Have you ever seen a person gravitate from the bottom floor of a skyscraper all the way to the top? The most likely answer is no, except maybe for the movies. What about someone lift an object and move it across the room simply by pointing a stick at it? Again the answer is probably no aside from Harry Potter. But what if it were possible? Well now it is… sort of. Scientists at Australian National University have discovered a way to move particles by only using a laser.
The laser is able to work by using photophoretic force. I could personally try to explain what that means but would most likely explain it horribly wrong, so instead ill share a quote that explains it in a pretty simple way. The scientists used a “hollow laser beam to trap light-absorbing particles in a ‘dark core’. The particles are then moved up and down the beam of light, which acts like an optical ‘pipeline’. ‘As gravity, air currents and random motions of air molecules around the particle push it out of centre, one side becomes illuminated by the laser whilst the other lies in darkness.’”( ANU News). Essentially the laser moves the particles by heating the air around it and then sends it on its way.
Though this laser can only move small particles a short distance, it is an important stepping stone for things that are to come. Previously scientists have been able to use a similar technology but the object that would be moved would be drastically smaller in size and would only travel a few millimeters at most. Today the object can be larger and be moved over a meter.
Currently this technology is not practical for everyday life, only for scientific purposes, but someday, the seemingly impossible could happen. Joe the Plumber could be able to move the thirty pound pipe simply by pointing a flash light at it, while Eric the Electrician could pick up the live wire without even touching it.
If I have been able to peak your interest in this amazing new technology you can easily find out more by going to the Australian National University website which was hyperlinked above, or by visiting Discovery News. Keep in mind all of the websites posted were written to inform you, the general public, about this discovery.
All information has been gathered from the following websites.
"ANU News » Tractor Beam One Step Closer to Reality." ANU News. 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.
Boyle, By Rebecca. "Working Tractor Beam Can Move Objects 5 Feet With Just Light | Popular Science." Popular Science | New Technology, Science News, The Future Now. 08 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.
O'Neil, Ian. "Is Star Trek's Tractor Beam Possible? : Discovery News." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, Dinosaurs, History. 9 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2010.
This certainly opens many doors to the future and presents uncounted possibilities. While technology like this would definitely be able to assist in the movement of objects that are large in proportion to the user, I think it creates even more possibilities.
ReplyDeleteWhile a technology like this is obviously highly delicate and ultra fine-tuned for precision, couldn't it be even more so to alter the way we handle microscopic objects, and perform experiments with substances and materials that would otherwise be difficult to handle?