

Intel cuts electric cords with wireless power system - froo
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080821/ts_afp/usitinternetenergychipcompanyintel

======
froo
The first reaction I had when I read this was "This would be fantastic on a
much larger scale to power electric cars".

I believe that this kind of technology would eliminate the range debate
between pure electric cars and those that rely on petroleum.

That being said, the only downside I can come up with off the cuff is
environmental, as in what impact would a large scale magnetic field network
have on migrating birds and the associated environmental consequences that
would happen as a result.

Anyone have any insight?

~~~
Bjoern
Well I have an answer for you but not directly for birds, but indirectly.
(please bear with me).

I know that many animals use the earths magnet field to navigate plus they use
the other senses they got.

Taking bees for example, current theories about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
range from stress to toxins aso. Another factor which has already been
discovered is that bees respond very sensitive to magnetic field fluctuations.

Transportation of bees from northern to southern America caused the bees to be
in disorder and ,,panic''. I think a widespread usage of this technology would
profundly hurt animals. Though clearly I am not an expert in this topic.

Paper:

Is there any influence of magnetic or astrophysical fields on the circadian
rhythm of honeybees?, M. F. Neumann, 1988

~~~
froo
So my current understanding of magnetic fields is pretty much limited to high
school, but would it be possible to align this magnetic field with the Earth's
magnetic field?

I'm just throwing it out there for consideration.

~~~
eru
Even if it was possible - it would need to be much stronger.

(And I guess you want a moving/changing field anyway to extract energy
easily.)

