'Star Trek' Prototype Tractor Beam Developed By Scientists , page 1

'Star Trek' Prototype Tractor Beam Developed By Scientists , page

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Topic started on 28-1-2013 @ 12:02 PM by mcx1942

Ok, this is cool:

Simply put, this technology utilizes a beam of light to attract objects, according to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In "Star Trek," tractor beams were often used to pull spaceships and other objects closer to the focal point of the light source attached to another ship. Researchers at St. Andrews and the Institute of Scientific Instruments, or ISI, in the Czech Republic have figured out a way of generating an optical field that can reverse the radiation pressure of light.

Check out the Full Article

edit on 1/28/2013 by mcx1942 because: edit

reply posted on 28-1-2013 @ 12:02 PM by mcx1942

Looks like there is much work to be done still for this to put forth towards objects with greater mass but like everything, baby steps first. The use alone in the medical field will be priceless, not to mention military use as well.

"The practical applications could be very great, very exciting," Cizmar told the BBC. "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."

from the article

I am so amazed the steps we as humans are taking each and everyday. We are quite the explorers.

At this time the team is able to move tiny particles, on a microscopic level. Moving large objects takes too much energy at the moment but as we know, tech gets better with time. This will be a cool one to follow.

edit on 1/28/2013 by mcx1942 because: edit

reply posted on 28-1-2013 @ 12:50 PM by TauCetixeta

reply to post by mcx1942

Close but it's a start.

The people of Belgium saw a different Star Trek tractor beam in 1989.
It's the round section in the center.

reply posted on 28-1-2013 @ 01:43 PM by MystikMushroom

reply to post by mcx1942

That quote is pretty awesome. Right now when you donate plasma, they use a centerfuge to spin the blood and seperate out the plasma. Perhaps this technology could be used to shorten the time it takes to donate?

I know when I was a broke college student I'd donate plasma twice a week for a total of about $200/mo. It took about an hour and a half each time, so a total of 12 hours/mo which is about $16/hr. Not to shabby for just sitting there reading your course material!

Is it just me, or does it seem that Mr. Gene Roddenberry seemed to "know" the direction of future scientific advances? Tablet computers, talking computers, warp drives, tricorders and now tractor beams?!

reply posted on 28-1-2013 @ 02:10 PM by PhoenixOD

That quote is pretty awesome. Right now when you donate plasma, they use a centerfuge to spin the blood and seperate out the plasma. Perhaps this technology could be used to shorten the time it takes to donate?

reply to post by MystikMushroom

I guess that would depend on how quickly it can attract stuff and how much energy it takes. I also notice in the article that there is a problem with the process which causes whatever is being attracted to heat up. Probably not good for plasma

reply posted on 28-1-2013 @ 06:55 PM by mcx1942

Indeed, I would imagine we are still very far away from this prototype to the finished product. Maybe 50 plus years I would reckon. Still, we got to start somewhere. This reminds me of the machine that can levitate objects but can only levitate very small items and the machine is huge. Or like old computers filling a room to do less than we can do now on our small smart phones.

I wish I could pretend to understand the science behind all this, it is mind blowing to me.

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