Wireless electricity — fact or fiction?
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Tired of struggling through power cords behind the TV, trying to nab the cat that just barfed on the kitchen rug? Don’t worry! At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show the Chinese manufacturer, Haier, showed off a 32-inch TV set running on nothing but wireless energy. Sure, people were sterilized walking by the “receiver.” They shouldn’t have been wearing black underwear.
This groundbreaking development comes as no surprise to those of us racking our brains over the mysteries of electricity. I remember one incident where my Dad catapulted from the top of an aluminum ladder after he turned on his old, entirely metal Skill saw. Such events shape my belief that electrons were left on earth by a superior alien race. Slimy creatures now sitting in recliners on the Mother Ship, watching a kid have his brother hold the mower’s spark plug wire while he pulls the starter rope.
At the atomic level, electricity is the movement of electrons, which are teensy tiny specks invisible to the naked eye unless you’ve been heavily drinking. Electrons move inside a wire like gophers through a hole except gophers will occasionally poop while scientists now believe electrons never relieve themselves. Electricians call a battery, piece of wire, and load a circuit. And this is the best joke they know!