Wireless energy promise powers up
A clean-cut vision of a future freed from the rat's nest of cables needed to power today's electronic gadgets has come one step closer to reality.
US researchers have successfully tested an experimental system to deliver power to devices without the need for wires.
The setup, reported in the journal Science, made a 60W light bulb glow from a distance of 2m (7ft).
WiTricity, as it is called, exploits simple physics and could be adapted to charge other devices such as laptops.
With the power switched on at the transmitter, the bulb would light up despite there being no physical connection between the two.
Measurements showed that the setup could transfer energy with 40% efficiently across the gap.
The bulb was even made to glow when obstructions such as wood metal, electronic devices were placed between the two coils.
"The goal now is to shrink the size of these things, go over larger distances and improve the efficiencies," said Professor Soljacic.
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk 