Aussies Invent Tractor Beam: Future Gets Nerdier

World inches closer to Star Trek.

Sep 10 2010, 11:17am CDT | by Robert Evans

Aussies Invent Tractor Beam: Future Gets Nerdier

Australia made science roughly 300% cooler today, when researchers there announced that they had a working tractor beam. The technology is still in its infancy, so this thing can only move particles around 1.5 meters. Researchers are confident they can boost that to 10 meters.

The baby-tractor-beam works by shining a hollow laser beam at a particle. It heats up the air around the beam but not the air inside it, which draws the particle in the direction of the beam. Speed and direction can be changed by altering the laser's brightness.

Who knows, in 50 years we could be using tractor beams for delicate surgery or hazardous material work. It's truly exciting to see the first emergence of a technology with such broad-reacing implications.

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Robert Evans
The excitement about new smartphones, tablets and anything mobile drive Robert to unearth the latest rumors and developments in this fast moving space. He adopted 4G as soon as it become available and knows where the mobile market is going.
Robert can be contacted directly at robert@i4u.com.