RE: About wireless energy transfer

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Jim Mora" <jmora@xxxxxxxxxxx>


Hello List,

I couldn't resist flaming Soljacic for not mentioning Tesla in the news
release/article. Let's hope he gives credit where credit is due.

Jim Mora

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 9:43 PM
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: About wireless energy transfer

Original poster: Ed Phillips <evp@xxxxxxxxxxx>

"Soljacic has actually gotten a lot of publicity from this work ...
he is Serbian, and in interviews has said that he was very interested
in revisiting Nicola Tesla's work in wireless communication and
energy transfer.  I had read somewhere that the modeling for the
phenomenon that they are investigating is mathematically equivalent
to quantum tunneling (a portion of the probability density for the
wave equation that ends up on the other side of a barrier).   I think
there is a wikipedia write up on this somewhere"

"I think the operant phrase in the article was, "The effect, which
has not yet been demonstrated..." I found this revelation, which
sounds a lot like the "wireless energy transfer" that takes place
between the primary and secondary of any Tesla coil, to be completely
"under-whelming"."

    I think the only reason that paper got the notoriety it did was
because some "science writer" [read that person who really doesn't
know much about science or engineering but writes for the "popular
press" which knows even less] saw some "scientific-sounding" words in
it, liked the pretty pictures, and wrote nonsense.  As Matt points
out the resemblence to a Tesla coil is not coincidental at all except
most Tesla coils (or radio transmitters or receivers or you name it)
are better designed than his "rings with ears".  These guys just took
a very devious path to rediscover stuff that's been common knowledge
for well over 100 years and their expressions for transfer between
their two really wierd tuned circuits can be found in more
understandable terms in most any handbook or text on "radio".  Not
being a physicist I can't comment on the "quantum tunneling" but
think that was just literary license on the part of said science writer.

    If Soljacic is really interested in investigating Tesla's works
and ideas he hasn't worked very hard!  The paper shows exactly zero
understanding of what Tesla did and how his system was supposed to
work and the only Tesla reference is to a patent which doesn't
discuss the matter at all.

Ed