RE: Soljacic wins $10k MIT Young Scholar Award (fwd)

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 09:34:29 -0700
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>, tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Soljacic wins $10k MIT Young Scholar Award (fwd)

At 07:56 AM 8/31/2007, Tesla list wrote:

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 09:49:32 -0400
>From: "Mccauley, Daniel H" <daniel.h.mccauley@xxxxxxxx>
>To: Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: Soljacic wins $10k MIT Young Scholar Award (fwd)
>
>
>Why is this so sad?
>I'm not really up on the technology being presented, but what evidence
>is there to show this is nonsense?

Scan back in the archives so the moderators don't beat on me...

But, in short:
Prof. Soljacic set up a demo of inductive near field coupling between 
two high Q tuned circuits. He described it using terminology derived 
from his field (optics) rather than EM, so it is not obvious at first 
glance that it is 100 years old. Then, made claims that it can be 
used to wirelessly transmit *signficant* amounts of power over short 
distances (meters), without recognition of the fact that this would 
create near field energy densities many orders of magnitude greater 
than the current ANSI limits. This was sort of covered in his papers 
with a comment (paraphrasing here): "The physics demonstration is 
complete. Now all the engineers have to do is increase the 
efficiency, figure out a way to insure that the two circuits always 
resonate at the same frequency, with varying environments and loads, 
and come up with a way to do this that meets regulatory compliance." 
the problem being that the physics itself will prevent regulatory 
compliance and barring revolutionary advances in room temperature 
superconductors, the efficiency will also be limited.

BUT, it sure sounds good.. "Witricity"

MIT should be ashamed.

Jim