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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: February 3, 2013

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REAL LIFE NEWS: TRACTOR BEAMS BECOME A REALITY

by Hazed

Scientists have developed a tractor beam which uses light to attract objects, bringing a long-standing science fiction device into reality.

Unlike the fictional beams, though, this one is limited to moving microscopic particles, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be useful - it can target and attract individual cells so could have medical applications.

The beam has been developed by scientists at the University of St Andrews. Lead researcher Dr Thomas Cizmar said, “The practical applications could be very great, very exciting. The tractor beam is very selective in the properties of the particles it acts on, so you could pick up specific particles in a mixture. Eventually this could be used to separate white blood cells, for example.”

Sadly the method used for this micro-tractor beam can’t be scaled up to move large objects like space ships. Dr Cizmar explained, “Unfortunately there is a transfer of energy. On a microscopic scale that is OK, but on a macro scale it would cause huge problems.

“It would result in a massive amount of heating of an object, like a space shuttle. So trapping a space ship is out of the question.”

Oh well. It’s still exciting news.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-21187598

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