WiTricity

2012 - We're all going to die February 18th, 2009

Occasionally I go places and forget to bring the old ball and chain with me. I am sorry. I mean plug and adapter.

Uh Oh! No video. You will need the Flash player and Javascript enabled to watch this show.

Occasionally I go places and forget to bring the old ball and chain with me. Sorry I mean plug and adapter. Kinda looks like a ball and chain. Being stuck without the right recharger is like being stuck in a bad relationship, and technology is full of bad relationships … you’re needy, very needy.

Let’s be honest. How many of you wish you could plug more things into your computer. Look at camera guy’s desk. Poor camera guy. You’ve got a bad case of cable-itis. And needs a cable-ectomi … desperately.

That’s why I like laptops. I can be like 99% cable free. And with wifi the only thing holding me back is the battery. Stinking, stupid battery. Bleeding me dry… All it wants is power. All I want is performance. See! Bad relationship.

I just wish someone would come up with some way to transmit power so I never had to bother with cables again… Yeah right, while I’m at it I might as well wish for a trust fund and a movie deal.

But guess what? Somebody already did. Someone got me a movie deal? Every once in a while science makes a real breakthrough and then forgets about it for a hundred years or so. But eventually in gets dug up and rediscovered. And that is the story of witricity. Which is a really weird name that sounds like someone smooshed wireless and electricity into one word. – It just takes too long to say wireless electricity. And that is valuable time you could be spending on your laptop. Or any one of those other electronic devices that socio-psychologically control you. Bad Relationship. I need a way out. Is there like an AA for technophiles? There should be … or not. Hi, my name is Brett and I haven’t turned anything on in … wait, does a microwave count? Dang it.

Anyway, The story starts in 1891 at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in New York, mad genius Nikola Tesla held up an early version of a fluorescent bulb, and with no wires connected made it glow, claiming electricity was being transmitted through the air, between two metal sheets on either side of him. Black magic! That’s a good relationship. No strings attached. Wait, we can’t say that. But because Tesla was sloppy at keeping notes and died a little crazy, we not exactly sure how he did it. Electrical voodoo. But his experiments didn’t have any dead chickens just searing. hot plasma.

In 2007 researchers at MIT managed to wirelessly power a 60w light bulb 7 feet away. 2 meters for everybody who uses a measuring system that makes sense. MIT voodoo. But they didn’t use chickens either just alien technology. What? You gotta watch the older shows. In the early days, wireless power experiments were a mere 1% efficient. But now using magnetic coupling resonance we have actually transfered power with 40-45% efficiency. We … I like including myself the great thinker of my day Not exactly fair, historical, or accurate, but its my show. Sorry, our show. Premadonna, what do you want me to buy you a pony? The magnetic fields that transfer the power are already within safe levels. So that’s good news. No tumors, right? Let’s hope not.

Now just give it a few years to get it miniaturized, improve the efficiency and built it into consumer products. Pretty soon you’ll have things like lights in you house with no wires. Clocks, remote controls, kids toys that don’t run on double As. Cellphones with no chargers and don’t forget your laptop that you never have to plug in to anything ever again.

Here is fun twist, after Nikola Tesla got funding around 1900, he started building the Wardenclyffe tower that was supposed to be able to supply broadcast power using the earths ionosphere. He even fired it up a couple of times. Searing hot plasma is always a crowd-pleaser. But alas like any bad relationship it wasn’t meant to last. The stock market crashed, investors panicked, funding got pulled and Tesla went nuts.

So wait the economy went bad? Just like our economy went bad. So no witricity?
I don’t know. We’re just gonna to have to wait and see if WiFi ever gets together with WiTricity. They’d make such a cute couple.

What did I say “we” again? well, pfft … I am educating the masses. I am part of the team. Can I have part of the patent? So needy. That’s a bad relationship.

Links

Popular MechanicsMIT newsAnother “interesting” site

Share the show:

Copy this code onto your site or blog:

27 Comments

  • 6/23/09 @ 16:42

    CEDRICnumber23

    very interesting show! Ive been wondering what you guys do for a living, and with that shirt you were wearing i finally know. Lumberjack! Otherwise you could never get away with wearing that shirt/jacket . . thing you were wearing.
  • 2/28/09 @ 22:24

    Johnb300m

    the meter DOES make sense. Base 10, no cryptic fractions. Give me a 129/897 drill bit. Screw that! Just use a #9. SEE! Better already.
  • 2/25/09 @ 6:47

    Serisium

    Originally, Tesla got his funding for Wardenclyffe through J.P. Morgan. Tesla had to lie about the project, saying he was trying to make the first transcontinental radio broadcast. However, Morgan didn't give Tesla enough money so he went back to get more, and accidentally mentioned that his goal was ... more
  • 2/24/09 @ 19:23

    steph {207}

    hmmm. my lap top is like my life and it'd be nice if it was more mobile.
  • 2/23/09 @ 20:43

    pkw

    About Below-"I just wish it was 100% or at least 90% effiecient"-I was studying the concept behind wood-gas several months ago, and it was very interesting. The developer of what I was looking at said it was only about 40% efficient, but was leaving the door wide open to ... more
  • 2/23/09 @ 13:46

    Ingrid [22]

    haha, I do believe the meter makes more sence. More sence than feet and foot and inches and, I can't understand the half of it :P
  • 2/23/09 @ 4:41

    Drecon [22]

    Wait, did I just hear him say that the 'meter' makes sense? It doesn't really. It's just more widely used.
  • 2/22/09 @ 6:29

    designertoxophilite[22] [22]

    your patenting the show? AWESOME! You guys rule, I heard about this a while ago and was blown away, I just wish it was 100% or at least 90% effiecient! I don't know if you guys heard or not, but over here bbc radio nottingham did an experiment last wednesday where they got several thousand participants to turn off things they didn't need over night at the plug, rather than leaving it on standby and the results were better than expected.... they saved litterally thousands of megawatt hours! If only the entire country, or several countries did this every night, think of the ... lots more
  • 2/21/09 @ 20:18

    Glenn [22]

    I love it all except the name. For some reason Broadcast Power sounds so much cooler to me than WiTricity.
  • 2/21/09 @ 17:18

    TomareUtsuZo

    Sorry, not going to happen. There is no way to make money off it, and if there is no way to make money off it there is no way to pay the producers of said power. If there is now way to pay said producers of said power, there will ... more
  • 2/20/09 @ 6:49

    Meandering {207}

    The Bro's Winn. I thought you might have done it once before, but its so rare that its weird to hear you say your own names is all. Love the show!
  • 2/19/09 @ 19:06

    marc

    Are what you talking about also called induced current? With magnetic waves inducing a current in a coiled wire a distance away? If so, then you may already use it and not know it. Some electronic toothbrushes use induced currents to charge capacitors, storing a charge for ... more
  • 2/19/09 @ 15:07

    ItzMeRon

    Topic posted here: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=3&func=view&catid=6&id=62720#62720
  • 2/19/09 @ 15:05

    socalcutie82 [22]

    That's what drives me nuts about the laptop...always wanting a power source...such a needy member of the family! Who knows, since our economy is going to come crashing down and since we're in California we'll be the first to go..maybe we'll get WiTricity faster since we're heading down the ... more
  • 2/19/09 @ 13:37

    ItzMeRon

    Great video! This makes up for the last one. <3
  • 2/19/09 @ 12:05

    Nospinplease

    Ya Glenn is right, they would have to run tests to see how it affects our nervous system. You know people these days, when your not geting cancer from being out in the sun, your getting it from using your cell phone (remember that video!?). and Brett.. that was kinda ... more
  • 2/19/09 @ 11:50

    OldGuy41

    And to think, the cell phone companies all agreed that the mini-usb cable will be the way all cell phones will be charged... well, not all of them... I think there are two manufacturer that won't... sellouts!
  • 2/19/09 @ 10:27

    jonititan

    I'm wondering what type of interference this will cause to other devices? Maybe it wont interfer with anything. But normal power cables can and do effect amateur radio sets. I wonder how much more interference can be generated by something that is actually trying to radiate power. Even though its radiating a magnetic ... more
  • 2/19/09 @ 9:31

    The Brothers Winn

    @Meandering{207} Not the first: http://www.whatyououghttoknow.com/show/2008/07/24/how-to-stalk-wyotk
  • 2/19/09 @ 7:17

    Meandering {207}

    Brett, this is the first time you said your name on the air ... right? I can't remember now. Anyway, no wires to hold me down ... I like that!
  • 2/19/09 @ 5:22

    Ingrid [22]

    nice show as always... Just one thing, you badly need to update your copyright claim... it states, 2007-2008, but for all of us out here, it's 2009 allready ;)
  • 2/19/09 @ 5:00

    ivan47

    Alas, Glenn, there is a fine line between madness and genius!! Tesla was obviously right in the middle!! LOL He really did have a brilliant mind. But that's only natural, since he was from croatia...like me...But I'm not a genius. Yet! hihi Nice show guys, as allways!
  • 2/19/09 @ 1:05

    Glenn [22]

    Electricity? So that's how it works. I always thought it was some kind of invisible magic. But seriously, the idea of broadcast power is genius. I'm just worried that the system might do some seriously funky things to the nervous system. In all honesty it would explain a ... more
  • 2/18/09 @ 23:36

    smmint2

    Interesting! A world without wires for me to trip over.
  • 2/18/09 @ 21:49

    Teagan [22]

    That would be pretty nifty. Just think. No more worrying about your cell phone dying, just when you need it to call the police about people invading your home!
  • 2/18/09 @ 20:49

    wx5aaa

    camera guy's computer is nothing. you should see my recording studio lab. Congrats on the movie deal!
  • 2/18/09 @ 20:34

    Curtis [22]

    No wires? Maybe I can also get rid of the hundred wires behind my stereo system too. Good show.

Sorry, we're getting way too much spam.
You must be logged in to post a comment. If you haven't already, register here.

Recent Shows

Recent Comments

The Brothers Winn

Just two brothers making a podcast. Brett is the guy in front of the camera and Jedd is the guy behind it. We both research and write the show.

Get a hold of us here:
theshow@whatyououghttoknow.com