MIT Working on Broadcast Power

The following is part of an article by Tim Gray on Sci-Tech-Today. According to this, it won't be long until we won't even have to plug in our PDAs to charge them. Even more freedom for us!

Scientists have known for nearly two hundred years that certain kinds of energy can be transferred without wires, but light energy from the Sun for solar power or the transfer of microwaves for communication involves relatively low levels of energy. The MIT researchers are working on a project to transfer much higher levels of energy for powering consumer-electronics devices.

We might be approaching one of the final frontiers in the wireless world as researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say they have developed a wireless power transfer device that would enable wireless charging of consumer-electronic devices, such as mobile phones, MP3 players, and laptops.

While the need for cables and wires to operate notebook Relevant Products/Services PCs and connect to the Internet has slowly disappeared in recent years, with audio and data transmissions being piped through the air, cables have been needed to recharge portable devices.

The concept behind this new device is not new, said Marin Soljacic, an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Physics and Research Laboratory of Electronics, who co-authored the study.

Scientists have known for nearly two hundred years that energy can be transferred without wires. This wireless transfer of energy, such as light energy from the Sun for solar power or the transfer of microwaves from transmitters for communication, involves relatively low levels of energy.

However, recharging devices like laptops requires a much higher concentration of energy that, if run through the air, could be dangerous.

The researchers have built a prototype that can exploit the resonance of electromagnetic waves, including radio waves, infrared, and X-rays. It is capable of transferring energy over approximately 10 to 15 feet wirelessly, according to the researchers.

Although a consumer device has not been built, in theory it would have a lock-and-key mechanism in which the transmitter and receiver are both tuned to the same frequency range that enables energy to be transferred only to the target, according to researchers.

You can read the entire article here on Sci-Tech-Today.