Scientists show off wireless electricity

How many MIT bods does it take to wirelessly power a light bulb?

8 June 2007 13:19 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

In an exciting development, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have managed to power a 60-watt light bulb by sending energy to it wirelessly from 7 feet away.

The power was sent from a power-generating appliance that beamed the energy to the bulb using specially tuned waves.

Not impressed? You should be - this could be the first building block in the quest for a power-cord free world.

Dubbed "WiTricity" by the boffins, this technology could eventually see all electronic gizmos powered by wireless power-generating transmitter-type devices.

For this to have practical applications there is a lot of work for the MIT bods to do - this experiement only had an efficiency rating of about 40% (so 60% of the power was lost in transmission) and greater range and more powerful currents would have to be developed before we could see WiTricity in our homes.

But it's none the less tantalising glimpse of what the future might hold for e-lek-trickity.

Full tags

Biz, Wi-Fi, MIT, CPP Phonesafe, iPod, Music industry, Car And GPS, Google