William Gibson's sci-fi classic, Neuromancer, will be a $70M "indie" feature film. The producer is Peter Hoffman. The director is Joseph Kahn ("Torque"). (This does not bode well.) According to IMDB, the project is currently slated for a 2009 release.

Decius wrote:

Need feedback from nerds...

Here are some pointers:

A good place to start is with the MIT press release, which describes the work of Marin Soljačić.

On his web site, he points to a paper describing the theory of Wireless Power Transfer; a simplified explanation is also provided in an accompanying press release.

The MIT team has also conducted successful experiments in wireless power transfer, reported today in Science:

Using self-resonant coils in a strongly coupled regime, we experimentally demonstrate efficient non-radiative power transfer over distances of up to eight times the radius of the coils. We demonstrate the ability to transfer 60W with approximately 40% efficiency over distances in excess of two meters. We present a quantitative model describing the power transfer which matches the experimental results to within 5%. We discuss practical applicability and suggest directions for further studies.

The Science article requires a subscription for full text.

However, the free pre-print is available (this is the theory paper cited above):

Efficient wireless non-radiative mid-range energy transfer

We investigate whether, and to what extent, the physical phenomenon of long-lifetime resonant electromagnetic states with localized slowly-evanescent field patterns can be used to transfer energy efficiently over non-negligible distances, even in the presence of extraneous environmental objects. Via detailed theoretical and numerical analyses of typical real-world model-situations and realistic material parameters, we establish that such a non-radiative scheme could indeed be practical for medium-range wireless energy transfer.

His talk at the 2006 AIP Physics Forum was entitled, "Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer", so presumably the method is not the one that Decius remembers from school lessons.

The figures are freely available as a PDF, including a photo: "Figure 3: 60W light-bulb being lit from 2m away."

There is a WIPO patent on the method:

The electromagnetic energy transfer device includes a first resonator structure receiving energy from an external power supply. The first resonator structure has a first Q-factor. A second resonator structure is positioned distal from the first resonator structure, and supplies useful working power to an external load. The second resonator structure has a second Q-factor. The distance between the two resonators can be larger than the characteristic size of each resonator. Non-radiative energy transfer between the first resonator structure and the second resonator structure is mediated through coupling of their resonant-field evanescent tails.

Wireless Non-Radiative Energy Transfer

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In days past, engineers answered the call to invent gizmos, gadgets and complicated devices, but in our time, they must increasingly respond to challenges involving complex systems. “Process design is where many of tomorrows’ challenges lie,” says Sheffi. How to fashion a global supply chain, for instance, that consistently ensures items are available on time, on the shelf, at a low cost, a chain that is responsive to external demand and shocks –this is difficult, he says. But it is this kind of know-how that provides a competitive advantage. Walmart, says Sheffi, “didn’t come up with new exciting stuff but they dominate the market…through process, not product innovation.”

The kind of engineer who can succeed and lead in this global market -- one that is increasingly fed by graduates of schools in China and India, notes Sheffi – may no longer be the type educated at MIT. The Institute is top-rated, but is mired in an approach “fit for mid-20th century manufacturing-based society,” and is now “resting on past laurels.” Yet, why change, Sheffi ponders. “We are #1. Rah rah.” But look at MIT’s School of Engineering “among friends,” he suggests, and you must admit there’s “significant calcification, duplication and conservatism.” He finds multiple fluid mechanics and thermodynamics courses among the various departments. “How many courses have ‘control’ in their name? 228!” Students are a key barometer of this stodginess, says Sheffi. There’s been a 20% decline in engineering graduates in the last eight years.

So MIT must shift gears, and embrace two basic missions: continuing to produce world-class experts (geeks) – practicing engineers who design complicated systems – and generating world-class leaders (chiefs), who will deploy their technological expertise in the real-world. “My hypothesis is that the great leaders of the next century will have to have a technological background, because we’re going toward a technologically innovative society.” These leaders will be problem definers as much as problem solvers, and, says Sheffi, “either we or China will educate them.”

Sheffi suggests a School of Engineering-wide undergraduate program, where all the fundamentals courses are rethought and taught differently. This means sacrificing problem sets for case studies, and “learning how a subject fits into the grand scheme of things.” MIT should integrate humanities with engineering subjects, ensuring undergraduates understand business, ethics, legal language, environmental concerns, organization and process design. There should also be a formal leadership workshop, required time in a foreign culture and along the lines of the European Union, a five-year educational model. If MIT builds it, others will follow, assures Sheffi.

Geeks and Chiefs: Engineering Education at MIT

In what sense might something as intrinsically human as the imagination be biological? How could the products of the imagination – a novel, a painting, a sonata, a theory – be thought of as the result of biological matter? After all, such artefacts are what culture is made of. So why invoke biology? In this essay, I will argue that the content of the imagination is of course determined more by culture than biology. But the capacity to imagine owes more to biology than culture.

the biology of imagination

In search of the ultimate sushi experience, the author plunges into the frenzy of the world's biggest seafood market—Tokyo's Tsukiji, where a bluefin tuna can fetch more than $170,000 at auction—and discovers the artistry between ocean and plate, as well as some fishy surprises.

If You Knew Sushi

In the aftermath of the recent distributed denial of service (DDoS) targeting Estonia, information has emerged that suggests this was not a concerted attack orchestrated by some single agency, but rather the spontaneous product of a loose federation of separate attackers.

Estonian DDoS - a final analysis

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What the world needs is an open, confident America.

Fareed Zakaria's latest piece is getting lots of buzz.

How to Restore America's Place in the World

Over the years I've pointed you to several articles by Mark Danner.

Last month he gave the commencement speech at Berkeley.

When my assistant greeted me, a number of weeks ago, with the news that I had been invited to deliver the commencement address to the Department of Rhetoric, I thought it was a bad joke. There is a sense, I’m afraid, that being invited to deliver The Speech to students of Rhetoric is akin to being asked out for a romantic evening by a porn star: Whatever prospect you might have of pleasure is inevitably dampened by performance anxiety — the suspicion that your efforts, however enthusiastic, will inevitably be judged according to stern professional standards. A daunting prospect.

The only course, in both cases, is surely to plunge boldly ahead.

Words in a Time of War