Levitation At Microscopic Scale Could Lead To Nanomechanical Devices Based On Quantum Levitation

www.sciencedaily.com...

Researchers from Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have measured, for the first time, a repulsive quantum mechanical force that could be harnessed and tailored for a wide range of new nanotechnology applications.

The discovery builds on previous work related to what is called the Casimir force. While long considered only of theoretical interest, physicists discovered that this attractive force, caused by quantum fluctuations of the energy associated with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, becomes significant when the space between two metallic surfaces, such as two mirrors facing one another, measures less than about 100 nanometers.

This sounds very promising. Unfortunately, this only applies to the microscopic scale for the time being. Is it possible that this could open up the door to macroscopic levitation as well?

It is exciting.. but there is already a thread about this in circulation... sorry!