We’ve seen it in various science fiction movies, such as Star Wars, where spaceships are pulled into a bigger spaceship against their will using tractor beams. Basically the idea is cool, which is that objects can be moved without actually physically touching it. Will we see a future where tractor beams become real? Turns out that future is already here.
Scientists in Spain have managed to create a sonic tractor beam that can not only grab objects but also move them around. However right now the scientists are looking towards using the tractor beam they’ve created for medical purposes, such as to manipulate and operate microsurgical instruments from within the patient’s body, as well as to deliver drugs directly to damaged tissues.
This does not mean that larger objects can’t be handled. According to their journal in Nature Communications, one of the scientists Asier Marzo said, “We can move bigger and heavier objects than we have done, but the main application is going smaller to manipulate things inside the human body.”
So how does this work, you ask? Basically it works by using an array of flat speakers that helps to produce acoustic holograms. By adjusting the sound waves created by the speakers, the researchers managed to create moving acoustic holograms that can grab, spin, and nudge tiny particles without actually touching it.
According to Marzo, “When the particle is surrounded by high pressure, it gets trapped there. And we can update the hologram in real time to move the cage towards us, and the particle moves with the trap.” Apart from medical purposes, the researchers also envision that this technology, also called “containerless transportation”, could potentially be used in the future to move material that is dangerous to handle.