By Gemma Simpson, 19 November 2007 15:00
Scientists are coming up with novel ways to power gadgets - including using body heat and even dung.
For example US researchers have developed a way to power electronic gadgets automatically when their owners wander into their home or office - without the need for cumbersome cables or chargers.
The "WiTricity" device - the term coined by the team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to describe the wireless power phenomenon - uses magnetic fields to remotely power the gadgets.
Speaking in November 2006, Marin Soljacic, assistant professor of physics at MIT, told silicon.com the device would work in a similar way to wi-fi, with a plug-in device in the home or office providing a signal to recharge all types of gadgets.
A working prototype has recently been developed by the team at MIT (both pictured above), which can light a 60-watt bulb using a power source two metres away and with no physical connections between the source and the appliance.
Photo credit: Aristeidis Karalis
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1. Graham Hart
I have a recolection of reading a story in an old copy of 'Wireles World' from over 50 years ago. In those days, cars were required to have a parking light when parked in the road at night. An unlucky person had been prosecuted for powering his parking light from the emissions of the local radio station at Rugby.