Metamaterials could improve wireless power transfer, letting us one day charge our devices without the hassle of cords and wires, says a study published last week in Physical Review B. While wireless power transfer already works to for tiny amounts of energy, metamaterials could theoretically be used to safely and efficiently boost the technique to handle more power, such as microwaves and lasers. How the Heck:
What's the News:
Using current techniques, the amount of energy needed to charge personal electronics could, if transmitted wirelessly, burn up whatever's in its way---up to and including the device it's supposed to charge. What's more, energy tends to dissipate through open space, making this sort of power transfer extremely inefficient.
But the researchers calculated that certain metamaterials---specifically, ones with effectively negative index of refraction---could transmit the needed power without frying anything. The metamaterials could be used to make a superlens that would stand ...
