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Wireless Power Now A Reality
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CSMastermind writes "CNN is reporting on a breakthrough technology. A startup called Powercast has developed and patented a device, the size of a dime and costing 5$ to make, which allows power to be transmitted wirelessly. The device has already gained FCC approval and the company has inked deals with the likes of Phillips. From the article: 'Powercast says it has signed nondisclosure agreements to develop products with more than 100 companies, including major manufacturers of cell phones, MP3 players, automotive parts, temperature sensors, hearing aids, and medical implants. The last of those alone could be a multibillion-dollar market: Pacemakers, defibrillators, and the like require surgery to replace dead batteries. But with a built-in Powercast receiver, those batteries could last a lifetime. '"
Write-up from Jan.
Official Site
This isn't an april fools joke -- although I'm pretty sure it's a dupe nevertheless, and it's also not very interesting. It doesn't even use induction; it's just transmitting power by E-M waves -- here, radio waves; which certainly works -- crystal radios anyone? RFID chips? -- but is VERY inefficient (especially if you want to convert the radio waves back into electricity, rather than, say sound, as a crystal radio does), and can't be used to transmit more than tiny amounts of power. The only thing new here is a small increase in efficiency.
What's purple and commutes? An Abelian grape.
See this arstechnica article from Jan 17 2007.
9 .html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070117-863
There was a report on cnet Jan 7 this year. They unveiled the concept and Philips interest at CES 2007 http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12760_7-9673092-5.htm l
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
Microwave power transmission has been a reality since at least the 60's and is still in use today (just don't get in the way :). See Das Vikipediem for more info. I believe also that Nikolai Tesla did some little work in this area again see El Viki
Don't get me wrong I applaud any technology the size of a dime that can be made for $5 and transmit power safely for our nifty home devices and pacemakers but, due respect to CNN's science guys I ain't about to go out and buy Powercast's stock just yet. Especially since the most common use of bradcast power (the Radarange) nd medical tech (pacemakers) are rumoured not to get along together.
What's purple and commutes? An Abelian grape.
http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat& pat=7027311
Total Assignments: 2
Patent #:7027311
Issue Dt: 04/11/2006
Application #: 10966880
Filing Dt: 10/15/2004
Publication #:US20050104453
Pub Dt:05/19/2005
Inventors:Timm A. Vanderelli, John G. Shearer, John R. Shearer
Title:
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A WIRELESS POWER SUPPLY
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
Radio waves are alternating magnetic fields. The faster the field is alternated the more power it has and the further it travels. Go study how an AM transmitter and receiver works. Most AM antennas are simple inductive coils that pick up a modulations in a magnetic field. Building an AM transmitter is one of the simplest projects you can do (and was a project in my first circuits class). All you do is make a periodic signal and bound the amplitude by some input (like from a microphone). Then you run it through a coil of wire to create the alternate magnetic field. The magnetic field then hits the coil in the antenna of the receiver and induces a current. The current passes over a resistor and you measure the voltage level. You run that voltage level through a band pass filter and then through an amplifier and then to a speaker and voila! you get to hear whatever the microphone on the other end is picking up.
I am not too sure that this is an april fools joke... as an april fools joke normally only falls on April 1st.... I seen this on digg over a week ago. It was on multiple sites, from CNN Money, to CNet reviews...
m l?tag=promo
m l?tag=txt
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-12760_7-6676861-1.ht
and this one is from January...
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12760_7-9673092-5.ht
check out the company page at powercastco.com
Are you absentminded?
That's wrong, they are alternating magnetic AND electric fields, orthogonal to each other. That's what electromagnetic radiation means, indeed.
Official webpage: http://www.powercastco.com/ Also, they were picked "Best Emerging Technology at CES 2007" Theres other links availible on their webpage (and from google), and NONE of the source articles are dated April 1st.
Bearden's a crackpot. Strangely, his rantings DO get some things right (many of his complaints about how electrical theory is taught to children are quite valid), but please don't associate Tesla and Bearden too closely - Tesla's stuff doesn't depend on dodgy physical pseudotheories (unlike Bearden), just VLF resonant coupling, which is trivially experimentally demonstrable, the powers that be just don't like it (and these days FUD it on medical grounds, neglecting the fact that particulate pollution from fossil fuel burning is WAY more harmful than a mildly increased E.M. background).