. They can make very large, thin solar collectors that are far more efficient in space than down in the atmosphere.

As far as I can assume, though, I'd say the economics behind such a power structure would be pretty bad. It takes an extremely large amount of energy to get something into orbit from the surface of our planet. One possibility would be to have a system in space that can construct them up there, but the raw materials still have to come from somewhere, and to get them into orbit or from somewhere else requires a lot of energy.

-Lyn

 

[ReverendDG]

i wish tesla had lived long enough to finish work on his car stuff, he did say he was working on an anti-gravity type of car.
that would have been as cool as wireless electricity

 

[TerranceL]

I know I should know this answer but I don't.

How many of the things that Tesla worked on actually worked?