Apple's Interest in WiTricity Wireless Charging

[CFreymarc]

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Hasn't Tesla already done this? Perhaps Apple bought his patents

All of Tesla's patents are expired and considered public domain. However, they are still a fascinating read to this day.

 

[MacinDoc]

My personal favorite though, is that I can use IR to print directly to my printer, just my placing my laptop in front of it.

Not sure I understand what the advantage of this would be over being able to print over a wireless network from anywhere in the vicinity, unless I'm missing your point.

You forgot how they implemented Blu-ray and USB 3.0, as well as esata ports.

Fair enough with Blu-ray, I still don't entirely understand that one, but from what I have read, I believe TB ports will be able to transmit USB 3.0 protocols, and will pretty much make eSATA obsolete.

I don't like this. Sure the earth is a giant electromagnet, but our bodies have evolved to coexist with it. There's research that honey-bees get disoriented by magnetic waves, and the honey-bee brain isn't so different from the human brain. Additionally, there's a report floating around there that trees are effected by Wi-Fi (a sort of electromagnetic wave) routers.

Should I go on? Human's get a less-rested sleep when they sleep next to their cellphone. When 2 humans sleep next to each other, their sleep patters can match up. Researchers even found that you can increase performance of math tests by subjecting the brain to intense magnetic radiation.

I for one will pass on our wireless-charging overlords.

I agree that it's a bit early to be jumping on board this technology, from the point of view of human health.

 

[macalifesoft]

what it will be if I have several apple devices to charge, would there be a mess?

 

[MacFly123]

Mmmmmm.... Cancer....

Uh-oh. Looks like my tumor's going to get bigger. Oh well.

If it wont affect our health, this is definitely the future!

I don't care what they say, this has to have SOME sort of effect on our bodies or the energy they have themselves. We don't even understand the body and its energy enough to be able to even reliably make the claim that this is safe!

I don't trust it.

It would be cool, but I totally agree!

I think everything does these days anyways, why not have something cool killing you.

This mentality is a big part of what is wrong with the world today!

 

[Papajohn56]

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Everything is safe until they discover otherwise, so it is very hard to say. However, magnetic fields are not likely to cause any harm due to the fact that the earth is a giant electromagnet. I think it's safe.

Except this magnetic field would be considerably stronger, by several orders of magnitude, than the earth's.

 

[brunnecc]

Thanks, Mr. Tesla...

I just want to take a moment and recognize Nikola Tesla who dreamed this concept up in 1899.

-Chris
FOM

 

[iStudentUK]

This mentality is a big part of what is wrong with the world today!

I think the "everything is going to kill me" mentality is silly. People see wireless electricity and without any real appreciation of how it works decide that it is a health risk. Places like North America and the EU have extremely strict safety requirements and are not going to let this get into the public domain without checking it out!

 

[res1233]

Except this magnetic field would be considerably stronger, by several orders of magnitude, than the earth's.

That's a good point. I guess if the earth's field was even remotely close to this, it would make more sense to just run stuff off the earth. This may be problematic after all.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

I don't care what they say, this has to have SOME sort of effect on our bodies or the energy they have themselves. We don't even understand the body and its energy enough to be able to even reliably make the claim that this is safe!

You don't care what they say (because you don't understand the science) and yet you draw your own conclusions?

Maybe we should burn these scientists at the stake.

 

[goobot]

I just realized my iphone's compass wont work around this! The horror!

 

[baryon]

This would be great. If only they could boost the efficiency and reduce the size of the devices, that would be perfect. Maybe in a few years this will actually work!

 

[JazzLion]

http://news.discovery.com/tech/magnet-brain-morality.html & http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-03/bending-morality-magnetism

Strong magnetic fields could affect moral judgment.
Targeted magnetic fields can make people more inclined to judge outcomes, not intentions.
The findings could have implications for neuroscience, as well as the legal system.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040219075606.htm

Prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by such common household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors, can damage brain cell DNA, according to researchers in the University of Washington's Department of Bioengineering. The scientists further found that the damage from brief exposures appears to build up over time.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040219075606.htm

A magnetic field can stimulate the brain and promote the growth of new nerve cells, scientists have found, raising the possibility of treating conditions linked to neuron death such as Alzheimer's disease, and perhaps one day of enhancing humans' memory capacity.

 

[Jerome Morrow]

Imagine the effect it will have on sex toys business

 

[Megakazbek]

Except this magnetic field would be considerably stronger, by several orders of magnitude, than the earth's.

Completely wrong. Field that WiTricity produces is about the same magnitude as Earth's magnetic field.

 

[iGobbleoff]

I think its pretty cool, have these sitting in your roof, or part of the furniture etc, its great.

 

[ironsienna]

2011 the year of Tesla copycats

The technology hasnt being descovered in MIT. They just modified it for commercial use. Have you heard of Wardenclyffe Tower?

http://www.juststuffifound.com/2010/07/11/teslas-154th-birthday-gift-tesla-fanboyism/

 

[slrandall]

It makes sense that such a magnetic field would affect the brain. The earth's magnetic field is static. It can therefore induce no current in any stationary wire, and can't be used as a "charger".

What's used here is an oscillating magnetic field. The fact that it's dynamic [changes with respect to time] is what allows it to induce current. So no matter the strength of the field, it's easy to see that humans are not already resistant to it. Such oscillations could [theoretically] affect the electrical impulses of the brain, unless the myelin sheath on the neurons was an insulator. However, I do not know at what levels - if any - it might become dangerous.

It does certainly seem like a brilliant idea though, and I liked the little anecdote about how the professor came up with the idea. Haha.

 

[iStudentUK]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040219075606.htm

Never trust media reporting of scientific research, even if it looks respectable. Always go to the original research if you can. I'll use your second/third link as I found the original paper in the public domain here.

They used a magnetic field on rats of 10uT constantly for 24hrs and 48hrs. Here are a couple of values for domestic appliances at 1 metre away- vacuum= 1uT, microwave = 0.5uT, TV = 0.01uT.

Here's the MIT paper where they state their field is 0.1uT for wireless electricity. It will be a tiny amount at any appreciable distance.

 

[miamialley]

Will I have to get on a data I mean wattage plan with the power company now??

 

[tombubi]

This is damn cool. I actually imagined this before, but I never thought the technology could make it come true.

 

[res1233]

Will I have to get on a data I mean wattage plan with the power company now??

Imagine a world with mobile electricity. Our iPhones would have no battery in them, allowing for iPod Touch-thinness, or possibly added functionality. Quad core cell phone@ 2ghz anyone? Just add a mini-fan.

 

[stadlin]

not very power efficient...

 

[Jerome Morrow]

Imagine a world with mobile electricity. Our iPhones would have no battery in them, allowing for iPod Touch-thinness, or possibly added functionality. Quad core cell phone@ 2ghz anyone? Just add a mini-fan.

The problem with these technologies is that if you can't make it global it's not much of a use.

 

[DeeEss]

Cancer city.

Not to mention a ridiculous drain on resources and the planet.

Forget it.

 

[tdream]

If it wont affect our health, this is definitely the future!

Haha yep! Smoking won't affect you're health either, you'll be in with the cool kids and even doctors smoke. You trust doctors? Don't you