In Cecil’s column, he discusses the concept of broadcast power, but dismisses it as a rather elaborate pipe dream:
It appears that MIT may have something to say about that:
Okay, not 26 miles, but it’s a start, isn’t it?
Or maybe not? I’ll be watching this with interest.
Big deal.
Tesla coils have been lighting up fluorescent tubes for decades.
The power wastage is still enormous.
Impractical.
According to this article, the waste is relatively low because they use a “non-radiative magnetic field” and only resonant receivers get the power. Also, they’re talking about small scales, not using it for entire cities.
I did have a thread in GQ asking how this was possible, but it didn’t get any authoritative response.
If this really was the same as Tesla’s research, it’s odd that someone would be redoing it. And it could be that even if this is new, it may not be worth the trouble. But as I said in the thread, I’m not an expert.
This MIT research has been pulling the Teslaites out from under their tinfoil all over the internet.
Why? Any reading of any of the articles would make it obvious that this technique is nothing whatsoever like anything that Tesla ever attempted even to people who knew no more than the most basic elements of electricity.
Ah, I guess I just answered my own question, didn’t I?
There’s a wiki article about it: WiTricity - Wikipedia (again, as a non-expert, I have no idea how accurate it is):
“Unlike the conduction-based systems built by Nikola Tesla in the late 19th century, WiTricity uses resonant magnetic fields to reduce wastage of power.”
Seems like this will be used at short distances, e.g., within a room, where the convenience outweighs the power waste.