Power from thin air

Well, Tesla is never far away from modern communications...and his wireless technology has been trying to emerge into markets for quite some time now... here's some latest news on this:

A little over a century ago, the inventor Nikola Tesla drew up ambitious plans to transmit electrical power without wires. He carried out a series of experiments in which electric lights were illuminated via electrostatic induction, by connecting them to metal sheets suspended in a strong electric field produced by a distant transmitter. In 1898 he proposed a “world system” of giant towers that would form both a global wireless communications network and a means of delivering electricity over large areas without wires.

The construction of the first such tower, the Wardenclyffe Tower, on Long Island, began in 1901. Tesla’s backers included the financier J.P. Morgan, who invested $150,000. But before the tower was completed, Morgan and the other backers pulled out. They worried that the delivery of electricity through the air could not be metered, and there would be nothing to stop people from helping themselves. 

But has Tesla had the last laugh after all? Today several firms—including Fulton Innovation, eCoupled, WiTricity and Powercast—are pursuing various technologies that deliver electrical power without wires (though over shorter distances than Tesla had in mind). WiTricity has demonstrated the ability to send enough energy across a room to run a flat-screen television using its approach, called “resonant magnetic coupling”. This is different from Tesla’s approach, but the firm’s founders have acknowledged his pioneering work.

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Wi-Fi Making a Leap Forward

Apparently a new Wi-Fi 'certification' is nearing completion ...'to allow direct connections between Wi-Fi devices without joining a traditional Wi-Fi network. Known as Wi-Fi Connect, Alliance plans to begin certifying devices by mid-2010.' Read more:

The Wi-Fi Alliance is nearing completion of a new specification to allow Wi-Fi devices to connect to one another without joining a traditional home, office or hotspot network. The Wi-Fi Alliance expects to begin certification for the new specification in mid-2010 and is currently called Wi-Fi Direct. In its early stages of development it was known as Wi-Fi Peer-to-Peer.

The new specification can be implemented in any Wi-Fi device, including mobile phones, cameras, printers, notebook computers, keyboards and headphones. Certified devices will also be able to create connections with Wi-Fi certified legacy devices already in use. Devices will be able to make a one-to-one connection or a group of several devices can connect simultaneously.

The new specification targets both consumer electronics and enterprise applications, providing management features for enterprise environments and includes WPA2 security. Wi-Fi Direct devices will support typical Wi-Fi ranges and the same data rates as can be achieved with an infrastructure connection, so devices can connect from across a home or office and conduct bandwidth-hungry tasks.

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Sensoring the environment

Here are some latest developments in using wireless sensor networks to monitor the environment:

University of Alberta researchers are building a wireless sensor network that allows for clandestine data collection of environmental data in remote locations, with monitoring from anywhere in the world. The sensors can continuously monitor data like temperature and luminosity...

...Having the data continuously monitored by researchers substantially increases the chances of uncovering anomalies early enough to investigate them promptly and thoroughly.

The overall framework of WSN can also be extended for use in other closely related scenarios such as monitoring potentially dangerous situations like hazardous waste disposal, or hard-to-witness phenomena such as ice cap movements in the Arctic. The opportunities these sensors will provide to scientists are paramount in a global environment that is changing at an ever-increasing pace.Once the display-house prototype is tested and customized, at least two sites are to be fully deployed in the fall, one likely in the Brazilian rainforest, and the other in a forest in Panama.

Read more - 'Wireless sensor network keeps tabs on the environment'
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'Skin-tenna' wireless signals creep over human skin

NewScientistTech has a post on a wireless antenna that channels signals along human skin and could broadcast signals over your body to connect up medical implants or portable gadgets:

The new power-efficient approach could make more of established medical devices like pacemakers or help future implants distributed around the body work together.



(QUB/W Scanlon)

Developed at Queen's University in Belfast, the new design's ability to produce signals that travel along the skin makes it more efficient than existing battery-hungry technologies such as Bluetooth.

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New Report on Wireless Technology for Social Change

Smartmobs has a post about a new report on wireless technology for social change:

Check out this new Report: “Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use”. It’s a really good overview, with great examples, of how mobile technology is transforming the way advocacy, development and relief organizations accomplish their institutional missions. And the authors are folks who really know what they are talking about.

“The global survey found that 86% of non-governmental organization (NGO) employees use mobile technology in their work, and 25% believe it has revolutionized the way their organization or project works. While the most common uses of mobile technology by NGO workers are voice calls (90%) and text messaging (83%), more sophisticated uses, such as mapping (10%), data analysis (8%) and inventory management (8%) also were reported.”

Read link via Smartmobs at - 'New Report on Wireless Technology for Social Change'
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Brain blanket boosts mind control

NewScientistTech reports how with a sheet of electrodes placed over the brain, people can quickly learn to move a cursor around a computer screen using their thoughts:

Early trials suggest that this new procedure could overtake more established brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).The two established techniques involve inserting electrodes into the brain or attaching them onto the scalp. These approaches have let people control robotic limbs, steer wheelchairs, type messages and walk in virtual worlds using thought alone.

BCIs will one day transform the lives of people with disabilities and neurological disorders affecting their ability to move or communicate, says neuroscientist Gerwin Schalk at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, US.

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