Posted on 07/08/2011 1:09:28 PM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers have discovered a way to capture and harness energy transmitted by such sources as radio and television transmitters, cell phone networks and satellite communications systems. By scavenging this ambient energy from the air around us, the technique could provide a new way to power networks of wireless sensors, microprocessors and communications chips.
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Microwave IEEE 802.11 Radio Radiant energy
"There is a large amount of electromagnetic energy all around us, but nobody has been able to tap into it," said Manos Tentzeris, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is leading the research. "We are using an ultra-wideband antenna that lets us exploit a variety of signals in different frequency ranges, giving us greatly increased power-gathering capability."
Tentzeris and his team are using inkjet printers to combine sensors, antennas and energy scavenging capabilities on paper or flexible polymers. The resulting self powered wireless sensors could be used for chemical, biological, heat and stress sensing for defense and industry; radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging for manufacturing and shipping, and monitoring tasks in many fields including communications and power usage.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Manos Tentzeris holds a sensor (left) and an ultra-broadband spiral antenna for wearable energy-scavenging applications. Both were printed on paper using inkjet technology. (Credit: Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek)
Who is John Galt?
Duh...
but nobody has been able to tap into it,"
Yeah, as soon as we do we can open up gifts to humanity such as electricity and atomic power.
Some day perhaps....some day.
I’m as big a geek as the next guy.....and I LUV anything mega-geeky like what THIS claims to be. But until I actually see one in operation I’ll classify it in the same category as the “3-D Printer” that has been making the rounds recently. If that thing is for real, I’m an eskimo brain surgeon! My Mama named me THOMAS, and I’ll believe BOTH of those crocks when I SEE them!
Probably accessing the electric power around us will end up causing everyone brain tumors.
Hope it is a good and not a bad thing.
Nikola is smiling!
Over 60 years ago I built a crystal radio. The only thing that powered it was ambient electromagnetic energy. I understand you could do the same with High Power lines, but it is illegal.
Once we can capture electromagnetic energy from the air, we’ll immediately start pumping even more power into the air.
Eventually, we’ll be swimming in a sea of energy and our goose will be cooked.
I’d like to see someone harness the hot air coming out of politicians.
Crystal radios are the simplest type of radio receiver,[2] and can be handmade with a few inexpensive parts, like an antenna wire, tuning coil of copper wire, crystal detector and earphones.[3] They are distinct from ordinary radios because they are passive receivers, while other radios use a separate source of electric power such as a battery or the mains power to amplify the weak radio signal from the antenna so it is louder. Thus crystal sets produce rather weak sound and must be listened to with earphones, and can only pick up stations within a limited range.[4] The rectifying property of crystals was discovered in 1874 by Karl Ferdinand Braun,[5][6][7] and crystal detectors were developed and applied to radio receivers between 1894 and 1906 by Jagadish Chandra Bose,[8][9] G. W. Pickard[10] and others.
You beat me to it!
Just wait until somebody wearing a whole suit of this stuff is standing too close to a lightning bolt ~ I can only imagine an instant immolation and a puff of smoke.
I don’t know what 3-D printer you are referring to, but there is a printer which can print out solid objects, one level at a time. They are used in industry to make models, etc.
Is that the same guy from Italy who invented cold fusion?
Sorry, but Tesla’s great vision was built around using natural electromagnetic energy (I think geomagnetism) to power a vast worldwide electrical grid.
This energy-scavenging technology is designed to tap manmade electromagnetic fields to power small milliwatt sensors. Hardly the same thing.
Kinda like when you draft someone on a highway, you are stealing their gas.
Yea, but not as nicely sourced as your. Well done!
Tesla rediscovered.....
Hmmm....seems like Tesla was right all along.
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