40% efficiency? What happens to the other 60%? Heat? Can it be used in some way?
Anyway, I can guarantee it causes cancer.
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General discussion
Sci Fi becomes reality!
A clean-cut vision of a future freed from the rat's nest of cables needed to power today's electronic gadgets has come one step closer to reality.
US researchers have successfully tested an experimental system to deliver power to devices without the need for wires.
The setup, reported in the journal Science, made a 60W light bulb glow from a distance of 2m (7ft).
The experimental setup consisted of two 60cm (2ft) diameter copper coils, a transmitter attached to a power source and a receiver placed 2m (7ft) away and attached to a light bulb.
With the power switched on at the transmitter, the bulb would light up despite there being no physical connection between the two.
Measurements showed that the setup could transfer energy with 40% efficiently across the gap.
The bulb was even made to glow when obstructions such as wood metal, electronic devices were placed between the two coils.
I have also seen recent stories on "talking paper" and robots built to rescue wounded soldiers and other victims in hazardous situations. The robot looks like one of those Segway scooters, substituting tracks for wheels and is expected to be deployed in a couple of years.
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Does that mean we can't get the floor wet? With 60% of the electricity floating around somewhere, it sounds dangerous. Like the rescue robot.
Diana
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....... or not, it seems possible that one day a wireless delivery of power will happen.
Maybe it will not be one that powers an entire city, but perhaps each building would have their separate system.
(I come from the Buck Rogers generation. ) 
I can see how a robot could transport a wounded soldier. But I can't see how it could safely pick him up if he was not able to help himself.
Angeline
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Already done by Tesla years ago. He transmitted power through the air so that flourescent bulbs miles away started glowing. As I recall one could stand on the earth, hold a tube skyward, grounding one end of it and the other up in the air and the tube would glow. Here in the East, especially near larger cities, you could probably absorb quite a bit of energy with an insulated wire grid and use to run one or more lights.
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