One of the things I get most interested in is the attempt to - after all, it doesn't matter how many wireless gizmos you use if you can't charge them up. The fact that my mobile ran out of battery at inconvenient moments twice during the last week has only added to my determination to uncover innovative new power sourcing.
So it was with some interest that I picked up some research from MIT in which Marin Soljacic, an assistant professor, is developing new wireless power technologies.
The story's running on the BBC today, although it still seems quite up in the air:
The team's system exploits the resonance of electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic radiation includes radio waves, infrared and X-rays.
Typically, systems that use electromagnetic radiation, such as radio antennas, are not suitable for the efficient transfer of energy because they scatter energy in all directions, wasting large amounts of it into free space.
To overcome this problem, the team investigated a special class of "non-radiative" objects with so-called "long-lived resonances".
When energy is applied to these objects it remains bound to them, rather than escaping to space. "Tails" of energy, which can be many metres long, flicker over the surface.
We've discussed wireless power before - not least in the form of Splashpower, a British company that makes electromagnetic induction chargers. No need to plug in your gadget here, just leave your device sitting on a plate and it will boost it.
The MIT research goes a step further, but it's at the problematic stage of being purely theoretical: and I'm no expert, but I do imagine there might be issues with constantly bombarding people with particular frequencies. But good luck to them.
